| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 78.1 | | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Mon Apr 07 1986 09:35 | 54 |
| Associated Press Sun 06-APR-1986 07:40 Norway-Oil Strike
Strike, Lockout Shut Down Norway's Oil Production
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norwegian radio reported Sunday that food service
workers on North Sea oil and gas platforms had gone on strike, shutting
down the country's production of petroleum and natural gas.
NRK radio said the unsolved wage conflict involving the 675 workers
engaged in catering services on the fixed North Sea installations meant
that 3,625 workers involved in production, who belong to three other
unions, were locked out by their employers. Some 15,000 other workers
on the mainland, who are dependent on offshore activity, will soon be
affected by the conflict, the radio said.
NRK radio said the production halt will cost oil companies and the
Norwegian government around $34 million daily in lost revenue and
taxes.
Assistant National Conciliator Reidar Webster, who mediated more than
40 hours since Friday in a vain attempt to head off the strike, was
quoted by the Norwegian news agency NTB as saying the reason for the
final break, announced Sunday, was that the gap between the parties was
too wide. "Actually the situation was hopeless all the time. There was
never any real movement in the important questions," Webster was quoted
as saying
Cateringansattes Forbund, the food service personnel's union, had asked
for a wage hike of 26 to 28 percent to reach the same pay level as oil
production workers. Media reports have said food service workers
presently earn between $22,000 and $24,600 yearly.
The wage hike request was flatly rejected by Norsk Oljeindustris
Arbeidsgiverforening, the organization of Norwegian oil industry
employers. NTB quoted the organization's managing director Halvor Vaage
as terming the food service workers' demand "an unacceptable
ultimatum."
There was no sign of direct government action to stop the North Sea
conflict. On Friday, Labor Minister Arne Rettedal said, "the government
does not intend to ask the Parliament to order the conflict solved by
mandatory arbitration now." Such a request automatically makes strikes
and lockouts illegal.
NTB said it may take at least two days to bring working personnel
ashore from the oil and gas platforms by helicopter. Between 2,500 and
3,000 people must be airlifted to the mainland by choppers, seating
between 18 and 44 people.
The conflict hits five major oil- and gas-producing fields on the
Norwegian continental shelf. They are Statfjord, operated by Mobil and
Statoil; Ekofisk, operated by Phillips Petroleum; Frigg, operated by
Elf-Aquitaine; Valhall, operated by Amoco, and Ula, operated by British
Petroleum.
|
| 78.2 | Stike spreads to five unions | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Wed Apr 09 1986 11:03 | 41 |
| Associated Press Mon 07-APR-1986 22:53 Norway-Labor
Strike, Lockouts Begin In 5 Industries
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Thousands of Norwegians went on strike Tuesday and
thousands more were locked out in a labor dispute involving the metal,
textile, housebuilding, electro-chemical, and hotel-restaurant
industries. Labor officials said the dispute affects 102,000 employees
in the five unions.
National conciliator Bjoern Haug said efforts to avert the strike ended
when the metal workers' union broke off mediation shortly before
midnight. "The parties were too far apart. My mediation has ended
without results," Haug told reporters.
The Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union, asking wage increases of up to
16 percent, had given strike warning before final mediation started.
The National Employers Federation wanted a wage settlement covering all
five unions, and warned there would be lockouts if a strike occurred.
The five unions demanded a work week of 37 1/2 hours instead of the
current 40, and that a wage-guarantee system be kept as is. Under that
system, low-pay groups within the unions are guaranteed at least 85
percent of the average pay for industry workers. Employers refused to
accept reduced working hours and wanted a modification of the wage
guarantees.
The strikes closed down Norway's two largest daily newspapers - Verdens
Gang, circulation 300,000 and Aftenposten, circulation, 250,000. Svein
Loeken, Aftenposten's production director, said neither of the papers
could be printed Tuesday morning because maintenance workers, mechanics
and electricians walked out. "With reference to security rules in the
labor protection law, the printers would not run the press without
mechanics and electricians present," Loeken said.
The five unions represent 50,000 metal workers, 25,000 building
workers, 8,300 in the electro-chemical industry, 4,800 textile workers
and 12,000 employed by hotels and restaurants. The action came less
than 24 hours after Norway's North Sea oil and gas production halted
because 670 food-catering workers went on strike Sunday and more than
3,500 other platform workers were locked out.
|
| 78.3 | | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Thu Apr 17 1986 09:39 | 28 |
| Associated Press Wed 16-APR-1986 09:22 Norway Oil
Strike Boss: Norway`s North Sea Conflict May Last Two Months
OSLO, Norway (AP) - "We are prepared to let this strike last both one
and two months in order to achieve our goals," chairman Oddleiv
Toennesen of CAF, the trade union of Norway`s striking offshore
catering workers, said Wednesday.
The Norwegian news agency NTB reported that the situation between CAF
and NOAF, the federation of Norwegian oil industry employers, remained
unchanged and completely deadlocked with no new contact between the
parties. CAF, asking 28 percent wage increase, ordered its 675
food-provinding members on 22 North Sea production platforms on strike
from April 6, even before serious wage talks started. Employers
responded by locking out about 3,600 platform workers who belonged to
other unions. Oil and gas production on the Norwegian continental
shelf, at the time amounting to about 900,000 barrels daily, stopped.
The government warned at the start of the spring tariff talks that wage
increases above 4.5 percent within the industrial sector would hurt
Norway`s economy and competitive ability. It has stated it has no
intention to intervene now in order to seek the North Sea conflict
solved by compulsory wage board.
Earlier Wednesday, a mediated new wage agreement for Norway`s 25,000
organized building workers was accepted by employers and employees,
ending a lockout conflict started 10 days ago.
|
| 78.4 | | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Mon Apr 21 1986 16:51 | 53 |
| Associated Press Mon 21-APR-1986 12:32 Norway Strike
Norway's Offshore Oil Strike Continues; No Government Intervention Expected
OSLO, Norway (AP) - As the shutdown of Norway's strikebound offshore
oil rigs moved into its third week, a government official expressed
concern, but said the government would not intervene in the labor
dispute. "This conflict is hardly strengthening our future position as
a reliable supplier of oil and gas. It may also hurt the atmoshere for
future gas sale negotiations," State Secretary Arild Roedland of the
Oil and Energy Ministry said Monday.
The previous longest wage conflict halting production on the Norwegian
Continental Shelf lasted 12 days in 1980, before the government ordered
it stopped and the conflict settled by mandatory arbitration. Roedland
said, however, that the government still has no intention of stepping
into this dispute in the same way, even though the strike is costing
Norway about 900,000 barrels of crude and liquid natural gas production
every day. A barrel is the equivalent of 42 gallons.
Similar statements have already been made by Prime Minister Kaare
Willoch, Labor Minister Arne Rettedal and Oil and Energy Minister Kaare
Kristiansen. "It is our opinion that this conflict must be solved in
the regular way," Roedland said in an interview with the Norwegian news
agency Norsk Telegrambyraa. "It is up to the involved parties to resume
negotiations," he added. "So far consequences for the society are not
requiring special intervention," he added.
The Norwegian offshore conflict started April 6 when CAF, a trade union
of food-providing caterers on fixed production platforms, ordered 675
members to strike. In retaliation some 3,500 other platform workers
were locked out by NOAF, the employers organization.
