Abuja, May 2, 2008 - The four-day NNPC-brokered truce talks between Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN) and PENGASSAN has yielded results as both parties reached agreement on the contentious issues.

With the resolution of the labour face-off, the indefinite strike embarked upon by the workers, has been called off, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The workers were agitating for a pay rise, integrity of facilities, pension scheme, expatriate quota, safety at work environment and casual/contract staffing.

The MPN is ExxonMobil's upstream subsidiary currently producing the country's largest volume of crude each day.

The one-week strike and facility shut-down resulted to 860,000 barrels per day crude oil loss from MPN's export terminal in Eket, Akwa Ibom.

"We have communicated the agreement to our members and asked them to go back to work.

"As we speak, they have started re-opening the facilities shut down a week ago," Mr. Olusola George-Olumoroti, Chairman of MPN PENGASSAN branch, told NAN.

"We are satisfied with the agreement. It is a win-win situation. We are returning as friends," he said, and expressed optimism that no worker would be victimised.

"That was why we said that management should put the matter on the negotiation table," George-Olumoroti said.

The chairman declined to state the concessions made by the MPN management before the workers backed down.

He said that both parties took the decision out of patriotism and in the interest of the nation's economy.

NAN, however, learnt that the MPN management had conceded a 20 per cent all-round improvement in the service conditions of its workers during the talks.

In a remark, the new National President of PENGASSAN, Mr Babatunde Ogun, described the reconciliation as both beautiful and purposeful.

"With this harmony, we expect all will be well henceforth," he said.

On his part, Mr. Peter Odjoji, Manager (Employee Relations) of the NNPC, said both parties exhibited maturity and understanding during the talks.

He chaired the session on behalf of the Group Managing Director, Mr. Abubakar Yar'Adua, the convener of the Abuja MPN/PENGASSAN peace talks. (NAN)