A threatened strike could cut Norway’s oil production by 100,0000 from the middle of this week if oil worker trade unions don’t agree on a new wage deal.
Two Norwegian trade unions will meet for mandatory mediation with industry representatives Monday.
A strike deadline of Tuesday midnight hangs over the talks.
The unions plan to shut down several platforms on the Norwegian continental shelf operated by ExxonMobil and GDF Suez, Reuters said.
“That could initially cut Norwegian oil production by about 100,000 barrels per day and gas production by 15 million cubic meters (mcm) per day, and may also be expanded at a later stage,” the report said.
That would be a production cut of about 7%.
“So far this year, daily production has averaged 1.5 million barrels of oil, while current gas production is 240 mcm,” Reuters said.
The Norwegian Organisation of Managers and Executives (Lederne) said it planned to put 76 workers on strike on the GDF Suez-operated Gjoea platform.
A shutdown of Gjoea would also impact the Statoil-operated Vega field, which has three subsea templates tied to Gjoea’s facilities, the report said.
Gjoea produced 33,000 barrels of oil per day and 10.7 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas per day in 2013.
Vega produced 17,000 barrels of oil per day and 4 mcm of gas.
The Norwegian Union of Energy Workers (Safe) said it will put 190 workers on strike at ExxonMobil’s Ringhorne and Balder fields in the North Sea if the talks fail.
The fields produced about 50,000 barrels of oil per day last year, Reuters said.
Although Industri Energi, Norway’s biggest union for energy workers, accepted a deal in May to raise pay for each worker by $2,600 per year, the two other unions quit the talks because of a dispute over pension rights.
