Norway Strike Could Cut A Quarter Of Oil, Gas Output Next Week

A strike by oil workers in Norway could cut output from western Europe's biggest oil and gas producer by almost a quarter, operators said on Thursday, though the striking union said a resolution was possible.

Widening strike action raised the prospect of further price rises on the international oil market as benchmark Brent crude traded up 1.5% on Thursday.

News about the strike has helped to keep Brent above $42 per barrel in recent days.

Norway's government, which can intervene if a strike is considered a national emergency, said it was up to the two sides to resolve their differences.

"Strike is a legitimate measure," The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs said in an emailed statement to Reuters, adding it was monitoring the situation.

In 2012, the Norwegian government invoked its powers to end an oil industry conflict after 16 days, when employers threatened a lockout of workers that would have shut down Norway's entire oil and gas output.

The parties exchanged proposals on Wednesday and will discuss them on Thursday, the striking union said.

"I think, we have a plan, and it can be solved in two steps," Lederne union chief Audun Ingvartsen told Reuters.

"We can look into ways how to solve it for the short term, and then we can go back to it later ... There is still time to reach the agreement."

The dispute began on Sept. 30 when wage talks between the Lederne union and the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (NOG) collapsed, triggering production outages on Oct. 5.

The union wants to match the pay and conditions of workers at onshore remote control rooms with those of offshore workers, as well as have a higher wage rise this year than proposed by oil firms.

Six offshore oil and gas fields shut down on Oct 5 as Lederne ramped up the strike, cutting output capacity by 8%, or around 330,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), the NOG said.

(Reuters)