Brazil's Petrobras says no impact to oil, natural gas output from ongoing strike

Brazilian state-led oil company Petrobras registered no impact on oil and natural gas production from an ongoing strike by oil workers, with contingency teams mobilized to take over operations at floating production units, refineries and other facilities as needed, the company said Dec. 18.

"Petrobras has registered protests at its facilities since Monday, Dec. 15, because of the strike movement," the company said in a statement to S&P Global Energy. "The company's contingency teams were mobilized where necessary. There has been no impact on production so far, and market supplies remain guaranteed without any changes."

Oil workers represented by the Unified Federation of Oil Workers, or FUP, and the National Oil Workers Federation, or NFP, said that a total of 28 oil and natural gas production platforms had adhered to the strike as of late Dec. 17. That included 26 platforms in the mature Campos Basin.

The RNEST refinery in Pernambuco state also joined the strike roll on Dec. 17, when workers at the oil-processing facility delivered the refinery to Petrobras' contingency team during a shift change, FUP said. Nine Petrobras-operated refineries have now adhered to the strike, according to the union.

In addition to the platforms and refineries, the walkout also was joined by workers at 12 logistics terminals operated by Petrobras subsidiary Transpetro; the Cabiunas natural gas treatment center, known as UTGCAB; the Paulinia gas compression station operated by Transportadora Brasileira Gasoduto Bolivia-Brasil, or TBG; three thermal power plants; two biodiesel plants; and the Polo Bahia Terra complex of onshore oil and gas fields, the two unions said.

"Petrobras' contingency teams are prepared and mobilized to continue working to maintain operations, without the loss of production or supplies to the market," the company said.

FUP, meanwhile, raised complaints that Petrobras hadn't yet allowed oil workers registered for the strike to disembark offshore installations, while workers at the LUBNOR, REDUC, REFAP and REGAP had been kept on site for as long as 60 hours. Talks were underway to hand over operations to Petrobras-led contingency teams, FUP said.

Open to dialog

Petrobras remained open to further negotiations, the company said.

"The company respects workers' right to protest and remains open to dialog with union officials," Petrobras said.

The strike was unlikely to have a major impact on Petrobras' oil and gas production, according to industry officials. Brazil's production profile is dominated by production sharing fields in the subsalt region, where many of the floating production units are leased by Petrobras from international operators. That limits the impact of a walkout on production.

Brazil's subsalt accounts for about 80% of the country's oil and gas production, according to the National Petroleum Agency.

The strike started Dec. 15 after oil workers rejected a collective-bargaining contract proposal submitted by Petrobras on Dec. 9, according to the unions. In addition, workers protested planned budget and payroll cuts at the company. Petrobras recently launched a voluntary retirement plan that seeks to reduce its workforce by about 1,100 people.

The last major strike at Petrobras' operations took place in February 2020, when oil workers walked off the job for 21 days. The strike had a limited impact on oil and gas output as well as refinery operations. In 2015, however, a 12-day strike cost the company about 125,000 b/d. That was only surpassed a 32-day walkout in 1995 that is considered the worst labor action in the company's history.