Warns of strong escalation of oil strike – E24

One of Equinor’s newest platforms, Johan Sverdrup, was attacked after a mediation break, which sparked a strike among 43 members of the Leaders on Wednesday morning.

In addition, they warn of a strong escalation from October 4, where four oil platforms may be affected.

This is stated in a message on Wednesday.

These platforms are affected:

• Gudrun (Equinor) – 18 members
• Gina Krog (Equinor) – 18 members
• White Bear (Equinor) – 18 members
• Gjøa (Neptune Energy) – 72 members

– In our opinion, Equinor has not played by the rules of the game in working life in case of conflict when reassigning staff for continued operations at Johan Sverdrup with reduced staff and competence. This also creates a higher risk of unwanted incidents, says union leader Johan Ingvartsen in the report.

In addition, it says that the union demanded collective agreement coverage for its members who, after adjustments and new technologies, will work in control rooms on the ground.

– The employer party did not want to resolve this and said flatly that no to the requirement without promoting any concrete alternative during the mediation. It’s incomprehensible since our claim would not impose additional costs on companies, he says.

Equinor denied that strikes at the Sverdrup field affect production

On Wednesday morning, Equinor rejected Lederne’s claims that the Johan Sverdrup field would be closed after a disagreement on the wage deal with Norwegian oil and gas.

– No, it’s not right for us to close Johan Sverdrup. Production is running normally, Equinor spokesman Morten Eek tells E24.

– We are now working to analyze the type of consequences of the strike, but so far no closure activity has begun, he adds.

Eek says they are now looking at what other types of activities at Sverdrup are being curtailed, but he denies they are linked to production itself.

A possible closure of the Johan Sverdrup field will lead to a daily production loss of around 470,000 barrels of oil, which corresponds to about 12 percent of total production on the Norwegian platform, according to Norwegian Oil and Gas.

Agreement with two of three unions

At the same time, it is clear that the unions Industri Energi and Safe have reached an agreement. Therefore, the strike will be much less extensive than it could have been.

If the parties had not reached an agreement, 168 Industri Energi offshore workers and 113 Safe members would have gone on strike.

– I am pleased that we have managed to reach an agreement on an agreement that is in line with the theme of the front, says Lill-Heidi Bakkerud, deputy head of Industri Energi and negotiator of platform agreements.

Industri Energi og Safe has agreed with Norwegian Oil and Gas a general supplement of NOK 4,700. In addition, employees of drilling and catering companies receive an additional NOK 8,946.

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