Norway's government halted an oil and gas worker strike that could have cut natural-gas exports by 60% and worsened Europe's energy crisis

• Norway's government has stepped in to halt a strike that could have deepened Europe's energy crisis.
• A planned strike escalation would have cut about 60% of the country's gas exports by Saturday.

Norway's government has stepped in to halt a strike by oil and gas workers that would have slashed natural-gas exports by up to about 60%, exacerbating the energy crisis in Europe.

The strike by the Lederne union that started Tuesday could have been disastrous for Europe. Norway is the continent's second-largest energy supplier after Russia — which is already slowing natural-gas supplies via a key pipeline to Germany.

Planned escalation would have cut about 56% of the country's gas exports by Saturday, said the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association, an employers' group. In the worst-case scenario, Belgium and the UK would not have been able to receive piped gas from Norway starting Saturday, Norwegian pipeline operator Gassco told Reuters.

The escalation in industrial action would also have cut oi production by 341,000 barrels a day, the employers' group said. That has been averted by the government's intervention on Tuesday.

"The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy believes that it would be indefensible to cease gas production in the scope entailed by this strike over the next few days," Norway's labor minister, Marte Mjøs Persen, said in a statement.

"Production is falling dramatically, and this is highly critical in a situation where the EU and the UK are entirely dependent on their energy partnership with Norway."

The Norwegian government has the power to intervene in labor disputes under certain conditions, per Reuters. It has proposed compulsory wage arbitration between the Lederne union and employers.

Mjøs Persen said the Norwegian government typically exercises "significant restraint" before intervening in industrial action, but "the serious consequences of the announced escalations have forced my hand."

About 15% of Norway's offshore oil and gas workers are members of the Lederne labor union that was on strike, according to Reuters. They were demanding wage increases to deal with rising inflation, which hit 5.7% in May — the highest since 1988, according to Norway's statistics agency. Lederne union members voted down a proposed wage agreement last week, according to Reuters. Other oil and gas labor unions in the country accepted the deal.

Lederne union leader Audun Ingvartse said in a Tuesday statement he was "surprised" the Norwegian government has intervened in the industrial action in less than a day, but the union respects the authorities' reasons for the response. He added union members would be returning to work "as soon as possible."

"We're pleased that the government understands the seriousness of the position and is acting to maintain Norway's good reputation as a reliable and stable supplier of natural gas to Europe," said Elisabeth Brattebø Fenne, director of organization and employer policy at Norwegian Oil and Gas, in a Tuesday statement.