Brazilian oil workers expanded their strike Monday, idling more offshore oil platforms.

    Oil workers have been protesting the company's downsizing plans,including cutting back on spending by some 15.1 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2016.

    The strike that began Sunday disrupted work at more than half the company's oil platforms in the southeast Campos basin.

    The country's main oil workers' union, the Federacion Unica de Petroleros (FUP), said in a press release that the strike had spread to at least 10 of Brazil's 27 states, and 34 of the 44 platforms operating in the Campos basin, 22 of which had completely stopped production.

    The strike has seriously affected the Campos basin, which accounts for 80 percent of Brazil's crude output, with the striking workers occuping the Caiunas Terminal (Tecab) in the north of Rio de Janeiro state, where part of the crude extracted offshore is processed.

    In addition, The move heaped more problems on the already troubled state-run oil giant Petrobras, which has seen its profits hit by a major corruption scandal and low oil prices.

    The corruption scandal has hurt Petrobras' reputation internationally and its ability to attract investment.