Equinor announced the start of a safe shutdown on the Gudrun, Oseberg South and Oseberg East offshore gas fields on Tuesday in response to a midnight strike by members of the Norwegian Organization of Managers and Executives (Lederne).
The strike came after Lederne members voted in a referendum against the mediator’s proposal during wage negotiations for offshore personnel between the labor organizations and the employers’ organization, the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (Norog).
Total output from Gudrun, Oseberg South and Oseberg East is roughly 89,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day, with natural gas accounting for 27,500 boe per day.
The strike will be extended to other fields taking effect on July 6, which, Equinor said, will cause a controlled shutdown of production at the Heidrun, Kristin and Aasta Hansteen fields, as well as the Tyrihans field that is tied to the Kristin platform.
“Total production from Heidrun, Kristin/Tyrihans and Aasta Hansteen is around 333,000 boe per day, of which 264,000 boe per day is natural gas,” Equinor said.
Equinor noted that a further escalation is expected on July 9 at the Sleipner, Gullfaks A and Gullfaks C offshore fields and warned that the “consequences of this escalation are not yet clear.”
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr