Offshore Norway, an industry group, said that Norway's oil and?gas?production was reduced by 2.4?million boe so far this year due to a pay strike being held by oil service employees.

In 2025, Norway will produce more than 4,000,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from offshore fields. Offshore Norway said that the strike began on June 15 following wage negotiations breaking down. It has resulted in production losses of 1.6 billion Norwegian crowns (about 163.6 million dollars) when both actual and projected effects are considered.

It added that daily production losses are continuing to increase and will reach "around 120,000 boepd" by mid-July. The union SAFE escalated its strike on June 18 and employers responded by locking out an additional 1,000 workers in late June to try to end the dispute. They warned that production disruptions might worsen.

Offshore Norway reported that five mobile drilling rigs and five fixed offshore installations, as well as one well intervention vessel, have stopped their operations completely. Four inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR), vessels were also affected. The Safe union leader, Raymond?Midtgaard, said that the lockout by the employers, and not the strike, is responsible for the production loss. In a text message, he stated that "Safe only took a few hundred workers on strike from the total workforce."

The Norwegian labour ministry has not acted despite having the authority to do so if a striking worker threatens national interest. The ministry did not respond to a request for comment. (1 dollar = 9.7789 Norwegian Crowns) (Reporting and writing by Louise Rasmussen; editing by Essi Fletcher and Philippe Fletcher).

(source: Reuters)