Statoil plans to shut down three North Sea oil platforms linked to the Oseberg field, which has been hit by an ongoing strike, a trade union said on Tuesday, citing the company’s management.
This will further reduce output from the world’s eighth biggest oil exporter.
So far gas exports from Norway, the second-largest supplier to Europe after Russia, have not been affected as it can make up for losses from the fields by raising output at others.
The Lederne trade union said in a statement it had been told by Statoil’s management the Norwegian oil and gas company intended to shut down Veslefrikk and Brage oil platforms.
Statoil declined to comment.
Together the two platforms represent a production of about 25,000 barrels of oil per day, which is transported by pipelines through the Oseberg to the Sture export terminal near Bergen.
Statoil also planned to shut Oseberg C platform, an integrated production, drilling and quarters facility in the northern part of the Oseberg field, already affected by the strike, Lederne added.
The strike initially shut down Oseberg Field Centre consisting of Oseberg A, a processing facility, and Oseberg B, a drilling facility.
So far, the strike has cut Norway’s oil production by 150,000 barrels per day, and natural gas output by four percent.
“We fear that new shutdowns might affect the government’s decision to intervene, but this is Statoil’s decision, not the trade unions’,” a spokesman for Lederne said.
The government has the authority to force an end to strikes if it believes safety is being compromised or vital national interests could be harmed, and have done so in the past to protect the country’s image as a reliable gas exporter.
It has called on the parties involved in the dispute to make the strike as short as possible.
Meanwhile, Statoil said today it was shutting down four oil platforms in the North Sea due to a strike by oil workers that began on Sunday.
The platforms to be shut are Huldra, Veslefrikk, Brage and Oseberg C, the Norwegian oil and gas company added in a statement.
