Lagos (Platts)--28Jan2011/903 am EST/1403 GMT

Nigerian senior oil workers union Pengassan Friday demanded that the country's parliament make available the version of the draft oil law being worked on currently, condemning the secrecy surrounding the bill to overhaul Africa's biggest oil industry.

Pengassan, in a statement issued after a meeting of its executive council, also said it was giving Chevron a 14-day ultimatum to compensate those union members who were made jobless after the company sold off its downstream assets in Nigeria or face industrial action.

With no clues yet on the final draft of the Petroleum Industry Bill, Pengassan said it was concerned that labor issues might not be addressed in the proposed legislation.

Pengassan threatened to use any action deemed appropriate if the bill is passed in its current form without incorporating the submissions from the union and its junior counterpart Nupeng.

"[Pengassan] therefore demands that the National Assembly should without delay, make available to the public the version of the bill that is currently being processed and amendment made hitherto to date," the union said.

The PIB has been with Nigeria's Senate since 2008. But its progress has been delayed by constant revisions by both government officials -- mainly from the state oil firm NNPC and the oil ministry -- and industry stakeholders.

Local analysts say progress on the bill will not come until after the general elections in April this year. Lawmakers, who resumed this week after the last Christmas holidays, are set to begin deliberations on the 2011 budget proposals.

Oil executives' uncertainty over the legislation, which could significantly raise the cost of operating in the West African country, have put billions of dollars of potential investment on hold.

--Staff, newsdesk@platts.com

Similar stories appear in Oilgram News. See more information at http://bit.ly/OilgramNews