10th July, 2012
Global oil prices slid Tuesday after Norway halted an oil workers’ strike that threatened production and news of weak Chinese crude imports raised demand concerns.
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for August, finished at $83.91 a barrel, down $2.08 from Monday’s closing level.
In London trade, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August shed $2.35 to settle at $97.97 a barrel.
“Prices gave back Monday’s gains to slide lower as Norway’s government intervened in a labor strike and ordered a last-minute settlement to prevent a full closure of its oil industry,” said Sucden analyst Myrto Sokou.
“It should be noted that the oil strikes in Norway that started two weeks ago, had already cut oil production by 13 percent from the world’s No. 8 producer.
Norwegian oil fields ramped up output on Tuesday after the government intervened to end a 16-day strike over pensions that would have halted production by western Europe’s largest crude exporter.
Norway’s state-owned giant Statoil, the company most affected by the strike, said it was ramping up to resume production and expected normal output levels by week’s end.
The government’s move to settle the dispute angered unions, who said their negotiation options had been narrowed.
“We are very disappointed,” said Martin Sheen, who represents the Industri Energi union. “We think it was not necessary at all.”