Looming strike action by North Sea oil workers could “severely disrupt” UK fuel supplies, according to the Unite union, which said staff were left with no choice after a breakdown in pay talks with the Texas oil company Apache.
The union said Apache workers had “emphatically” backed strike action after receiving what it described as an unacceptable pay offer that amounted to a real-terms pay cut for many employees, at a time when the company was “raking in eye-watering profits”. Unite also said the operator had set deadlines for reaching an agreement over back pay and indicated payments could be withheld, “leaving workers potentially thousands of pounds out of pocket”.
Pay Dispute and Strike Mandate
Apache said it had “engaged constructively throughout the pay discussions” and offered a 4% pay increase for staff, “whose earnings already place them among the highest earners in the UK and whose offshore rota averages 153 working days a year”. Strike action could begin later this month, according to the union, and could involve more than 160 Apache offshore workers, including electrical experts, production technicians and radio operators.
Any action would affect the Forties and Beryl oilfields, and could lead to one of the critical North Sea platforms, known as Charlie, “being brought to a standstill”, Unite said. That could ultimately result in the entire Forties pipeline system in the North Sea – which is said to handle almost a third of the UK’s oil and gas – “going down”, the union added, warning that the disruption could also ripple out and affect other large North Sea operators.
Impact on Fuel Prices and Supply
Unite blamed the potential disruption on Apache’s failure to reach a pay deal, saying the company’s behaviour could have “far-reaching consequences for workers, operators and consumers”. Consumers have already been grappling with rising fuel and gas prices because of the US-Israel war on Iran, which has been disrupting supplies of crude and refined oil products from the Gulf. On Friday, British motorists were dealt a fresh blow when it emerged that the average price of diesel had climbed to a record £2 a litre.
At the same time, it was announced that leaders of G7 nations would release up to 100m barrels of their emergency diesel and crude oil stockpiles after Donald Trump threatened to cut off supplies of US diesel. Commenting on the potential strike action, the Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “We will not tolerate unacceptable pay offers.” Stevie Davies, a Unite industrial officer, said any disruption to Apache’s platforms “would have a direct hit on the Forties pipeline and potentially severely affect the UK’s fuel supplies”.
Company Response and Contingency Plans
The Texas-based APA Corporation, which is the parent company behind Apache North Sea Production, reported $1.4bn (£1.1bn) in after-tax profits and $9.2bn in revenues for last year. “We believe our final offer to the union is fair and recognises the contribution of our offshore workforce, alongside the wider benefits in our total rewards package,” Apache said. “The proposed pay increase is also in line with that awarded to our non-unionised employees earlier this year.”
Apache also said it had contingency plans in place, and that it did not expect any strike action to affect other producers and their ability to operate through the Forties pipeline system. The plans included keeping “experienced personnel” on key sites, and it said any reduction in pipeline pressure as a result of industrial action would be similar to what occurred during routine maintenance outages. “As a responsible operator, we are planning to maintain safe operations throughout any industrial action,” Apache added.
A spokesperson for the department for energy security and net zero said: “We urge all parties to work together to resolve this issue without disruption. We have a diverse and resilient fuel supply. This is a crude oil pipeline and does not transport fuel.” Planned strikes by Neo Next offshore workers, organised by Unite, were called off this summer after they secured a deal that the union said lifted the pay package by more than £4,000. The deal was reached days before workers were due to start a series of strikes from 22 July. Ineos, which operates the Forties pipeline system, was contacted for comment.
