Three Norwegian unions representing rig workers have agreed a 6.5 percent minimum wage increase with the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, averting a strike that would have halted well activity on the country’s continental shelf .
Almost 4,000 workers at Industri Energi called off their strike, the union said on the provisional agreement it signed with the industrial group last week. The strike would have affected companies such as 4Service Offshore AS, Archer Ltd, Dolphin Drilling ASA, ESS, KCA Deutag Group, Noble Drilling AS, Odfjell Drilling Ltd, Saipem SPA, Seadrill Ltd, Sodexo, Teekay Tankers Ltd, Transocean Ltd and Valaris Ltd. Industri Energi said in a press release.
Industri Energi claims around 56,000 members in the oil and gas and agricultural sectors.
He said the agreement ensures the industry remains competitive in the labor market. “This makes the matchmaking industry attractive to young people who will choose a career,” the union said. The leader of Industri Energi, Frode Alfheim, pointed out that the demand is growing.
“Minimum wages for all groups are increased by 6.5 percent, including holiday pay. In addition, the night supplement will increase by NOK 5.50 [$0.5] up to NOK 102.50 [$9.5] per hour, while the holiday allowance is increased by NOK 75 [$7] up to NOK 2,275 [$212] per day,” said the energy industry.
The SAFE union separately announced an agreement with the shipping association for the same wage conditions. This prevented a strike targeting floating platforms, he said in a media statement.
The same terms have been granted to the DSO union, which planned a strike at mobile facilities, the DSO said in its own announcement.
The new payment conditions come into effect from June 1.
“High” fossil fuel activity.
In a report last week, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said there has been sustained “high” activity in the country’s oil and gas sector this year.
Eighteen exploration wells have been drilled, with seven profitable discoveries. “The discoveries total between 9 and 32 million Sm3 [standard cubic meters] oil equivalent,” the regulator said in a media statement on Friday.
In the first five months of 2023, production exceeded 1.78 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas, nearly 1.52 Tcf of oil and 194.23 million cubic feet of gas liquids, according to NPD .
“A high level of activity contributes to strengthening Norway’s role as a secure and stable energy supplier to Europe,” he said.
“Norway has strengthened its role as a predictable and long-term supplier of energy to Europe, especially in terms of gas,” NPD director general Torgeir Stordal said in the statement.
The Nordic country had been Europe’s second largest source of natural gas after Russia before the latter invaded Ukraine last year. EU and UK imports from Norway averaged nine billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) between 2010 and 2020, below Russia’s 2020 average of 13 Bcf /d “as development of new fields in the Barents Sea section of the Norwegian continental shelf was not enough to offset declines in mature fields in the North Sea,” said the Energy Information Administration of USA in a report on February 11, 2022.
Amid President Vladimir Putin’s war-fighting trade sanctions, Norway overtook Russia as the EU’s top natural gas exporter in 2022, accounting for 24.4% of the region’s imports compared to 15.3% of Russia, according to a bulletin updated on May 3 from the official statistics agency Eurostat.
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