Norway Oil, Gas Workers Threaten Strike

Workers at three onshore plants serving Norway's oil and gas industry will strike from October 7 unless they get a new wage deal, a labor union said on Monday, potentially threatening Britain's natural gas supplies. Some 338 workers at Statoil's Melkoeya LNG plant, Shell's Nyhamna natural gas processing plant and ExxonMobil's Slagen refinery terminal would go on strike if talks on a new pay deal break down, the union said, Reuters reported. The Melkoeya plant turns gas from the Arctic Snoehvit field into liquefied natural gas, which is shipped worldwide, while Nyhamna supplies about 20% of Britain's natural gas demand from the giant Ormen Lange field offshore Norway. "The onshore facilities would shut down, and would stop receiving both oil and gas," union official Roy Aleksandersen said.  Shell and Statoil both said they were studying the impact of a strike. The negotiations will take place on October 6.