Norwegian Offshore Workers Threaten Strike

OSLO, June 18 (Reuters) – Some 574 Norwegian rig staff might go on strike from subsequent Thursday, probably decreasing oil manufacturing, except a wage settlement is reached throughout talks with a state appointed mediator, three labour unions mentioned on Thursday.

Some 101 staff on the Petrojarl Varg oil manufacturing vessel, which operates on behalf of Repsol, and 88 individuals on the Petrojarl Knarr, producing oil for BG, will go on strike if the talks fail, the Safe union mentioned in a press release.

Both vessels are owned by Teekay Corporation’s Norwegian unit Teekay Petrojarl. Varg produced 6,000 barrels of oil per day in March, whereas the newly began Knarr is predicted to regularly ramp as much as 63,000 barrels per day.

In the occasion of a strike, the Safe members will likely be joined by 379 staff from the Industri Energi (IE) union, whereas the smaller DSO union mentioned six of its members would additionally strike.

The IE and DSO staff are all based mostly on 4 drilling rigs owned by Odfjell Drilling, Stena Drilling, China Oilfield Services and A.P. Moeller Maersk’s .

Negotiations between the unions and the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association (NSA), representing the employers, are scheduled for June 24.

If there’s a protracted battle, a strike might finally escalate to round 4,900 staff, the unions have mentioned beforehand, most of whom work on exploration rigs and associated amenities.

Norway produces nearly 2 million barrels of oil, condensate and pure gasoline liquids per day and can also be a big producer of pure gasoline. (Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, Writing by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Mark Potter)