Equinor suspended four offshore oil and gas fields after a trade union stepped up its strike on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), the company announced on Monday.
The strike came following a breakdown of wage talks between the employer organization, Norwegian Oil and Gas Association and the Lederne trade union.
Equinor said it conducted a controlled closure of the fields Gudrun, Gina Krog, Kvitebjorn and Valemon due to the escalating tensions between the parties after midnight on Sunday.
“A total of 54 members of the trade union Lederne will be on strike at Gudrun, Gina Krog and Kvitebjorn. The Valemon field must be shut down because it is linked to Kvitebjorn. Production at the Johan Sverdrup platform continues for the present. 43 members of Lederne have been on strike there since Wednesday morning,” the company explained.
Neptune’s Gjoa field was also shut down as a result of the walkout.
-Strikes to cut 8% of oil production
Total oil and gas output from the NCS is about four million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed). The extension of the strike will cut production by nearly 330,000 barrels of boed, or 8%, Norwegian Oil and Gas Company said in a Friday statement.
“We presented a financial offer which was accepted by the Norwegian Union of Industry and Energy Workers and the Norwegian Union of Energy Workers. These represent 85% of the offshore workforce,” Jan Hodneland, chief negotiator at Norwegian Oil and Gas, was quoted as saying in the statement.
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr