Norwegian
oil strike ends: Labour ministry
Labour Minister Hanne Bjurstrom. Photo: Ministry of Labour
Norway's
government intervened to end an offshore workers' strike just minutes ahead of
a threatened lockout at the country's oil production sites, the labour ministry
said on Tuesday.
"The
strike is over," ministry spokesman Jan Richard Kjelstrup told AFP.
Jan Hodneland, a negotiator for the
Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF) employers' group, said the
government made a "responsible choice".
"We are now relieved that we do not have to shut down the
production on the Norwegian continental shelf, however, we were ready to
initiate a lockout if the government did not intervene," he said.
The pensions dispute -- in what is Western Europe's largest oil and gas
producer and the world's second largest gas exporter -- will now go to binding
arbitration.
The lockout, which was to have been enforced from midnight on Monday,
had loomed after talks between employers and unions failed to end a prolonged
strike involving hundreds of workers which began on June 24th. Crude prices had
risen on the news.
More than 700 North Sea oil workers -- members of the unions Industri Energi and SAFE -- launched
their strike in June.
They wanted employers to reconsider a decision not to grant special
benefits to those who wish to retire at the age of 62, three years before the
legal retirement age in the field and five years before the country-wide age.
Labour Minister Hanne Bjurstrom said on national television that a
production stoppage would have hit supplies to Europe as well as Norway's
credibility as a hydrocarbon exporter.
Leif Sande, the head of the Industri Energi union, said his members felt
"betrayed" but trade unions nonetheless called on members to resume
work immediately.
Norwegian old giant Statoil, the group most hit by the 16-day strike,
said in a statement that it was "preparing to resume production at
installations that have been affected".
The strike had halted production of oil and natural gas at the group's
Oseberg and Heidrun fields in the North Sea, resulting in a loss of some
240,000 barrels of oil and 11.9 million cubic metres of gas, according to OLF.
Statoil estimated that normal production levels would be resumed within
a week.
Oil prices surged earlier on Monday as Norway's oil industry appeared
headed for the lockout.
However Brent crude fell back below $100 in Asian trading Tuesday after
news of the end of the strike.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August dived
77 cents to $85.22 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for August delivery
plunged $1.62 to $98.70.
"After the government stepped in and ordered a settlement to the
strike, that's returned one to two million barrels per day of oil to the
market. That's having a relatively bearish impact on prices right now,"
Nick Trevethan, senior commodities strategist for ANZ Research, told AFP in
Singapore.
Some 50 companies operate on Norway's continental shelf, including
Statoil, BP and Royal Dutch Shell.
The last oil workers strike in Norway, in 2004, was ended by government
intervention after a week.
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