A 24-hour warning strike by Brazilian oil workers has not affected crude oil and natural gas production, despite union claims to the contrary, state-led oil company Petrobras said Friday.
"Petrobras informs that the company's activities are normal," the company said in an emailed response to questions.
The latest work action to hit Petrobras started at midnight Thursday, when workers refused shift changes at onshore fields in Bahia state that were recently put up for sale, the Federation of Oil Workers, or FUP, said in a strike update. FUP is an umbrella union representing many of Petrobras' 80,000 direct employees.
Oil workers were protesting impeachment proceedings underway against President Dilma Rousseff, as well as Petrobras' plans to sell off assets.
"The strike is in defense of sovereignty and democracy, and against the dismantling of the company, delivery of the subsalt into foreign hands and attacks against workers' right that are on the agenda of the coup government of Michel Temer and Petrobras Chief Executive Pedro Parente," FUP said in a statement.
Workers carried out a similar 24-hour warning strike May 10 to protest Rousseff's pending impeachment. Brazil's Congress approved the impeachment proceedings, with then-Vice President Michel Temer taking over as president May 12. Temer will finish the remaining two years of Rousseff's second term if the Senate votes to impeach Rousseff at the conclusion of the trial.
A final impeachment vote is expected to take place by the end of July.
NATIONWIDE IMPACT
Workers at Petrobras' facilities across Brazil were participating in the strike, which union officials did not expect to affect production at offshore platforms, onshore fields and refineries, FUP said. According to FUP, 12 offshore platforms were adhering to the strike, including the P-58 floating production, storage and offloading vessel that pumps crude from the so-called Whales Park complex of oil fields. In April, the P-58 produced 145,357 b/d of oil and 4.03 million cu m/d of natural gas.
A majority of the platforms participating in the strike, 10, were located in the Campos Basin, which accounts for about 60% of Brazil's crude output, FUP said.
Workers at Petrobras' newest refinery, the 115,000 b/d Refinaria do Nordeste that started processing crude in December 2014, also adhered to the strike by refusing to change shifts late Thursday, FUP said. Workers at refineries in Amazonas, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and Sao Paulo states also joined the strike Friday, FUP said.
The last major work action at Petrobras took place in November, when workers walked off the job for 19 days to protest the company's divestment plan. The strike cost Petrobras an average of 120,526 b/d of oil output and 2.55 million cu m/d of natural gas production. The strike was the longest to hit Petrobras since 1995, when workers crossed their arms for 32 days to protest the government's plan to end Petrobras' monopoly of Brazil's oil industry.
Despite the impact on output, Petrobras was able to top its 2015 production target of 2.125 million b/d. Petrobras produced 2.128 million b/d in 2015, the first time the company reached its output goal in 13 years. In 2016, Petrobras expects production to rise 0.8% to 2.145 million b/d.
