* Nyhamna plant processes a quarter of Norway gas output
* Plant so shut Saturday unless strike called off
* Labour union says strike is set to widen as planned
* Gas prices rise on prospect of shutdown
(Adds market reaction, Gassco comment, background)
By Nora Buli and Nerijus Adomaitis
OSLO, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A key export terminal for Norwegian
natural gas will close down on Saturday if a labour strike goes
ahead as planned, resulting in a reduction of supplies to
Europe, gas system operator Gassco said on Friday, sending
prices sharply higher.
The Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (NOG) and Gassco
warned on Thursday that the Nyhamna plant, which handles about a
quarter of Norway's gas exports, will be closed unless a strike
among security guards is called off.
Exports from the Nyhamna processing facility, which has a
capacity of 84 million standard cubic metres (mcm) of gas per
day, will be cut by 50 mcm on Saturday, Gassco said.
The overall impact on the market was less than the plant's
84 mcm capacity, Gassco said, partly because of possibilities
for compensating the production loss from other sources.
Some 2,300 security guards organised by the Norwegian Union
of General Workers (NAF) are on a nationwide strike over pay,
and an additional 85 will go on strike from Saturday unless the
dispute is resolved first.
A labour union official said the strike was set to go ahead
as planned.
"There is no movement on either side," NAF spokesman Terje
Mikkelsen told Reuters.
"There is some dialogue every now and then but there is no
immediate end to it," he said.
The Nyhamna shutdown is now planned to start in the early
hours of Saturday, Gassco's systems operations chief Alfred
Hansen said.
The price of British wholesale gas for within-day delivery
increased by 6.3% and other contracts also rose.
Norway is Europe's second largest gas producer after Russia,
supplying 22% of the European Union's demand last year,
according to Norwegian government data.
The Nyhamna plant processes natural gas from the offshore
Ormen Lange and Aasta Hansteen fields, which are also expected
to close when the plant shuts down, Gassco and the NOG have
said.
The Norwegian government, which can invoke emergency powers
to end workplace conflicts, said on Thursday it was closely
monitoring the situation.
Governments have traditionally been reluctant to step in
however, intervening primarily when lives or vital national
interest are considered to be at risk.
(Editing by Terje Solsvik; editing by David Evans)