CAF leader Oddleiv Toennesen said last week his union is prepared to
let the strike two months if necessary. Neither side has responded to
several government offers to help mediate the dispute, the latest of
which was made Monday. The conflict spread Sunday to the British sector
of the Frigg gas field, located on the border of the British and
Norwegian Continental Shelfs.
OAF, the union organizing workers locked out in the Norwegian sector,
ordered 300 members employed by field operator Elf Aquitaine on strike
on two production platforms. Production stopped Sunday morning. OAF
claims the strike is legal. Elf and NOAF insist it is illegal but have
so far not taken action to bring it up with the Labor Court.
Gas is pumped via pipeline from Frigg to St. Fergus, Scotland, for
delivery to the British Gas Corp. The Frigg supplies are said to cover
40 percent of Britain's gas needs.
Labor Minister Rettedal stated Sunday he does not intend to intervene
in the conflict either. When the offshore conflict started, Norway's
production of oil equalled about 900,000 barrels a day.
|
| 78.5 | Strike over | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Sun Apr 27 1986 04:44 | 54 |
| Associated Press Fri 25-APR-1986 18:34 Norway Oil Strike
Norwegian Oil Workers End Three-Week Strike in North Sea Fields
OSLO, Norway (AP) - The end of a three-week strike that shut down
output from Norway's North Sea oil fields could mean production will
resume this weekend, oil company officials said Friday.
Market reaction was mixed over the end of the strike, which had kept an
estimated 900,000 barrels a day of Norwegian oil and liquid natural gas
out of the glutted world petroleum market. Analysts estimate the world
oil surplus already is at 2 million to 2.5 million barrels a day, and
the resumption of Norwegian production could help depress prices.
The June contract for North Sea Brent, the main North Sea grade of
crude oil, fell $1.20 to $11.60 per 42-gallon barrel. However, the June
contract for West Texas Intermediate, the main grade of U.S. crude,
closed 41 cents higher at $13.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. Traders contributed the increase to technical factors and
strong U.S. demand for gasoline.
CAF, the 675-member food service employees union had struck over
demands for a 28 percent pay hike that would have put them on an equal
footing with oil rig workers. The employers rejected the demands, and
locked out all 3,700 oil workers. The unions decided to quit their
walkout at a joint meeting in Stavanger, the Norwegian oil center,
shortly after Labor Minister Arne Rettedal told both sides that the
government would impose a unilateral settlement on the deadlocked wage
dispute by mandatory arbitration. Rettedal intervened Friday after the
failure of a third and final mediation effort by Assistant National
Conciliator Reidar Webster.
The Norwegian government had a huge stake in the battle, as it was
losing an estimated 100 million kroner a day, about $14.4 million at
current exchange rates, in oil tax revenue. "The conflict is also
threatening British interests and I can't exclude it will affect safety
on the Continental Shelf. I can't take responsibility for this,"
Rettedal told reporters.
After being informed by Webster about the mediation failure, Rettedal
attended a Cabinet meeting during which the government drafted
legislation for forced arbitration to be presented in the 157-member
Storting, Norway's parliament.
Observers said the Storting could probably meet next week to decide on
mandatory arbitration. And there was broad political support for the
coalition government's bill, which would set up an arbitration panel to
come up with a binding settlement of the pay dispute.
After the decision to end the strike and lockout, the oil companies
quickly began flying workers back to the rigs. A spokesman for Norway's
state oil company, Statoil A.S., said production was likely to resume
"late Saturday or early Sunday" European time.
|
| 78.6 | And now OPEC? | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Thu May 15 1986 09:49 | 40 |
| Associated Press Wed 14-MAY-1986 19:17 Norway-OPEC
Official Says Norway Won't Discuss Cooperation With OPEC Without OPEC
Internal Agreement on Production
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Norway won't discuss details of possible
cooperation with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
until the 13-nation cartel reaches an internal oil price stabilization
pact, Egil Helle, spokesman for the Oil and Energy Ministry, said
Wednesday.
"If OPEC reaches an agreement on production policy, we will consider if
we in any way can contribute. But no one here has said what sort of
contribution can be made," he said. "We won't say anything about our
options until the situation within OPEC is clear," he added.
In December, OPEC, which had failed to adhere to its own self-imposed
production quotas, announced that it was giving up the effort and would
pursue a "fair share" of the world market instead. The ensuing surge of
production, coming on top of an existing world glut, sent prices into a
tailspin. A 42-gallon barrel of oil which sold for close to $32 a
42-gallon barrel in late November, plummeted to below $10, before
rising back to current levels around $15.
In the meantime, OPEC has failed in two meetings to try to work out a
production agreement that would limit output and send prices higher.
Many OPEC members had insisted that non-members, such as North Sea
producters Norway and Britain, join in any agreement to limit output.
Britain consistantly refused to consider the idea. Norway also declined
to commit itself to cooperating with the cartel.
Helle said Norway's new Socialist oil and energy minister, Arne Oeien,
had confirmed Tuesday that there is "a change of attitude" towards
cooperation with OPEC. But the spokesman stipulated that the minister
has also made it clear that "Norway will consider what to do only after
OPEc has agreed on a concrete production policy."
Norwegian officials expect Norway's oil and gas production, which
presently is about 900,000 42-gallon barrels a day, will rise
throughout the 1980s and level off in the 1990s.
|
| 78.7 | Oil comparison? | HOLST::DARCY | George Darcy | Tue May 20 1986 11:37 | 5 |
| Norway produces approximately 900,000 42-gallon barrels of oil per
day. Does anyone know how this output value compares to other
countries, such as OPEC members, Britain, and US?
George
|
| 78.8 | OPEC cooperation on the 'back burner' | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Fri May 23 1986 13:53 | 50 |
| Associated Press Thu 22-MAY-1986 12:50 OPEC-Norway
Norwegian Oil Minister: Reservations About OPEC Cooperation
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norwegian oil minister Arne Oeien said Thursday he
had accepted an invitation to meet with OPEC President Arturo Hernandez
Grisanti of of Venezuela and Oil Minister Sheik Ahmad Zaki Yamani of
Saudi Arabia. But Oeien said that Norway currently would not support
efforts to boost world oil prices to levels "contrary to the interests"
of the industrialized world.
Oeien told reporters at a news conference that Grisanti and Yamani had
asked for the meeting. He said the meeting probably would take place
late in June and before an Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries meeting scheduled next month in Yugoslavia.
In its first policy statement on May 13, Norway's new Labor government
indicated willingness to keep up a dialogue with OPEC. The 13-nation
cartel has been attempting to enlist the cooperation of non-OPEC oil
producers such as Norway and Britain in limiting crude output as a
means of stabilizing oil prices. Crude prices have dropped by about 50
percent since late last year, largely because of a massive world oil
glut.
"It's not current policy to join OPEC or even go into any formal
agreement with OPEC," Oeien said, emphasizing Norway's preconditions
for any kind of cooperation with OPEC. "OPEC countries must first come
to an agreement between themselves about efforts which can help to
stabilize the oil price before we can contribute in that direction," he
said.
"Such efforts must be in the best interest of Norway and we must be
reasonably sure that they have the desired effects. It's not current
policy for Norway to support efforts which bring the oil price up to a
level which is contrary to the interests of western industrialized
countries," he added.
