Nigeria’s NUPRC workers shut offices nationwide

Staff of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) shut down operations across the country on Monday.

The action followed a breakdown in negotiations with NUPRC management over overseas training opportunities.

The dispute focused on management’s decision to prioritize local training programmes instead of foreign capacity‑building initiatives.

The commission argued that conducting specialised training within Nigeria would reduce costs and strengthen domestic institutional capacity.

“We shut down the headquarters and the field offices of the commission across the country over a dispute concerning foreign training programs,” a staff member who spoke anonymously said.

The worker explained that management had insisted that training programmes, including those linked to Factory Acceptance Tests for Positive Displacement (PD) Meters, be conducted locally rather than overseas. The position, he said, was rejected by employees, leading to the strike.

Meanwhile, the commission assured stakeholders that Nigeria’s oil and gas production remains unaffected despite the indefinite strike embarked upon by the workers.

Reacting to concerns over the strike, the head of media and strategic communications at NUPRC, Eniola Akinkuotu, said the disruption was limited to some administrative functions and had not impacted the nation’s oil and gas production activities.

“It is true that some administrative activities were affected today due to industrial action taken by the unions. However, this has not in any way impacted activities in oil and gas facilities or production in general,” Akinkuotu said.

Daily Post reports that Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production rose to 1.49 million barrels per day in April 2026. The strike, if left to linger, may affect the country’s crude production despite NUPRC’s management assurances.