Statoil to Lockout Norwegian Shelf Workers
Norwegian major Statoil has said today that it will be enacting a lockout of striking workers and shutting down all production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). The notice follows an announcement from the Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF) earlier today that it had reached a stalemate with negotiations.
OLF, which represents the oil and gas industry, said this morning that it could see no other options available to it but to call for a lockout of strikers.
"The conflict is deadlocked and the demands are unreasonable," chief negotiator for the OLF, Jan Hodneland said. "Unfortunately, we see no other course than to notify a lockout."
Consequently, Statoil announced today that it will begin the process of shutting down its entire production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and will return all offshore personnel to land. The operation will begin on Monday the 9th of July at midnight and is expected to take between one and four days to complete.
Statoil estimates that the shutdown will result in a shortfall of about 1.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day at a daily cost of NOK 520 million (€69.6 million). The total cost to the Norwegian oil and gas industry since the strike began on the 24th of June is estimated at NOK 2 billion (approximately €268 million).
Negotiations on the strike, which broke out in relation to pension rights sought by oil and gas workers, have failed to yield any results. Workers have been calling for full pension rights from the retirement age of 62, a demand that OLF has so far rejected and has done for the 32 years workers have been seeking the right.
The OLF said it had no choice but to call for the lockout of the workers.
"After trying everything in our power to contribute to a solution, we now find ourselves in a position where we as a responsible player must use the only weapon we have to help end the situation, and that’s a lockout," Jan Hodneland said today.
Statoil's lockout will see workers from the Industry Energy (Industri Energi), the Organisation of Energy Personnel (SAFE) and the Norwegian Organisation of Managers and Executives (Lederne) who are covered by the offshore pay agreements, locked out from their workstations.