Nigeria Oil Output Drops 16% Amid Three-Day Dangote Strike

Nigeria suffered significant crude oil output loss of 283,000 barrels per day after a three-day oil workers’ strike that threatened to cut crude supplies to the Dangote refinery until it was called off.

Africa’s biggest crude producer lost 283,000 barrels of oil per day within the first 24-hours of the strike organized by the country’s largest oil union, Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Chief Executive Officer Bayo Ojulari said in a letter.

The union, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ended the strike on Wednesday after the Dangote refinery agreed to reassign workers who were fired over alleged acts of sabotage.

The country also lost 1.7 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day and more than 1,200 megawatts of power generation, the letter sent to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said.

“This equates to around 16% of national oil output, 30% of marketed gas, and 20% of electricity generation,” said the letter, which was dated Sept. 29.

Nigeria produces an average of 1.5 million barrels of oil a day, while the Dangote Refinery, the biggest refiner on the continent meets between 35% to 50% of Nigerian gasoline demand.

The strike also delayed the planned restoration of crude and monetized gas production under joint ventures and production sharing contract arrangements, according to the letter.

“It is our considered view that the current industrial action has impacts that extend beyond the Dangote refinery,” Ojulari said. The disruptions “posed systemic risks to energy supply, personnel and asset security and the wider economy,” he said.

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