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Oil workers under the umbrella of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have suspended a nationwide strike they embarked upon on Tuesday to protest the restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

According to a message posted on NNPC’s twitter handle on Thursday, the oil workers suspended their strike action after meeting with Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, NNPC’s Group Managing Director and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.

“Sequel to exhaustive deliberations with our GMD and GEC [Group Executive Councils] of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, the corporate-wide strike has been suspended,” the message said.

The GEC has also agreed to support the restructuring of the NNPC.

On Tuesday, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Kachikwu, unveiled the restructuring of the NNPC by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari which involves the creation of five business-focused divisional groups, namely, Upstream, Downstream, Gas and Power, Refineries and Ventures. The 20 subsidiaries of the national oil company will operate under these divisional groups.

NUPENG and PENGASSAN – the two major unions of oil workers in Nigeria – had declared a nationwide strike stating that the government acted with “disregard to due process.”

The government says it wants to reposition the loss-making oil company, eradicate institutional corruption and increase its efficiency and profitability. In February, NNPC reported that it lost N267.14 billion in 2015, despite recording revenues of N2.046 trillion.