Oeien, a 57-year-old economist, said his ministry was considering a
package of tax changes for oil companies as incentives for continuing
exploration and production on the Norwegian continental shelf. He gave
no firm details but said he hoped the package could be presented before
Oct. 10, the deadline set for license applications in a new round of
North Sea oil concessions.
Norway's new government came to power in the wake of the decline in
global oil prices. Oil and gas tax revenues account for some 20 percent
of Norway's gross national product and the Conservative-led government
of former Prime Minister Kaare Willoch had been unable to win
parliamentary approval of measures to cope with the anticipated drop in
revenues.
|
| 78.9 | Norwegian oil production in perspective | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Sat May 24 1986 01:11 | 15 |
| Re: .7:
> Norway produces approximately 900,000 42-gallon barrels of oil per
> day. Does anyone know how this output value compares to other
> countries, such as OPEC members, Britain, and US?
According to the 1986 World Almanac, world crude oil production
averages about 53 million barrels per day. The Soviet Union is the
single largest producer at about 12 million barrels per day. The
thirteen OPEC nations combined produce about 17.5 million barrels
per day. U.S. production stands at about 8.7 million barrels per
day.
The 1984 edition of the WA shows 1981/1982 oil production figures
for the United Kingdom at about 2 million barrels per day.
|
| 78.10 | Another threat | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Wed Jun 04 1986 17:23 | 30 |
| Associated Press Wed 04-JUN-1986 12:52 Norway Strike
Norwegian Oil Production Threatened Again By Strike
OSLO (AP) - A Norwegian white-collar workers' union has renewed a
strike threat that could result in another shutdown of the country's
oil production of about 900,000 42-gallon barrels a day.
The Academics Union said Wednesday that it would call a strike of air
traffic controllers at the Bergen, Stavanger and Haugesund airports,
effective Thursday. The union is seeking higher wages.
Because these airports are the landing and departure points for all
helicopter traffic to and from Norway's offshore oil platforms, such a
strike could threaten production, said Hakon Lavik, spokesman for
Statoil A.S., the state-owned oil company.
Lavik said it is too early to say how quickly the strike might halt or
slow down oil production, but he said that, in the event of a halt in
helicopter traffic, "it would take a handful of days before the effect
would be felt." Helicopters are used to transport personnel to and from
the platforms.
A union representing 7,000 Norwegian oil workers said Wednesday that it
would not allow workers to be brought to the platforms by boat and also
would not allow overtime for platform workers.
In April, a caterers' strike closed down Norway's oil and gas
production for three weeks. The air controllers also threatened to walk
off their jobs last month, but later called off the action.
|
| 78.11 | A visit to Venezuela | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Thu Jun 12 1986 10:06 | 38 |
| Associated Press Wed 11-JUN-1986 16:01 Norway-Venezuela
Norwegian Premier To Caracas For Oil Talks
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland will
meet next week with OPEC president Arturo Hernandez Grisanti of
Venezuela to discuss oil production strategy, the prime minister's
office said Wednesday. Mrs. Harlem Brundtland will meet with Gristanti,
who is Venezuela's oil minister, and Venezuelan President Jaime
Lusinchi during a state visit to the South American country next
Wednesday and Thursday.
Since oil prices began tumbling late last year as a result of the world
oil glut, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has
attempted to convince non-OPEC producers such as Britain and Norway to
cut back their output to help bolster prices. As a major North Sea oil
producer, Norway faces steep revenue losses from the fall in world oil
prices.
Mrs. Harlem Brundtland's government was formed in May after the
Conservative government of Prime Minister Kaare Willoch failed to win
approval for austerity measures to cope with the drop in oil tax
revenue.
Norwegian Oil Minister Arne Oeien said at a press conference last month
that he had accepted invitations to meet with Grisanti and Oil Minister
Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani of Saudi Arabia. Oeien said Norway did not
intend to go enter into any formal agreements with OPEC.
The visit to Venezuela by Mrs. Brundtland was first announced and
reported without details on Tuesday. Her office said she would stop in
Caracas on her way to Lima, Peru, as head of the Norwegian delegation
to The Socialist International's congress there June 20-23.
The Socialist International, founded in 1951, is a worldwide
organization comprising 75 socialist, social democratic and Labor
parties and groups. Mrs. Harlem Brundtland and other officials also
were to hold bilateral trade talks in Venezuela.
|
| 78.12 | Government to cut royalties | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Thu Jul 10 1986 17:36 | 33 |
| Associated Press Thu 10-JUL-1986 12:52 Norway-Oil
Norwegian Government Suggests Lower North Sea Royalties
OSLO, Norway (AP) - The Norwegian government has announced that it is
considering cutting the royalties required of North Sea oil companies
in an effort to maintain their activities in the face of the global
drop in oil prices. The changes would come into effect in the 1987
fiscal year and would remove production royalties from offshore fields
which have not yet been developed.
On the existing fields, royalties range from 8 to 16 percent. Oil
companies would still have to pay a special tax from incomes derived
from the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, although this would be
reduced from 35 to 30 percent.
The government also suggested that the oil companies might no longer
have to pay the same share as the state in developing new production
fields. A legislative proposal on the changes, which were outlined by a
government spokesman at a news conference Thursday, is expected to be
presented by August 15 and be approved by the Norwegian legislature
later in the year.
The purpose of the new tax policy is to keep up oil companies investing
in North Sea operations and exploring for oil in spite of falling
prices. Oil and gas revenues last year accounted for almost 20 percent
of Norway's gross national product.
The drop in oil prices led indirectly to a change in Norway's
government in May, when the conservative-led coaltion government of
Prime Minister Kaare Willoch could not win approval of measures
offsetting decreased revenues. The Willoch government was succeeded by
a Labor government under Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland.
|
| 78.13 | British & Norwegian ministers to meet | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Thu Sep 04 1986 09:28 | 32 |
| Associated Press Wed 03-SEP-1986 14:30 Britain-Norway-Oil
British and Norwegian Oil Ministers Meet Next Week
LONDON (AP) - British Energy Secretary Peter Walker and Norwegian Oil
Minister Arne �ien plan to meet next week in London to discuss the oil
situation, according to British and Norwegian officials. The two
ministers will meet informally with no fixed agenda but Walker is
expected to probe Norway's emerging oil policy, said Norwegian Embassy
spokesman Jan Flatla on Wednesday.
Britain and Norway are both North Sea oil producers, and their
governments are taking different attitudes to the pressures developing
from the fall in oil prices - now about $16 a 42-gallon barrel compared
with $28 at the beginning of the year. Norway has said it will talk
with oil companies about the possibility of reducing production, though
the Norwegian government has not said it will press the companies to
cut production.
The British government, despite calls from the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries to reduce oil output to raise prices, has
repeatedly said it would not interfere with the oil companies'
decisions about oil production. A Department of Energy spokesman,
confirming the Walker-Oeien meeting for next Wednesday, said Britain's
policy on North Sea oil production remains unchanged. The spokesman,
following civil service practice, spoke on condition of anonymity.
