(Adds quote, export data, background)
OSLO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Norway's Nyhamna gas export
terminal is undergoing a shutdown due to a strike among security
guards at the plant, cutting volumes by 50 million standard
cubic metres (mcm) of gas per day, system operator Gassco said
on Saturday.
Gassco has said on Friday the plant would have to close
unless the planned strike was called off, triggering a spike in
British gas prices.
"Gassco is in the middle of safely shutting down Nyhamna.
Our focus today is to reroute gas to minimize the negative
effect, especially towards the UK," Alfred Hansen, head of
Gassco's operations, told Reuters.
"If our optimization is successful this reduction will be
distributed towards more exit points than UK alone," he added.
Norway exports gas via pipelines to Britain, Germany,
Belgium and France, and seeks to distribute volumes based on
demand.
Aggregated gas exports currently stand at around 280 mcm,
Gassco data showed, down from 330 mcm before the shutdown began,
and the outage will continue on Sunday at a similar level, the
operator said in a separate announcement.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik)