Equinor said on Monday it has shutdown four oil and gas fields in the Norwegian Continental Shelf due to an ongoing strike by workers from the Lederne trade union.
The “controlled closure” of the fields Gudrun, Gina Krog, Kvitebjørn and Valemon comes after 54 members of the trade union stage an offshore walkout. Production at the Johan Sverdrup field, where 43 members have been on strike since Wednesday morning, continues “for the present,” Equinor said in the statement.
The Norwegian Oil and Gas Association estimated last week that the strike, which is affecting six offshore fields, will dent the country’s oil and gas production by 8%, Kallanish Energy reports.
The fields produce 330,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d), of the 4 million barrels of oil equivalent a day (Mmboe/d).
The strike escalation reflects the failure to reach an agreement on pay settlement in negotiations between the employer organization Norwegian Oil and Gas Association and the trade union Lederne.
These workers rejected a settlement accepted by 85% of other unions workers, which include a pay rise of NOK 4700, and increases in hourly and night-work rates.
This post appeared first on Kallanish Energy News.