The British and Norwegian prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher and Gro
Harlem Bruntland, will also have an opportunity to discuss oil matters
next week when Mrs. Thatcher is to visit Norway. Her schedule has not
been officially announced yet, but she is expected to be in Norway next
Wednesday and Thursday.
|
| 78.14 | Will cut production | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Wed Sep 10 1986 13:49 | 57 |
| Associated Press Wed 10-SEP-1986 11:16 Norway-Oil Price
Norway Says It Will Cut Its North Sea Production by 10 Percent
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norway will reduce its oil export by 10 percent in
November and December and follow up with new measures after that period
in order to help stabilize the price of oil at a higher level, the
Ministry of Oil and Energy announced.
The Oil and Energy Ministry said Wednesday that the government's
decision to cut the oil export "is based on the desire to stabilize the
price of oil at a higher level." "During recent months the price has
dropped to a level which has created major problems for both Norwegian
national economy and business and industry. Such a price level could
also eventually undermine the efforts to promote the sound utilization
of resources and the reliability of supplies, thus undermining the
stability of the international economy," the Ministry said.
"In the short term it does not seem possible to stabilize prices at a
reasonable level unless producer countries limit production," it
continued. "The government has noted that a number of producer
countries have already arranged for and are now in fact implementing
such regulation of production.
"The Norwegian measures are based on the assumption that such
regulation will be effectively followed up and carried further with a
view to the continued stabilization of prices," the statement said.
The statement was an apparent reference to last month's agreement by
the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to reduce its
aggregate output by about 3 million 42-gallon barrels daily in
September and October. The move was an attempt to boost the price of
oil, which had fallen by more than two-thirds from levels near $32 a
barrel last November.
Industry observers generally greeted August accord with some
scepticism, suggesting that the cartel's past inability to maintain its
own internal discipline indicated that it would be unlikely to succeed
in the latest effort. But so far the accord appears to have held, and
prices have responded by moving up from levels between $7 and $12 a
barrel before the early August agreement, to recent areas between about
$14 and $16.
The collapse came in December, when 13-nation cartel officially gave up
trying to maintain production quotas in favor of pursuing its "fair
market share" instead. In the ensuing price war, the world's existing
glut of petroleum swelled even more, driving prices down.
OPEC officials repeatedly urged the world's other major producers -
especially Britain and Norway - to join the cartel in cutting
production, but until Wednesday, met with little success. Britain
repeatedly refused to go along with the move, saying to do so would
violate its free market principles.
Norway, however, was less adamant, and in recent months had hinted that
it might lend some support to the OPEC effort.
|
| 78.15 | Energy export plans | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Tue Sep 16 1986 13:26 | 50 |
| Associated Press Mon 15-SEP-1986 18:12 Norway-USEnergy
U.S. Energy Minister Briefed On Norwegian Oil Policy
OSLO, Norway (AP) - U.S. Energy Minister John S. Harrington and his
Norwegian counterpart, Oil and Energy Minister Arne Oeien, met here
Monday for talks that included a briefing on Norway's stance on
production cutbacks. Egil Helle, Oeien's press spokesman, said the
minister outlined Norway's decision last week to cut oil exports by 10
percent in November and December by producing oil for emergency storage
instead of selling it on the open market.
The government said the decision was Norway's preliminary contribution
to stabilization of prices in the oil market and that further steps
would be considered after expiration of the two-month period of
production cutbacks launched Sept. 1 by the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries.
Norway is not a member of OPEC. The 13-nation cartel has been
struggling to reduce oil production in order to boost oil prices,
especially since the market began to collapse late last year. In
November, a 42-gallon barrel of oil cost about $32. By early August,
when OPEC agreed to attempt the two-month cutback of about 3 million
barrels daily, to 16.8 million barrels a day, oil was selling at levels
between $7 and $12 a barrel.
Also on Monday, Norsk Shell, a division of the Royal Dutch-Shell Group
of Companies, and Statoil, Norway's state oil company, delivered plans
to the ministry for the previously announced $7.4 billion proposal to
develop the Troll and Sleipner-East gas fields on the Norwegian
continental shelf, and to build a new gas pipeline to Belgium. The two
companies were acting in behalf of a consortium of other companies
which are also participating in the deal.
Troll holds estimate recoverable gas reserves of at least 1,300 billion
cubic meters of gas and Sleipner-East another 170 billion cubic meters.
The new pipeline is designed to transport 450 billion cubic meters of
gas already sold by Norway for delivery from 1993 to 2003 to a
consortium in West Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
The gas export deal, also the biggest export contract in Norway's
history, is worth around 500 to 700 billion 1986 kroner, about $68
billion to $95 billion at current exchange rates, was settled last
spring pending formal approval by governments. Buyers are Rhurgas, BEB
and Thyssengas of West Germany, GasUnie of the Netherlands, Distrigaz
og Belgium and Gaz de France.
Among the other companies participating in the project are Conoco Inc.,
a wholly owned subsidiary of Du Pont Co.; Mobil Corp.; Norsk Hydro, and
Exxon Corp.
|
| 78.16 | Expect export cuts | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Fri Oct 24 1986 11:31 | 32 |
| Associated Press Wed 22-OCT-1986 09:15 Norway-OPEC
Norway To Implement Oil Export Cuts; Meet With OPEC President
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Non-OPEC member Norway will implement its decision
to reduce oil exports by 10 percent in November and December, the Oil
and Energy Ministry confirmed here Wednesday. "The agreement reached in
Geneva Wednesday by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
to limit its oil production until the end of the year was in line with
our expectations," Oil and Energy Minister Arne Oeien said.
Rilwanu Lukman, OPEC's president and the oil minister of Nigeria, was
quoted earlier Wednesday as saying in Geneva that he expected the
accord to raise oil prices by about $3 a barrel from the current range
of $14 to $17 per barrel.
Egil Helle, the Ministry's official spokesman, said the Norwegian
government's Oct. 9 decision called for maintaining regular oil
production on the Norwegian continental shelf, while limiting exports
in November and December by 10 percent by refining royalty oil. Royalty
oil currently is sold on the international market, but under the
cutback will be used instead to build up permanent emergency
preparedness reserves in Norway, the government said in its Oct. 9
statement.
Norway produces about 900,000 barrels daily of oil and natural gas from
North Sea fields.
Helle said Oeien was to leave for London Thursday to attend and speak
at an international energy conference. "Other oil ministers are also to
attend the same conference and Helle has scheduled a lunch meeting with
OPEC President Lukman on Friday," Helle said.
|
| 78.17 | Price support | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Mon Dec 08 1986 09:17 | 62 |
| Associated Press Mon 08-DEC-1986 06:11 Norway-OPEC
Minister Says Continued Support For OPEC "Likely"
By ROBERT BURNS
Associated Press Writer
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norway likely will continue helping OPEC try to
raise oil prices next year and is considering strengthening its support
for the cartel, the government's oil chief said today.
Arne Oeien, minister of petroleum and energy, told The Associated Press
that Norway's actions beyond Dec. 31 depended on the outcome of an OPEC
ministerial meeting that begins Thursday in Geneva. "If we think that
OPEC are taking measures which, under the circumstances, we think are
satisfactory and adequate to get what we consider a reasonable oil
price, then we may extend our present export-limiting measures," Oeien
said in an interview. He said a reasonable price was between $18 and
$20 a barrel, compared with the current range of $13 to $15.
Since September, Norway has been supporting the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries by diverting 10 percent of its oil
exports - about 80,000 barrels a day - into government emergency
stocks. Norway, whose economy depends heavily on oil revenue, is the
first Western industrialized oil producer to have openly collaborated
with OPEC.
