Nigeria is facing a looming energy crisis after major oil unions shut down key petroleum institutions and halted operations at the $20 billion Dangote Refinery.
The strike, led by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), began on Monday and has already forced nationwide compliance across critical agencies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), according to Punch.
The protest stems from disputes over alleged mass layoffs at the Dangote Refinery, where union leaders claim that about 3,000 Nigerian workers were dismissed and replaced with expatriates, mostly from India.
The refinery, however, denied this claim, insisting that only a small fraction of its workforce was affected.
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It described the decision as part of a restructuring exercise aimed at protecting operations from “recent cases of sabotage” that posed “serious risks to human life and safety.”
In its statement, the refinery emphasized that thousands of Nigerians remain employed and that the restructuring was necessary to safeguard the long-term stability of the facility, regarded as a strategic national asset.
Nonetheless, PENGASSAN maintains that the wrongful dismissal of unionized staff has not been addressed and announced that the refinery has been “100 percent shut down.”
The union also reported that one of the fertilizer plant’s trains has stopped completely, while another is operating at only 60 percent capacity.
The strike’s effects have rippled across Nigeria’s oil industry.
Reports confirmed that employees were stranded outside the NUPRC headquarters in Abuja, as access to facilities was restricted under the union’s directive.
Similar full compliance was observed at NMDPRA offices in Abuja’s Central Business District, where operations have ground to a halt.
This latest action comes after earlier threats by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), which had accused the Dangote Refinery of attempting to operate outside union jurisdiction.
PENGASSAN has further ordered its members to hold a 24-hour prayer vigil, underscoring the gravity of the crisis.
This marks the first major disruption at the Dangote Refinery since it began operations earlier in 2025, raising concerns about Nigeria’s energy security and the stability of its downstream oil sector.
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