Boston, MA 10/21/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (ADR) (NYSE:PBR), a Brazilian state-run oil company, suffered a huge havoc recently. The workers of the company went on a nationwide strike to protest the auction of a huge offshore oil field which is scheduled next week. It was mentioned by the Union officials of the National Oil Workers Federation that foreign companies should not be involved, and as a result, the auction of the Libra prospect, which is to be held on the coming Monday, shall be cancelled. The Officials also added that it was not their intention that production should be affected. Also, the strike is a part of the demand of workers, who now want higher wages. The company is ready to raise their salaries by 7.7% but the union is demanding an increase of about 11.6%.
Jose Genivaldo da Silva, the Director of a National Oil Workers said that it would not be appropriate to comment on the effect of the strike but about 90% of the total 40,000 employees of the company joined the strike. The officials of the company gave their confirmation about the strike, and said in a statement that the company has taken required measures to ensure that operations are going on and the product is supplied to the market.
The contingency teams of the company that includes supervisors and managers and also Jose Genivaldo, the Union Director, were maintaining the scheduled operations at the refineries, terminals, and offshore platforms where workers went on strike.
The Libra prospect is believed to be the largest ever offshore oil discovery in the world. The field has about 12 million barrels of recoverable oil. It is located in the Santos Basin. Under new production, the company has scheduled an auction of the Libra field sharing agreements with foreign companies, which will require making a partnership with Petroleo Brasileiro.
