Oman petroleum firm seeks end to workers strike

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is taking steps to reach a resolution to end an industrial dispute with contracting staff that has seen a small drop in oil production, the firm said in a statement. The part state-backed firm said it is working closely with the government, Royal Oman Police and other authorities to end the strike. “Operations at Qarn Alam have started to resume and further talks are taking place at Fahud,” the statement read. “The unfortunate fact of the matter is that those who have mounted this illegal strike have been blocking the delivery of water and diesel and preventing others from going about their daily business,” added Raoul Restucci, managing director at PDO. Several hundred contractors at PDO have gone on strike demanding higher wages, joining several other industrial strikes in the Gulf state. The company, which is owned by Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Partex, is responsible for more than 70 percent of Oman's crude oil production and nearly all of its natural gas supply. By Arabian Business