Norway's ongoing oil workers' strike-currently in its fourth day and is set to worsen next week-would have to drag on for around a month for it to affect oil production at the Valhall field in the Norwegian part of the North Sea, Norwegian oil and gas producer Aker BP said on Friday.
The strike is set to shut more rigs on the Norwegian Continental Shelf as the employers' association has not contacted the trade union for new talks yet, Hilde-Marit Rysst, the leader of the Norwegian workers' union Safe, said on Thursday.
Talks between the Norwegian Shipowners' Association-the employers' association-and Safe broke down on Tuesday, and more than 600 rig workers on nine rigs went on strike effective July 10. The strike immediately disrupted production at the Knarr field, operated by Shell and producing 63,000 bpd of crude oil.
Safe has warned that the strike would be expanded to include an additional 900 members on 20 rigs as of Sunday, July 15, the employers' association said on Tuesday.
Unless the parties reach an agreement by Sunday, the union Safe has said that 901 more of its members will go on strike at midnight on Sunday local time, and affected rigs and projects will include Valhall IP, Snorre Alpha, Statfjord C, and Ekofisk X, among others.
Related: U.S., Canadian Rig Count Rises After Tumultuous Week
Aker BP's chief executive officer Karl Johnny Hersvik said today that activities at the Valhall IP water injection and Valhall DP drilling platforms would stop if the strike escalates after Sunday.
"If the strike is prolonged it will have later in the year impact on when wells are back in production ... if that is going to happen it means the strike has to be quite long," Hersvik said during Aker BP's second-quarter financials presentation, as carried by Reuters.
If the oil strike protracts to a month-a month and a half, it could reduce production at the Valhall field by "a few thousands barrels per day," Aker BP told Reuters after the Q2 results presentation.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More