Lagos, Nigeria – The confrontation between the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Dangote Refinery intensified on Friday, with the union ordering its members to cut off gas supplies to the $20 billion facility. The directive, which also includes shutting crude oil valves and halting vessel loading, stems from a dispute over the dismissal of unionized workers.
In a letter dated September 26, PENGASSAN’s General Secretary, Lumumba Ighotemu Okugbawa, accused Dangote Refinery of breaching the constitutional right to freedom of association. The union alleged that workers were sacked for joining PENGASSAN and said the company resorted to “misinformation and propaganda” instead of addressing grievances.
The directive targets major gas producers and suppliers, including TotalEnergies, Seplat, Renaissance, Chevron, Oando, Shell Nigeria Gas, and the Nigeria Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC). The union instructed NGIC to enforce an immediate shutdown of gas supply and demanded compliance reports from branch chairmen.
“All crude oil supply valves to the Refinery should be shut. The loading operation for vessels headed there should be halted immediately,” the letter stated, invoking the union’s long-standing slogan: “Injury to one, injury to all.”
The move threatens to disrupt operations at Africa’s largest oil refinery, commissioned in 2023 with a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. Seen as a cornerstone for reducing Nigeria’s reliance on imported fuel, the project has faced mounting labor disputes that now risk undermining government efforts to stabilize the downstream sector.
Labour relations at the refinery have drawn scrutiny, with critics warning that disputes of this scale could stall Nigeria’s progress toward energy security. If PENGASSAN’s action is sustained, industry experts fear it could slow output, unsettle fuel markets, and dent investor confidence in Nigeria’s energy sector.
Neither the Dangote Group nor federal authorities had issued a response at the time of writing, leaving uncertainty over how quickly the standoff might be resolved.
