US supermajor Chevron has reached agreement with its employees in Bangladesh over a long running profit sharing dispute, writes Amanda Battersby.

Local media said Chevron would pay some 604 crore taka ($71.2 million) although the company, which operates the producing Moulavi Bazar, Bibiyana and Jalalabad gas fields in Bangladesh did not disclose the sum involved.

“Chevron Bangladesh can confirm that it has reached an agreement with employee petitioners related to the Worker’s Profit Participation Fund,” the US operator said.

“The agreement is confidential and subject to formal endorsement from the High Court of Bangladesh.”

More than 500 Chevron workers who several years ago filed a writ to the Bangladesh High Court have now withdrawn their petition.

The dispute relates to profit sharing (the Workers’ Profit Participation Fund), dividends and other service benefits — under local labour regulations, the operator is supposed to disburse 5% of net profit to employees.

Chevron had earlier told Upstream that it complies with all employment contracts as well as applicable laws, rules and regulations.

Upstream reported in July 2017 that state-owned Petrobangla had blocked $50 million of payments to Chevron for produced gas after a court ruled the supermajor had not fulfilled conditions of its employee profits participation programme

Chevron had earlier moved to divest its Bangladesh upstream assets.

Finance

US giant settles Dhaka row