Twenty oil sector officials suspended, 2 held as strike disrupts supplies

08 January 2009

The government today suspended 20 oil sector officials - 11 from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and three each from the Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Gas Authority India Limited - and arrested two officials of ONGC for participating in the strike defying a high court order.

The two ONGC officials were, however, were later released by the court on condition that they give an undertaking not to strike or instigate it.

The indefinite strike by Oil Sector Officers Association (OSOA) since Wednesday morning impacted work at the four main IOC refineries, forcing shutdown of the Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline.

IOC said its Haldia refinery was completely shut down while its Panipat, Mathura and Koyali refineries were in the process of being shut down.

The strike also disrupted supply of gas to priority areas, including power plants as the indefinite strike by oil PSU officers entered the second day today.

The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) said power generation from its plants had been affected due to curtailment of natural gas supply.