Oeien said the government is obliged to consult with the Storting, or
parliament, when it reconvenes in early January before extending or
changing its current OPEC-supporting measures beyond year's end. "I
think it is likely we will continue our export-limiting policy, but
with other measures than those that we have used so far," the minister
said.
He said the oil ministry had not decided what actions it would
recommend to parliament, but that he could not rule out a switch in
tactics that would, in effect, strengthen Norway's ties to OPEC by
limiting oil production.
The oil Norway has been putting into emergency stocks is refined
government-own petroleum that is taken as royalty from the oil
companies. The government is considering constraining actual production
in the fields, Oeien said, because it already has reached the target
level of emergency stocks of refined petroleum products.
Norway's oil production, currently at 900,000 barrels daily, is
scheduled to rise to about 1 million barrels a day next year, Oeien
said. Oeien also said that if this month's OPEC meeting failed to reach
agreement on limiting oil production, Norway would abandon its limits.
"Then it will be everyone for himself," he said.
Oeien said he was "fairly optimistic" that OPEC would manage to avoid
another oil market collapse and that prices would stabilize in the
range of $15 a barrel next year. A price below $15 would hurt the
long-term interests of the Western world, he said, by forcing oil
companies to scale back exploration and development.
An OPEC pricing committee has recommended that the cartel attempt to
return to its previous policy of fixed prices, at about $18 a barrel.
Because of the world oil glut, which saw prices plunge to under $10 a
barrel at one point last summer, the cartel would likely have to agree
on production ceilings to nudge the prices up.
|
| 78.18 | Production at 1.01 million barrels | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Fri Dec 19 1986 10:31 | 27 |
| Associated Press Thu 18-DEC-1986 19:25 Norway-Oil
Record Oil Production In November; More Expected Next Year
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norway's monthly oil production reached a record
level of 1.01 million barrels in November and was expected to reach
even higher levels next year, according to Statoil, the state oil
company. It was the first time production passed one million barrels a
month since Norway's oil production started in the North Sea Ekofisk
field in 1971. A barrel is the equivalent of 42 gallons.
Statoil press spokesman Haakon Lavik said the company hopes to start
test production from the rich Gullfaks field within a few days.
Gullfaks is estimated to hold more than 1.3 billion barrels of
recoverable crude. His comments came after recent indications that
Norway might take steps to reduce its production if the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries comes up with a solid plan to cut its
output at its current meeting in Geneva. Norway is not a member of
OPEC.
Since November, Norway has contributed to the cartel's
market-stabilizing and price-boosting efforts by diverting 10 percent
of the North Sea oil it takes from oil companies as royalty payments -
about 80,000 barrels daily - into emergency stocks. Norwegian Oil and
Energy Minister Arne Oeien recently told The Associated Press that
Norway's production policy after Dec. 31 would depend on the results of
the Geneva meeting.
|
| 78.19 | New drilling rig venture | NEILS::SAVAGE | | Mon May 21 1990 14:43 | 42 |
| Path: shlump.nac.dec.com!decwrl!looking!clarinews
From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.biz.mergers,clari.news.europe
Subject: Companies agree to form new drilling rig venture
Keywords: corporate mergers, corporate finance, oil, energy
Date: 18 May 90 22:33:01 GMT
ACategory: financial
Slugword: tx-arcade
HOUSTON (UPI) -- Sonat Offshore Drilling Inc. and Arcade Shipping
A/S said Friday they have signed a letter of intent to form a new
Norwegian company that will own two of the most advanced
semisubmersible drilling units in the world.
The new company will be known as Arcade Drilling A/S. Under the
agreement, Sonat Offshore will contribute the world's largest drilling
rig, the Henry Goodrich, in exchange for $70 million cash and a
significant equity interest in the new company. Arcade Shipping will
contribute a new Aker H-4.2 semisubmersible drilling rig it is
acquiring from Hyndai Heavy Industry in South Korea in exchange for
shares in the new company, plus the assumption of existing debt on the
rig.
Shares of Arcade Drilling A/S are expected to be listed on the Oslo
Stock Exchange and possibly on another European exchange in the near
future, the companies said. Sonat Offshore will continue to operate the
Henry Goodrich as well as the new Aker H-4.2 unit under the terms of a
long-term management contract with the new company.
The new rig is expected to be available for work in the North Sea
later this year. The Henry Goodrich currently is operating in the North
Sea under contract with Texaco. Sonat's involvement in the transaction
is contingent upon satisfaction of various conditions before the end of
the year, including U.S. regulatory approval and a public offering in
Europe of Arcade Drilling stock, the company said.
Sonat Offshore Drilling, headquartered in Houston, operates one of
the largest international fleets of marine drilling rigs. It is a unit
of Sonat Inc., headquartered in Birmingham, Ala. Arcade Shipping A/S,
based in Oslo, Norway, operates dry cargo vessels and tankers. The
company has a controlled fleet of about 20 vessels with a total
deadweight carrying capacity of 1 million tons.
|
| 78.20 | Unocal subsidiary sold | CHARLT::SAVAGE | | Wed May 30 1990 10:28 | 24 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.europe,clari.biz.mergers
Subject: Unocal sells Norwegian oil subsidiary
Keywords: oil, energy, international trade, trade, natural gas,
corporate mergers, corporate finance
Date: 29 May 90 18:14:18 GMT
Location: norway, france
ACategory: financial
Slugword: unocal
NEW YORK (UPI) -- Unocal Corp. said Tuesday it completed the sale
of Norwegian oil and gas subsidiary Unocal Norge A/S to Paris-based
Total Compagnie Francaise des Petroles for $322 million. Unocal, in a
statement, said the company expects to realize an after-tax gain of
$130 million from the sale.
The sale to Total Compagnie's Total Marine Norsk A/S subsidiary was
approved by the Norwegian ministries of finance and petroleum and
energy, Unocal said. "The sale of our Norwegian subsidary is part of
Unocal's effort to redeploy assets to areas offering our company
greater opportunities for long-term growth," said Unocal Chairman
Richard Stegemeier. Unocal will continue its exploration and
production efforts in both the British and Dutch sectors of the North
Sea, he said.
|
| 78.21 | Production limits to be lifted | CHARLT::SAVAGE | | Tue Jun 26 1990 10:36 | 49 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.europe,clari.biz.economy
Subject: Norway to lift oil production limit
Keywords: oil, energy, international trade, trade, prices, economy
Date: 25 Jun 90 22:19:58 GMT
Location: norway
ACategory: financial
Slugword: oil-norway
OSLO (UPI) -- Starting July 1, Norway will no longer unilaterally
hold down on oil production, imposed to aid the now-failing efforts of
the OPEC oil cartel to support higher oil prices, Norwegian oil
minister Eivind Reiten said Monday.
Reiten said Norway, which has held its oil output between 5 percent
and 10 percent below full capacity since 1986, had no reasons to
restrict its production from the North Sea any longer. "There is no
longer any point for Norway to maintain its unilateral `holdback,'"
Reiten said, arguing this would not be an "unfortunate signal to the
market at a time of overproduction since the cooperation between the
producers already has collapsed. "On the other hand, we are giving
positive signals by saying that we can reintroduce a holdback at any
moment if a new basis for cooperation should arise," he said. He added
Norway still had a strong interest in cooperation with the other
oil-producing countries.
