NNPC Opens Dialogue With PENGASSAN, Cautions Against Panic Fuel Purchase

By Chineme Okafor in Abuja

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Friday said it has begun dialogue with striking members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to address their grievances.

It also cautioned members of the public from embarking on any form of panic purchase of petroleum products in anticipation of product scarcity due to the ongoing strike by PENGASSAN.

It said in a press release from its Group General Manager Public Affairs, Mallam Garba Deen Muhammad in Abuja that while the Corporation has commenced talks with the leadership of the senior oil workers’ union,  it has in stock enough products to satisfy local consumption requirements for the next 45 days.

NNPC said there was no need for motorists and other users of petroleum products to embark on frenzied wholesale purchase of fuel in anticipation of possible scarcity.

It assured that it is doing everything possible to guarantee that the prevailing sanity in the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country which was achieved with the recent downstream liberation policy is sustained.

PENGASSAN had on Thursday begun its nationwide strike action in protest of sundry industry related issues it said the government has refused to attend to. It also said on Thursday that it was not in negotiations with the government despite claims by the government that it had begun engaging with it.