Offshore workers in Norway reached a new wage agreement on Thursday evening, preventing a strike that had been scheduled to begin at midnight.

The agreement was concluded between labour unions representing employees on drilling rigs and floating production platforms and the Norwegian Shipowners Association, which represented employers during the negotiations.

Under the settlement, wages will increase by 5.2% across the board, matching agreements already reached in other parts of Norway’s oil and gas industry. The parties also agreed to increase pension contributions.

Before the agreement was reached, the unions had warned they would call out more than 600 members working on Transocean’s Encourage rig, Odfjell Technology’s Linus rig, AKOFS Offshore’s Seafarer well intervention vessel and the Equinor-operated Gullfaks B platform.

The deal was reached shortly before the midnight deadline, allowing offshore operations covered by the negotiations to continue without a strike.

The planned industrial action would have added pressure to Norway’s oil and gas industry, which has already been disrupted by ongoing labour disputes among oil service workers.

Source: Reuters