Nigerian Union Ends Threat to Halt Oil Exports as Staff Released

(Bloomberg) -- A Nigerian oil-industry union called off plans for a strike that threatened the country’s crude exports, after authorities released workers accused of breaking rules aimed at containing the coronavirus.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria suspended the strike hours before it was to have started at midnight on Sunday. The union, known as Pengassan, had planned to halt operations at all crude-exporting facilities to protest the detention of 21 Exxon Mobil Corp. employees by authorities in Rivers State, it said in an emailed statement.

Authorities initially accused the employees of violating restrictions on their movement, the union said. However, the workers were released on Sunday, and Pengassan backed down from its threat, a union official said by phone later in the day.

Nigeria, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, has long contended with interruptions to output and exports of crude due to unrest in its oil-rich southeastern region. Pengassan represents managerial staff in the African nation’s oil business.

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