Equinor’s logo is seen at the company’s headquarters in Stavanger, Norway, December 5, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

OSLO, July 1 (Reuters) – A strike planned for next week among Norwegian oil and gas workers could cut the country’s overall oil production by around 8% unless a last-minute agreement is reached on wage demands, according to a Reuters calculation released on Friday.

The dispute over wages between oil companies and employees of offshore platforms could reduce gas production by more than 10% at a time of high prices and tight supply in Europe.

The Norwegian union Lederne, which announced on Thursday that its members had rejected a pay agreement and would go on strike on July 5, said on Friday that the dispute would escalate sharply from July 6 if no negotiations were concluded. Read more

Provided six fields are closed on the second day, the union says, the outage could amount to around 320,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), or about 8% of Norway‘s oil production, a calculation based on official production data. show.

Of this, oil and condensate would see a reduction of around 130,000 barrels per day (bpd), or around 6.5% of production, while daily gas production would be reduced by 34.7 million cubic meters. standard (mcm), i.e. 10.6% of the total.

Some 74 Norwegian offshore oil workers at Equinor’s (EQNR.OL) Gudrun, Oseberg South and Oseberg East platforms will go on strike from July 5, Lederne said Thursday. Read more

They will be followed the next day by 117 workers from Heidrun, Kristin and Aasta Hansteen, the union said.

“I think it will affect production,” Lederne executive Audun Ingvartsen told Reuters. Lederne mainly represents senior executives considered crucial to operations.

Operator Equinor said it was “too early to conclude” on the consequences of the escalating strike as it would take time to assess its impact.

The Norwegian government said it was following the dispute “closely”. It can intervene to stop a strike if there are exceptional circumstances.

PRODUCTION

Earlier, Equinor told Reuters it would halt production from the Gudrun, Oseberg South and Oseberg East fields offshore Norway if the strike began on July 5.

“If there is a strike, we will close all three facilities,” an Equinor spokesperson said.

Total oil production at Oseberg South, Oseberg East and Gudrun is 89,000 boepd, he said.

While Oseberg East and Oseberg South only produce oil, Gudrun produces both oil and gas. Gas production at the field is 27,500 boepd, or 4.4 million cc, Equinor said.

Ingvartsen, the union leader, said the union had a “good dialogue” with the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (NOG), which represents employers.

“I hope that with this serious situation, with such a major escalation, we can talk this weekend and on Monday we can solve this problem,” he said.

“But there is no easy solution.”

Editing by David Evans and Marguerita Choy

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