Oslo — Some 913 workers on Norwegian offshore oil and gas drilling rigs and other installations will go on a strike unless a wage deal is found by a June 29 deadline, the Industri Energi labour union said in a statement on Monday.
Strike action by drilling workers does not normally affect the output of oil and gas in the short run but could have a greater impact in the longer term as expansion projects and the start-up of new fields could be delayed.
Workers that may strike work on 12 rigs, including Seadrill’s West Elara rig, Odfjell’s Nordkapp, Transocean’s Spitsbergen and as contractors at Equinor’s Gullfaks field, Industri Energi says.
Talks between the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association (NSA) and the Safe, Industri Energi and DSO labour unions involving 6,000-7,500 drilling workers broke down on May 24, and a state-appointed mediator will seek to avert the outbreak of a strike.
Safe and DSO have not yet announced how many of their members would join a potential first wave of strikes.
Norwegian petroleum production workers, who are directly employed by companies such as Equinor and Conoco Phillips, reached a wage agreement last month, preventing strikes at major oil and gas fields.
Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Louise Rasmussen and Nerijus Adomaitis – Reuters
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