North Sea Oil Strikes Could Severely Disrupt UK Fuel Supplies, Unite Union Warns

ABERDEEN – More than 160 offshore oil workers are set to stage a 24-hour strike from Wednesday that could severely disrupt the United Kingdom’s fuel supplies, the Unite union warned on Monday, as tensions between trade unions and oil companies in the ageing North Sea basin continue to escalate.

The walkout, due to begin at 6am on Wednesday, 21 October, will involve workers at five platforms operated by Apache that are connected to the Forties Pipeline System, which accounts for around 30% of UK oil production. Unite said a halt in production on the platforms could sharply reduce pressure across the pipeline network, with knock-on effects for other North Sea operators that rely on it to transport their output. A further strike is scheduled for 4 November.

The dispute centres on pay and involves staff across a range of trades, including electrical, instrument, mechanical, production and telecoms technicians as well as radio operators. Unite has also accused Apache of imposing deadlines during negotiations over back pay and of suggesting that payments could be withheld, which the union said could leave some workers thousands of pounds out of pocket.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said Apache, as part of a global company making billions of pounds in profit, could easily afford to settle the dispute, and accused it of putting fuel supplies at risk through what she described as reckless behaviour driven by corporate greed.

Apache has defended its position, saying it had made a fair offer of a 4% pay rise to employees whose earnings already place them among the UK’s highest earners and whose offshore rota averages 153 working days a year. The company said it would bring in experienced contractors to maintain production during the strike, and that even if all five platforms were unable to operate, it did not expect other oil companies using the Forties pipeline to be affected. Union leaders are due to continue pay talks with Apache through the conciliation service Acas on Wednesday.

Separately, workers employed by Wood Group on the Harbour Energy platforms have also taken industrial action, with Unite and the RMT union saying a third 48-hour strike is planned for 3 November. Wood Group said that only eight of the 150 employees contracted to the affected platforms took part in earlier action this month and that operations had not been disrupted.

The disputes come as North Sea oil companies have increasingly clashed with unions in recent years, with many cutting investment in UK assets and blaming the country’s energy policies and taxation. Apache plans to end all of its North Sea operations by the end of 2029, citing the financial impact of the windfall tax. The threat of disruption also comes against a backdrop of soaring fuel costs driven by the war involving Iran, which has restricted supplies of crude oil and refined products from the Gulf.