Business reporters from the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Easington gas terminalImage source, Getty Images
Image caption, The strikes threaten to stop deliveries to the Easington gas receiving terminal in Yorkshire

The strikes that were threatening to cut off most of the UK's gas imports from Norway have ended.

The Norwegian labour ministry said it had stopped the industrial action.

The workers are going back to work. Audun Ingvartsen, leader of the Lederne union, said they were canceling the planned increase.

The UK has no issues with gas supplies, according to the Department for Business.

Half of the UK's gas is imported and Norway is its biggest supplier, according to the data.

Oil and gas from Norway, Europe's second largest energy supplier after Russia, is in high demand as many countries reduce their dependence on Russian supplies.

There is a pay dispute between the employer's organisation, the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association, and the union Lederne.

Three of Equinor's oil and gas fields were shut down. Three more Equinor facilities were expected to be impacted by more strikes on Tuesday.

If the dispute wasn't resolved, the union would take further strike action.

The government had the right to intervene, according to the labour minister.

He said that the planned escalation of the strike would have had serious consequences for Britain, Germany and other nations.

The current European situation would have had a huge impact on the volume impact.

The NOG, the oil lobby, said in a statement that they were glad that the government understood the seriousness of the situation and acted to uphold Norway's reputation as a reliable and stable supplier of natural gas to Europe.

Norwegian gas arrives in the UK at two different locations.

The planned strike would have temporarily closed the Sleipner field, which is a key distribution point for gas exports to the UK.

There will be no gas deliveries to Easington from this Saturday, according to Gassco, a Norwegian state owned company.

Gassco said that the most significant of the two was receiving 80% to 90% of the gas from Norway.

The Department for Business said that the UK has one of the most reliable and diverse energy systems in the world with access to our own North Sea gas reserves.

Gassco transports gas to other countries. Around 50% of the daily delivery amount from the company would have been prevented if strike action had taken place.

  • Easington
  • Norway
  • Oil & Gas industry
  • Strike action