Reiten's announcement came as the 13-nation Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries is having difficulty making some of its
members abide by their assigned production limits. The result has been
a world glut of crude oil, producing a decline of 20 percent to 25
percent in world crude prices since early April and recent discounting
by such members as Saudi Arabia and Iran.
OPEC pumps more than a third of the world's crude oil and tries to
support higher prices by limiting members' output. Norway is not a
member. Reiten emphasized that while the OPEC countries have increased
production by about 8 million barrels a day -- 50 percent -- since
1986, production outside OPEC virtually has remained unchanged.
Reiten said that the removal of the current 5-percent holdback by
Norway shouldn't have any noticeable effect on the nation's oil price.
"It only accounts for some 80,000 barrels a day of our total (daily)
production of 1.7 million barrels," Reiten said.
Norway had restricted its oil output by 10 percent in November and
December 1986 as a contribution to the stabilization of the
international oil market but eased this restriction to 7.5 percent in
February 1987. The holdback was subsequently reduced last December to 5
percent.
|
| 78.22 | Environmentally sound tankers | CHARLT::SAVAGE | | Mon Jul 02 1990 10:25 | 33 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.europe,clari.biz.misc
Subject: Statoil charters five additional tankers
Keywords: oil, energy, international trade, trade, maritime transportation,
transportation, multinationals, corporate finance
Date: 30 Jun 90 00:21:16 GMT
Location: norway
ACategory: financial
Slugword: statoil
NEW YORK (UPI) -- Statoil, Norway's state-owned oil company, Friday
said it had increased its fleet of tankers by nearly a quarter with the
lease of five more vessels for $340 million. Statoil said that the
additional tankers are needed to meet the growing trade in North Sea
crude oil over the next few years.
"Statoil is chartering five additional ships because of the
increasing availability of crude oil from the Norwegian North Sea over
the next few years," the company said in a statement. With these
vessels, Statoil's fleet will comprise 28 tankers, 22 of which will
have "whole or partial double sides and double bottoms," the statement
said.
Of the five chartered ships, two are double-hulled, two have
double-bottoms and one has a partial double bottom, Statoil said.
Double-clad vessels are said to provide greater protection against oil
spills, which have been particularly worrisome in the United States
since the March 1989 Alaska oil spill of the Exxon Valdez.
"With these timecharters, Statoil becomes one of the few oil
companies in the world with such a high percentage of environmentally
sound vessels," said Kristoffer Maroe, general manager of Statoil North
America Inc.
|
| 78.23 | Worker strike 1990 | CHARLT::SAVAGE | | Mon Jul 02 1990 10:29 | 42 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.news.europe,
clari.news.labor.strike
Subject: Norwegian oil workers call strike
Keywords: international, non-usa government, government, strike, labor, oil,
energy
Date: 30 Jun 90 21:26:31 GMT
Location: norway
ACategory: international
Slugword: oilstrike
OSLO, Norway (UPI) -- About 4,000 Norwegian North Sea oil and gas
field workers were set to strike Saturday night after negotiations on a
new wage agreement collapsed. The workers are members of the Workers
Collective Union, the largest trade union in the area. A walkout would
stop all production in the Norwegian oil and gas-fields in the North
Sea.
The strike, set for midnight, would cost Norway some $30 million a
day. "That is 25 percent of our total income and the situation is
extremely serious," commented Johan Jakobsen, the regional minister in
charge of cities who is filling in for Prime Minister Jan P. Syse
during his summer vacation.
The workers handle transportation to the platforms as well as some
of the production and catering. A strike would block the production for
all 12,000 oilworkers on the Norwegian platforms. About 1,000 workers
were expected to be locked out by the employers because of the strike.
Jakobsen said the conflict would be discussed at a government
meeting on Monday, but would not say whether the government would force
the workers back to the platforms. The Norwegian government has on six
occasions in the past 10 years forced members from the Workers
Collective Union back to work with legal measures. It last happened in
1986 when the workers had been on a strike for three weeks, which cost
Norway about $300 million.
"I will inform the government about the situation and the
consequences of the conflict for the country," Jacobsen said. "But I
would like to underline that the government has attempted to let the
parties on the labor market take responsibility for their own
negotiations."
|
| 78.24 | More on 1990 strike | CHARLT::SAVAGE | | Thu Jul 05 1990 10:09 | 102 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.news.europe,
clari.news.labor.strike,clari.news.top.world
Subject: Strikes block Norwegian oil production
Keywords: international, non-usa government, government, strike, labor, oil,
energy
Date: 3 Jul 90 21:02:21 GMT
Location: norway
ACategory: international
Slugword: oilprice-norway
OSLO (UPI) -- Chaos reigned in the Norwegian oil industry Tuesday
as wildcat strikes by oil workers blocked most of Norway's North Sea
oil and natural gas production. Many members of the oil workers' OFS
collective union protested a government decision to use emergency
legislation to settle a bitter pay dispute and defied an order of the
union's leaders to go back to work.
The 4,000-member union dominates three of Norway's four main
oil-producing fields in the North Sea -- Ekofisk, Gullfaks and
Statfjord. Workers at the fourth major field, Oseberg, primarily belong
to another union. Morten Woldsdal, information director for the
state-owned Statoil company, said a trickle of oil was still being
produced despite the strike. Woldsdal said Gullfaks, Statfjord and the
little Veslefrikk field have produced 400,000 barrels of crude oil
since Monday, less than a third of the Norway's normal daily output of
1.6 million barrels.
The OFS called a strike Saturday after wage negotiations collapsed.
However, the Norwegian government took legislative action Monday to
stop the strike it viewed as an illegal labor stoppage. The leadership
of OFS, a union which had similarly been forced back to work six times
over the past ten years, then urged its members to return to work. But
OFS spokeswoman Eldfried Stava-Sandve said about 1,000 workers were
still on strike.
John Lange, Statoil's assistant information manager, said the whole
situation was out of both the employers' and the union's control
"There is no organzation. The situation is chaotic and it's impossible
to anticipate what will happen the next hour," Lange said.
Phillips Petroleum's information manager Sander Bull-Gjertsen
agreed the everyone was completely confused. "We're dealing with a
union that can't control its members," Bull-Gjertsen said. "And since
the strike leaders refuse to identify themselves we don't know who
we're dealing with."
The striking workers apparently have no intention of giving up. "We
are a couple of hundreds OFS members out here on this platform and we
don't intend to restart work until real wage negotiations have been
recommenced," one worker, who wished to be anynomous, told United Press
International.
Both employers and government officials have said that the oil
workers still striking face severe disciplinary measures unless they
resume work. "A continuation of the strike automatically becomes
illegal as soon as the government has decided to use such arbitration
to settle the conflict," law professor Henning Jakhellin said.
Statoil is currently producing 50 million cubic meters a day of
natural gas against a normal production of 125 cubic meters. Oil and
gas production from the North Sea accounts for about 25 percent of the
Norwegian government's income, bringing in approximately $23 million in
taxes and interest revenue each day.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: clari.news.europe,clari.biz.labor
Subject: Norwegian oil production bounces back despite strike
Keywords: strike, labor, oil, energy
Date: 4 Jul 90 18:33:51 GMT
Location: norway
ACategory: financial
Slugword: oilprices-norway
OSLO, Norway (UPI) -- Oil production in the Norwegian sector of the
North Sea crept up to 50 percent of the usual level Wednesday despite
the third day of wildcat strikes. A spokesman for the state-owned oil
company Statoil said production during the preceeding 24 hours had
exceeded 400,000 barrels of crude oil and was approaching 500,000, half
of the normal figure.
