Norway offshore workers and employers enter mediation to avoid strike
Norwegian unions representing workers on offshore drilling rigs and floating platforms entered wage negotiations with the state on Wednesday. They hoped to avoid a strike that was scheduled for Friday, which could have affected a part of Norway's oil and natural gas industry.
Styrke Safe and DSO have all said that more than 600 workers could walk out at first, with the potential for an escalation. The wage agreement is for about 7,500 employees in total.
The first strike will affect the Encourage rig of Transocean, Odfjell Technology's Linus platform, AKOFS Seafarer, and Equinor Gullfaks.
The impact of a strike on Norway's oil-and-gas production, which is around 4 million barrels equivalents per day (boepd), was not immediately clear.
In 2025, the Gullfaks oil field in North Sea will produce approximately 22,900 boepd. Operator?Equinor did not respond to a request for comment.
Shell's Knarr Field was shut down in 2018 after a similar 10-day strike of workers on floating installations.
On June 5, the unions agreed on a wage agreement for oil company employees, preventing disruption in production. However, some oil service workers went on strike on Friday June 15.
Since then, the dispute has escalated. Employers have imposed a lockout on around 1,000 workers, warning them of possible production impacts. Safe has also increased its strike to 63 workers as of Wednesday.
Separately, Aker BP announced on Wednesday that it was forced to shut down the?Tambar?oilfield in the?North Sea due to the ongoing labor dispute. Official data indicated that the field would produce about 7,000 Boepd by 2025.
The shutdown was first reported by EnergiWatch.
Offshore Norway, which represents oil service employers, has warned that the strike could reduce Norway's oil production by 12,000 boepd in this week. If it continues, losses could exceed 120,000 boepd after mid-July.
The government can intervene if a dispute threatens national interest, but the labour ministry is reluctant to do so. (Reporting and editing by EssiLehto, ChizuNomiyama.)
(source: Reuters)
