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UPDATE 3-Norway oil and gas output at risk from strike, Equinor says

Fri, 12th Feb 2021 21:49

* Workers at Mongstad terminal threaten strike from Tuesday

* Sverdrup, Troll and other fields risk shutdown

* Sverdrup is Western Europe's largest oilfield

* Troll is Norway's biggest gas field; also produces oil
(Adds comment by Lundin Energy)

By Terje Solsvik

OSLO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - A potential strike at Norway's
Mongstad oil storage and export terminal could close down major
North Sea oilfields next week and also hit gas exports to
Europe, operator Equinor said on Friday.

The Safe labour union, which plans to strike from Tuesday
onwards unless a wage deal is reached in the meantime, warned on
Thursday of potential output disruptions from the offshore Johan
Sverdrup and Troll fields.

"A potential strike could reduce crude storage and harbour
capacity at the terminal at Equinor Mongstad refinery, which
could affect the production at several Equinor operated fields
... including Johan Sverdrup and Troll," the company said in a
statement.

"It could be necessary to shut down production there until
further notice," Equinor said.

The Safe union in a statement on Thursday said it had sought
to shield Norway's gas exports from the strike at a time of high
demand in Europe.

But Equinor said the planned strike, if it goes ahead, would
likely have wider consequences.

"A possible strike could also impact gas exports from the
Troll area, and could also impact the Kvitebjoern, Visund,
Byrding, Fram and Valemon fields," the company said.

Johan Sverdrup is Western Europe's largest oilfield with
output of around 500,000 barrels of crude per day. Troll is the
region's largest gas field and also produces oil.

Crude from Troll, Sverdrup and other fields is piped to a
terminal at the Mongstad refinery, which has a capacity to store
more than 9 million barrels, from where it is eventually
exported to global markets.

Only a dozen workers are due to strike initially, but they
are involved in the loading of vessels and in handling arrivals
and departures of ships at Mongstad.

In case of a protracted conflict, a strike could spread to
other onshore facilities, with as many as 800 oil and gas
workers potentially involved, Safe has said.

Lundin Energy, a Sverdrup partner, in a separate
statement said it hoped the oil industry would be able to reach
a settlement with the union and thus avoid the shutdowns.

Other partners in Sverdrup are Aker BP and Total
. In Troll, ConocoPhillips and Shell
are among the license holders.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo
Editing by Diane Craft and Matthew Lewis)

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