The wildcat strikes broke out in three of Norway's four biggest
fields, where the Oilworkers Collective Union is the leading union,
after the Norwegian government introduced emergency legislation to halt
a labor stoppage on Monday. The union leaders, who called out their
4,000 members in a strike on Saturday after the collapse of a wage
negotiation, urged them to obey the center-right government's decision
to halt the strike. But some 1,000 rebellious workers instead went on a
wildcat strike that has crippled the Norwegian oil industry.
Spokesmen from both the union and the employers' central
organization said Wednesday they saw little hope of a negotiated
settlement with the wildcat strikers, but the government said it would
not use police against the workers. "We have no tradition in Norway to
justify the use of police against strikers," Regional Minister Johan
Jakobsen, acting prime minister during Jan P. Syse's vacation, said
Wednesday. Jakobsen added police only would be used if the essential
security on the oil platforms was threatened. "An illegal strike
remains a question to be solved by the workers and their employers. If
either party seeks damages, that's a question for the courts," Jakobsen
said.
|
| 78.25 | Confusion | CHARLT::SAVAGE | | Fri Jul 06 1990 14:53 | 45 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.europe,clari.biz.labor,clari.biz.top
Subject: Confusion prevails on strike-bound North Sea oil fields
Keywords: oil, energy, international trade, trade, strike, labor
Date: 5 Jul 90 17:32:46 GMT
Location: norway
ACategory: financial
Slugword: oilprice-norway
OSLO (UPI) -- Confusion prevailed in North Sea oil fields Thursday
as one oil company claimed a wildcat strike on a major offshore
platform had been called off, but Norwegian oil workers denied they had
returned to work.
Sander Bull-Gjertsen, spokesman for the Phillips Petroleum Co. said
that a dozen strikers had "surrendered unconditionally" after two
helicopters with fresh crews landed in the Ekofisk platform complex.
He said theoretically full production could be resumed Thursday.
But a spokeswoman for strikers on the Ekofisk platform, who
insisted on anonymity, denied they were going back to work. "We are
waiting to see what the relief crews will do. Meanwhile, our strike
continues," she said.
Spokesmen for the oil workers' collective union, OFS, said they
couldn't confirm that the Ekofisk strike was about to end. "We have no
indications that the action there is over," the spokesman said, adding
the situation was unlikely to be resolved for several hours.
Morten Woldsdal, spokesman for Norway's state-owned Statoil oil
company, described the situation as "confused." He said that if
workers on Phillips' Ekofisk platform had gone back to work, this had
not yet had any effect on wildcat strikes at the Statfjord, Gullfaks
and Veslefrikk fields. These three major fields were all operated by
Statoil with crews predominantly belonging to the OFS union.
The wildcat strikes to protest the Norwegian government's decision
to use compulsory arbitration to settle a bitter pay dispute, continued
for the fourth day on Thursday with production of oil and gas creeping
up towards 50 percent of the regular level.
The center-right, minority-coalition government said the strike,
which started Saturday, could deal the economy a crippling blow. It
therefore introduced emergency legislation Monday to have the conflict
settled by a compulsory arbitration board.
|
| 78.26 | Platforms shut down | CHARLT::SAVAGE | | Mon Jul 09 1990 12:03 | 54 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.europe,clari.biz.labor,clari.biz.top
Subject: Oil-worker strike shuts down Statoil platforms
Keywords: oil, energy, international trade, trade, strike, labor
Date: 6 Jul 90 23:00:05 GMT
Location: norway
ACategory: financial
Slugword: oilprice-norway
OSLO, Norway (UPI) -- Norway's state-owned Statoil oil company
Friday shut down production on four of its seven platforms in the North
Sea because of wildcat strikes that so far have cost Norway about $95
million. Statoil chief Harald Norvik Friday used loudspeakers aboard
the offshore platforms to announce his company's intention to fight the
strikers, but the workers apparently paid little attention to his
speech.
Statoil announced the company was curtailing all production on its
Statfjord A and B and Gullfaks A and B platforms. But some crude oil
was still being produced by Statoil platforms in the Veslefrikk oil
field, the company said.
Kristoffer Maro, Statoil's representative in the United States,
said some workers also had returned late in the day to the Statfjord C
platform. He estimated combined production from the Statfjord and
Gullfaks fields at 500,000-600,000 barrels a day, compared to the
normal daily output of 1.1 million barrels. Total daily production from
Norwegian oil fields is 1.6-1.7 million barrels, Maro said.
Private U.S. operator Phillips Petroleum Corp., however, said it
was resuming full production in the Ekofisk field, where Phillips said
striking workers were returning to work. The wildcat strikes on the
Norwegian platforms entered their fifth day Friday after the country's
center-right government Monday issued emergency legislation to end a
union strike that started midnight Saturday over a bitter pay dispute.
The OFS oil workers' union acepted the government action, but was
unable to make its 4,000 members go back to work. On six previous
occasions in the last ten years, the government has used legislation to
force the union to abandon a strike.
Some American oil traders had thought the new conservative
government might be philosophically less inclined to intervene in the
strike the way previous governments had done. As a result, last week
they were saying there was a 50-50 chance of a strike occurring.
The strike is currently the main factor moving world crude prices.
Thursday when it appeared workers were returning to the platforms, the
price of North Sea Brent crude fell 82 cents a barrel. Its price was
holding firm Friday. The strike has so far cost Norway about 630
million kroner, or $95 million, in lost taxation and interest revenue.
The government has referred the conflict to a compulsory wages board,
saying a continuation of the strike could cause grave damage to
Norway's economy.
|
| 78.27 | Contingency plans to cut domestic consumption? | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Jan 30 1991 10:06 | 33 |
| From: [email protected] (Gunnar Blix)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Norwegian preparations for Oil shortages
Date: 29 Jan 91 17:50:07 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (News)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
>I've read that the Norwegians are getting ready to put in place
>rules to reduce oil consumption, such as No Driving Allowed On Weekends,
>in case there is a big problem in the world Oil market.
>Do I understand this correctly?
Possible restrictions include no *unnecessary* driving on weekends,
which means that driving may be restricted to those holding a special
permit. Also, restrictions would most likely include rationing of
gasoline and gasoline products.
>What's the point? Don't you make your own gasoline from your
>own oil?
Sure, we make more than enough for our own consumption for several
years ahead, but we are 1) dependent on good will as well as exports to
several other western countries and, 2) willing to take our share of
the problems caused by the gulf crisis. The restrictions will, of
course, not be implemented unless similar measures are taken by other
allied countries.
--
******************************************************************
* Gunnar Blix * Disclaimer: Never believe anything until it *
* [email protected] * has been officially denied - Clockburn *
******************************************************************
|
| 78.28 | Industry looks beyond the oil fields | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed May 08 1991 12:07 | 27 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.europe,clari.biz.economy.world
Subject: Norwegians diverting some attention from North Sea
Date: 7 May 91 22:30:42 GMT
HOUSTON (UPI) -- The Norwegian energy industry, long focused on its
North Sea oil fields, will now begin to pay more attention to the entire
international market, Norway's minister of petroleum and energy said
Tuesday.
