BPCL Officers Association called off their strike.

09-01-09 Employees of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and members of Oil India Ltd Officers Association have called off their strike.

The PSU oil major on Friday said that the strike by its officers has partially ended with many of them resuming work. It also said that fuel supplies to affected pumps have already started.

The news was confirmed by Oil Secretary R S Pandey, who said that many BPCL officials have returned to work. He also disclosed that Indian Oil services began to improve gradually when officials were told either to join work or face arrest.

The officers at the state-run oil companies are demanding salary hikes. Meanwhile, Oil India Limited Officers Association also called off the strike.

With the fuel shortage becoming a full blown crisis, the government on Friday told striking oil company officials to either return to work or get arrested.

The strike has entered its third day. At least 70 per cent of the fuel pumps in the country have run dry and the number is steadily increasing.

The Territorial Army is slated to take over refineries and man petrol pumps to overcome the crisis.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Petroleum Minister Milind Deora have both dismissed the demands of striking officers as unreasonable.

However, it's not just petrol pumps which are dry, LPG and CNG are also in short supply, as four key refineries are now running below capacity.

Addressing mediapersons on Friday, Home Minister P Chidambaram asked the striking oil PSU workers to call off the strike and said that the government was willing to hold talks immediately.

He also said that HPCL was functioning normally and BPCL was operating at 70 per cent capacity as of Friday morning.

The Centre has advised state governments to take firm action against striking officers of oil PSUs. The Home Minister also said that firm action was being taken against striking employees.

The crisis management group, under Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar, met on Friday and considered the option of bringing in the Army to move petroleum product cargoes from refineries to petrol pumps but did not take a firm decision on this.

Meanwhile, Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said he has apprised the Prime Minister of the situation. He also appealed the workers to call of the strike.

The option of calling in the army is being considered, as there is no loading or cargo dispatching activity in the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), said its chairman Sarthak Behuria.

"We have exhausted all options and now we have to make officers work," said Behuria.

Meanwhile, speaking about the issue, Petroleum Secretary said the Mathura refinery would be restarted with help of the army.

He further said that petrol stock for 20 days, diesel stock for 14 days and LPG stock for 12 days are available.

"All BPCL retail outlets will open by evening. CNG supplies in Mumbai is likely to be restored by evening as well," said the Petroleum Secretary.

A large number of petrol pumps across the country went dry as the indefinite strike by oil PSU executives entered the third day on Friday, with the possibility of a major fuel supply crisis looming large.

However, some officers have returned to work in BPCL. Aviation refuelling services were near normal and HPCL was functioning as usual.

About two-thirds of the 425 petrol pumps in the National Capital did not open because of lack of stocks while 60 per cent outlets in Mumbai put up 'No Stock' signboards.

Mumbai also ran out of compressed natural gas (CNG), which runs some two lakh buses, taxis and autos, but Delhi had enough CNG and piped natural gas stocks to last seven to 10 days.

While Hindustan Petroleum pumps across the country were operating normally, Bharat Petroleum senior management officials were ensuring that there were dispatches of petrol and diesel to the company's outlets.

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora late on Thursday evening visited Noida on the outskirts of the national capital to meet the striking Oil Sector Officers Association (OSOA) leaders but the talks to resolve the imbroglio failed.

The OSOA kept harping on the government acceding to its demand for higher increase in wages than those approved in November but Deora said he did not have the powers to approve anything that would also have ramifications for other PSUs.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appointed a committee of ministers headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram to look into their demands, and it is expected to give its report in less than 30 days.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) chairman R S Sharma failed to convince his officials to resume gas production at the country's largest field in Western Offshore, affecting power generation and fertiliser production.

Crude oil production at Mumbai offshore was almost half at 1,80,000 barrels and four key refineries of IOC operated at 25 to 30 per cent of capacity.

Also read