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(Reuters) – Norwegian oil companies have agreed to a wage deal with three labour unions, preventing any strike action that would have disrupted output, negotiators for both sides said on Friday.
Labour unions had said nearly 8% of Norwegian offshore oil and gas workers planned to strike if wage mediation failed, and the industry estimated that this would have cut output by an initial 45,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
A strike could also have been expanded at any time, with significant impact on production, union officials had warned.
Norway produces more than 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, almost equally divided between crude and natural gas, and any reduction could impact markets at a time when Middle East output is curtailed by the Iran war.
A general annual pay increase of 42,000 Norwegian crowns ($4,493) was agreed, including offshore compensation and holiday allowance, officials said.
“In addition, shift and night supplements will increase by NOK 5 and NOK 8 respectively. Adjustments have also been made to variable supplements, along with some technical changes to the agreements,” Offshore Norway said in a statement.
Any output reduction would initially have involved operators Equinor, Aker BP, Okea and ConocoPhillips, according to Offshore Norway.
The negotiations between Norwegian oil companies and the labour unions covered most production workers on Norway’s oil and gas installations, while some oil service and exploration drilling employees will hold separate talks at a later date.
The state-appointed mediator leading the talks confirmed an agreement had been reached.
($1 = 9.3488 Norwegian crowns)
Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik
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