Finn Kristensen said Norwegian companies are making acquisitions and
establishing subsidiaries abroad.
"The Norwegian offshore industry is prepared to take an active part
in the servicing of the oil companies on a global scale," Kristensen
said.
The minister and Aker, Norway's major offshore drilling company,
announced at the annual Offshore Technology Conference that Aker had an
agreement to acquire a Houston-based engineering company, Omega Marine
Inc., which had revenues of $17 million last year.
Aker's subsidiary, Aker Engineering, has dealt with Omega Marine for
two years and formed a jointly owned company in 1990.
The company's new name will be Aker Omega Marine Inc. and will
contiue to operate under its current management.
"Through the acquisition of Omega Marine, Aker ... aims to
strengthen its position in the important engineering market in Houston
serving the Gulf of Mexico and other international markets," said Knut
Borgen, Aker's senior vice president.
|
| 78.29 | Gas processing plant at Kollsnes | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri Jun 12 1992 10:12 | 33 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.europe
Subject: Aker Engineering, M.W. Kellogg won $640 million contract
Date: Thu, 11 Jun 92 11:24:55 PDT
OSLO, Norway (UPI) -- Royal Dutch Shell Group's Norwegian division
Thursday announced it awarded Aker Engineering and M.W. Kellogg Co. a
$640 million contract to build a gas processing plant at Kollsnes near
Bergen, Norway.
The onshore plant will process gas from the Troll North Sea gas
field, which is expected to start production in 1996, A/S Norske Shell
spokesmen announced at a news conference.
The contract is the largest single contract ever awarded in Norway,
they said. It covers engineering, procurement, construction and
management of the plant.
The Houston-based M.W. Kellogg, a subsidiary of Dresser Industries
Inc. of Dallas, does business in Norway through its London-based
European Operations Center of M.W. Kellogg.
Aker Engineering is based in Oslo, Norway.
About 350 people will work on the engineering and procurement
activities, which will be done in Asker outside Oslo and also in London.
Construction is estimated to involve up to 1,500 people with major
construction activites slated for completion by late 1995.
The Troll field is Europe's largest offshore gas field and is capable
of meeting 10 percent of Western European's demand for natural gas into
the next century, A/S Norkse Shell spokemen said.
"Troll will provide guaranteed gas to Europe from Oct. 1, 1996. Its
Phase One total production capability is 23.7 billion cubic meters per
year," the release said.
Equity holders are Norske Shell, 8.3 percent, Norway's oil firm
Statoil, 74.6 percent, Norsk Hydro, 7.7 percent, Saga Petroleum, 4.1
percent, Norske Conoco 2 percent, Elf Aquitaine, 2.3 percent, and Total,
1 percent.
|
| 78.30 | North Sea fire under control | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Nov 11 1992 09:11 | 22 |
| From: [email protected] (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.biz.economy.world,clari.news.europe
Subject: Fire on North Sea platform, evacuation, no injuries
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 7:07:23 PST
OSLO, Norway (UPI) -- Fire broke out Tuesday on a gas platform in the
Norwegian sector of the North Sea, causing the evacuation of the rig and
the temporary closure of nearby gas production fields.
No one was reported hurt in the incident, but production at Norwegian
gas fields at Odin and Frigg, and the British Alwyn field were
temporarily shut down as a safety precaution.
The TCP2 rig is owned by French-owned Elf Petroleum Norway, and a
spokesman said there was no danger of either an explosion or an all-
enveloping fire.
"The fire is contained in a closed area in one of the columns of the
platform," the Elf Aquitaine spokesman said.
Workers on the platform were evacuated to a nearby hotel platform, he
said. It was not immediately clear how many workers had been on board
the TCP2.
Firefighters were said to have the fire under control and
environmental authorities said there was no danger of pollution since
the platform only handled natural gas.
|
| 78.31 | Rig evacuated | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Jan 13 1993 11:16 | 24 |
| From: [email protected] (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.news.trouble,
clari.news.europe
Subject: Rig partially evacuated as fire breaks out
Date: 13 Jan 93 13:32:00 GMT
OSLO, Norway (UPI) -- Forty-two people were evacuated Wednesday from
an oil rig in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea after fire broke out
in the engine room of the driller, Norwegian radio reported.
None of the 72 crew on board the West Alfa rig, positioned halfway
between Norway and the Shetland islands, were hurt, the radio said.
Evacuees were transferred to platforms in the Frigg field, to the
south of the West Alfa, it said.
A spokesman for the operators told Norwegian radio he expected the
fire to be extinguished and that firefighting was underway using halon
gas.
"The situation is under control, but there is still a fire on board,"
said Hans Asmund Frisak, spokesman for the Elf company, which has the
West Alfa concession.
The West Alfa is owned by the Danish company Difko and was being
operated by the Norwegian Smedvik company.
A Smedvik spokeswoman said it was not yet clear why the fire had
broken out in the engine room.
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| 78.32 | 4-hour halt on 5 May 1994 | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Apr 14 1994 14:27 | 50 |
| From: [email protected] (Reuters)
Newsgroups: clari.world.europe.western,clari.biz.commodity,
clari.news.labor.strike,clari.biz.labor
Subject: Norwegian oil workers plan brief political strike
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 94 6:40:08 PDT
OSLO, April 14 (Reuter) - Norway, West Europe's largest oil
producer, faces a four-hour halt in output on May 5 when the
country's major offshore union plans a strike.
The strike, against the use of cheaper imported labour to
circumvent local regulations on pay and conditions, is to be
held from 0800 GMT to 1200 GMT.
"In the above mentioned period production will be halted,
maintenance will not be carried out and there will be no
helicopter transport," the 6,000 member OFS union said in a
statement to the Industry and Energy Ministry.
"By allowing companies to replace their own employees with
workers from elsewhere, one introduces a policy which endangers
jobs," it added.
Norway, the world's fifth largest net exporter of oil, pumps
some 2.5 million barrels per day.
Another union, Norway's Oil and Petrochemical Workers Union
(NOPEF), said it would take some 220 well service workers and
divers out on an indefinite strike from midnight on April 29
unless an agreement is reached with employers over work hours.
NOPEF has 1,300 members involved in exploration, well
service and the drilling of new wells. The union says it does
not initially plan to affect output.
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From: [email protected] (AP)
Newsgroups: clari.world.europe.western,clari.biz.commodity,
clari.news.labor.strike,clari.biz.labor
Subject: Norway Braces For Oil Strike
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 94 8:30:13 PDT
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- A major oil union Thursday announced that it
was calling a four-hour strike on Norway's offshore platforms on
May 5 to protest the use of contract labor.
The 6,000-member oil workers union, called OFS for its Norwegian
name, said the strike would not affect platforms outside the
Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
The union said the strike would disrupt much of Norway's 2.5
million barrel per day oil production between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. (4
a.m. EDT and 8 a.m. EDT) on May 5.
An OFS news release said it was calling the brief strike as a
demonstration against "the authorities' lack of will to enforce
employment regulations about the use of contract labor."
The union claimed that oil companies' use of contractors makes
permanent jobs less secure and undermines union activities.
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