* Nyhamna gas plant shuts as security guards strike
* Norway's gas exports cut to 287 mcm from 330 mcm
* Norway covers one fifth of Europe's gas demand
* British gas prices rose Friday on strike prospect
(Adds labour union, background)
By Nerijus Adomaitis
OSLO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Norway's Nyhamna gas export
terminal is closing down as security guards at the plant go on
strike, cutting volumes by an expected 50 million standard cubic
metres (mcm) of gas per day, system operator Gassco said on
Saturday.
Gassco 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 minimise the negative
effect, especially towards the UK," Alfred Hansen, head of
Gassco's operations, told Reuters.
While the plant is a key supplier to Britain via the
Langeled pipeline, Gassco aims to redistribute flows so that the
cuts are shared among several countries.
Norway meets around 22% of Europe's annual gas demand via
its extensive network of pipelines to Britain, Germany, Belgium
and France.
Aggregated gas exports currently stand at around 287 mcm,
live Gassco data showed, down from 330 mcm before the shutdown
began.
When the shutdown is complete, Saturday's flows are expected
to have dropped by 50 mcm, with a similar outage on Sunday, the
operator said.
The Norwegian Union of General Workers (NAF) separately said
recent talks with employers had failed to produce any progress
and confirmed that the strike had widened.
Close to 2,400 security guards organised by the labour union
are on a nationwide strike over pay, and an additional 95 are
scheduled to strike from Dec. 1.
While the Norwegian government can invoke emergency powers
to end workplace conflicts, it is generally reluctant to do so
unless lives or the national interest are considered at risk.
Norway's labour ministry said on Friday it was closely
monitoring the strike, which has gradually spread since
beginning in mid-September.
(Editing by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
