More than one in ten Norwegian offshore oil and gas workers plan strike action from Sunday if state-brokered wage mediation fails, a Reuters calculation based on labour union data showed on Tuesday.
A strike by 845 of Norway's roughly 7,500 offshore oil and gas production workers would hit a limited amount of oil output, while gas supply could at first be unaffected, according to statements by trade unions Industri Energi, Lederne and Safe.
"A strike would not initially affect Norway's gas exports, given the current situation in Europe," Safe said.
Lederne last week said it would avoid hitting gas output at a time of tight supply and high prices, while adding that crude output would likely be affected.
Industri Energi has said its members would not initially target production.
Workers are seeking above-inflation pay increases and other changes to their contracts but have not released details of their demands.
Oil firm Equinor, the biggest operator of platforms off Norway, said it was too early to comment on the potential production impact.
Norway is western Europe's largest petroleum producer, pumping around four million barrels of oil equivalent per day, divided roughly equally between oil and natural gas.
Safe on Tuesday said 198 of its members plan to go on strike from June 12th if the mediation fails, adding to the 74 members of Lederne and 574 members of Industri Energi announced on Friday.
A strike would hit 10 permanent offshore installations, including the Njord A, Valhall, Gudrun, Oseberg East and Oseberg South, as well as three mobile service units, the unions said.
Gudrun produced 45,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) in 2021, Oseberg East 5,600 boed and Oseberg South 32,000 boed, official data shows, around 2% of Norway's overall daily oil and gas output.
Any decision on shutdowns is ultimately up to the companies operating each field. - Reuters
