Oil and gas workers have walked off the job. Now the prices are going up.
Norwegian oil and gas workers have walked off the job amid concerns about Europe’s gas supplies. “The strike has started,” said Audun Ingvartsen, chairman of the Lederne union, on Monday evening. Oil and gas production will be cut by 89,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) as a result of Tuesday’s work stoppage, of which gas production will account for 27,500 boepd, Norwegian energy group Equinor said.
According to a calculation by the Reuters news agency, a planned gradual reduction in production by Saturday could result in almost a quarter of Norwegian gas production and around 15 percent of oil production being shut down. The decision to cut production ultimately rests with the operator Equinor. The group was initially unavailable for comment.
The Norwegian government is following the conflict “closely”, it says. And: You can end the strike if “extraordinary circumstances” exist.
Energy sector is important for Norway
For the EU countries, the work stoppage comes at an inopportune time, as they are dependent on more gas from Norway due to a lack of Russian supplies. The cooperation is to be intensified, as the EU announced in June – so far about 20 percent of the gas imported into the EU comes from Norway. For this reason, Norway has already increased its production capacities by eight percent to around 100 terawatt hours for this year.
The energy sector is also important for Norway. At least 200,000 of the approximately five million inhabitants work in the industry. In comparison, the current strike seems small: According to a newspaper report, just 70 employees are involved, writes the “Spiegel”. But the unions are planning to expand this further. Behind this is a collective bargaining dispute in which the union members have rejected a proposal for an agreement and are now demanding a real wage increase.
Prices up 11 percent
On the markets, the uncertainties caused by the strike were acknowledged with price increases. For deliveries in a month, the price rose 11 percent on Monday to €159.30.
However, concerns about throttled or even cut gas supplies from Russia are having a stronger impact than the labor dispute in Norway. In the past four weeks, the price of gas has therefore almost doubled.
