Norwegian Oil Workers Threaten Strike Action

Norway's three main oil workers unions have said that they may call a strike on Monday unless they reach a wage accord this weekend, cutting production from the world's third- largest oil exporter by five percent.

A strike at the Statoil, BP and ExxonMobil units would reduce Norway's oil output by about 150,000 barrels a day out of some three million, said Leif Harald Halvorsen, a spokesman for the Norwegian Oil Industry Association. The country would lose fifty thousand standard cubic meters a day of natural gas.

“We have estimated a potential loss of income of about 80 million kroner ($10.2 million) a day,” Halvorsen said.

Biannual talks between the companies and unions broke down two weeks ago over demands for a working schedule of two weeks on and four weeks off. The parties will meet Friday with a state appointed mediator.