• The UK imports around 50% of its gas from Norway.
• Norway is Europe’s second-largest energy provider behind Russia.
• Up to 170 million cubic litres of gas, are estimated to have been lost due to a strike.

Strikes that might have halted the majority of the UK’s gas imports from Norway have been suspended.

The industrial action that was scheduled to take place later this week has been halted, according to the Norwegian Labour Ministry.

“The workforce is returning to work as quickly as feasible. We are stopping the anticipated escalation “Audun Ingvartsen, the head of the Lederne union, said Reuters.

The UK has no problems with gas supply, the Department for Business maintained.

According to ONS data, the UK imports around 50% of its gas, and Norway is the major provider, accounting for 77% of imports.

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With several nations reducing their reliance on Russian supplies in response to the conflict in Ukraine, Norway’s oil and gas, Europe’s second-largest energy provider behind Russia, are in high demand.

The Norwegian Oil and Gas Association, the employer’s organisation, and the union Lederne, which represents oil and gas workers, had a salary dispute that led to the initiation of the industrial action on Monday.

Three of Equinor’s oil and gas fields had to be shut down as a result of the first phase. On Tuesday evening, more strikes affecting three additional Equinor sites were anticipated.

If the conflict was not settled by Saturday, the union had vowed to go on more strike action.

However, the government had used its power to intervene, according to the labour minister Marte Mjoes Persen, who spoke to Reuters.

The planned strike escalation “would have had catastrophic ramifications, for Britain, Germany and other nations,” he claimed. “Norway plays an important role in supplying gas to Europe.”

The volume impact would have been significant given the current scenario in Europe.

“We are delighted to see that the government realised the seriousness of the issue and acted to protect Norway’s reputation as a reliable and steady supplier of natural gas to Europe,” the oil lobby NOG said in a statement in response to the strike’s cancellation.

Two terminals—Easington in Yorkshire and St. Fergus in Scotland—handle the importation of Norwegian gas into the UK.

The planned strike on Saturday would have had an impact on UK supply since it would have temporarily stopped the Sleipner field, a crucial hub for gas exports to the UK.

According to the Financial Times, the Norwegian-state-owned Gassco had told the BBC that “in a worst-case scenario,” there would be no gas deliveries to the East Yorkshire coast’s Easington gas terminal starting this Saturday.

Although the operations at Easington would have only been affected by the prospective strike, Gassco claimed that Easington was by far the more important of the two, receiving 80 to 90 percent of the gas from Norway.

According to the Department for Business, “We have access to our own North Sea gas deposits and the second largest LNG port infrastructure in Europe, making our energy system one of the most dependable and diverse in the world.”

Gas is transported by Gassco to nations around Europe, including Germany and Belgium. Up to 170 million cubic litres of gas, or over 50% of the company’s total daily delivery volume, are estimated to have been lost due to a strike action.