© xmentoys / Adobe Stock
Norway’s Safe union and employers have agreed to end a labour dispute in the oil service industry which had disrupted offshore drilling operations and reduced the country’s petroleum production, industry group Offshore Norway said on Tuesday.
The Safe union launched its strike action on June 15 after wage talks broke down, while employers later responded by announcing a lockout from June 27, affecting close to 2,000 employees.
“Work will resume as soon as practically possible,” Offshore Norway’s chief negotiator Elisabeth Bratteboe Fenne said in a statement.
The two sides will now submit to a voluntary arbitration, Offshore Norway added.
The dispute affected oil service companies including SLB, Halliburton, Subsea 7, DOF SubseaWeatherford, DeepOcean and Baker Hughes.
By July 9, the labour dispute had reduced Norway’s petroleum output by a cumulative 2.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), Offshore Norway said at the time, equal to more than half a day’s total production.
Norway, Europe’s largest supplier of pipeline gas, produced more than 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) in 2025.
Had it continued, the dispute could have reduced Norway’s petroleum output by about 120,000 boed by mid-July, up from an initial impact of around 12,000 boed, Offshore Norway had warned.
(Reuters)
