A potential strike at Norwegian oil and gas installations has been averted following an agreement with trade unions representing about 8,000 offshore industry workers late Thursday night, according to a statement from Offshore Norway on Friday.
Offshore Norway, which represented the oil industry in these negotiations, said an agreement was reached with the unions Styrke, Safe, and Lederne after two days of mediation, about four hours after the midnight deadline on June 4.
The terms of the agreement include a general annual pay hike of NOK 42,000, including offshore compensation and holiday allowance. Separately, shift and night supplements have also been hiked by NOK 5 and NOK 8 respectively, with adjustments also made to variable supplements, the statement said.
The offshore agreements cover 8,000 employees working for operators, drilling and catering companies like Equinor (EQNR), ConocoPhillips (COP) unit ConocoPhillips Norge, Aker BP, OKEA, Var Energi, Repsol Norge, KCA Deutag Drilling Norge, Sodexo Remote Sites Norway, ESS Support Services, Coor Service Management, and 4Service Offshore Hotels, the statement said.
"We have stretched far in these negotiations, while at the same time having to keep to the framework established by the lead sector model earlier this spring. This has made the negotiations demanding. However, I am pleased that we have reached an agreement and avoided a strike," said Elisabeth Brattebo Fenne, Director of Industrial Relations and chief negotiator for Offshore Norge in the statement.
Earlier, this week Lederne in a statement toconfirmed there was a possibility of strikes at the Norwegian offshore oil and gas producing installations, with much depending on the outcome of the mediations starting Wednesday.
In a statement shared with, Offshore Norway said a potential strike could impact almost 45,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day in production.
has reached out to the three trade unions for a comment.