Dispute lands as UK diesel hits record £2 a litre
A looming strike by more than 160 Apache offshore workers in the North Sea could “severely disrupt” UK fuel supplies, the Unite union said, after workers backed industrial action in a dispute over pay.
The union said Apache workers — including electrical experts, production technicians and radio operators — had “emphatically” backed a walkout following a breakdown in talks. Unite said the company’s offer of a 4% pay rise amounted to a real-terms pay cut for many employees at a time when the company was “raking in eye-watering profits.”
Apache’s parent company, the Texas-based APA Corporation, reported $1.4bn (£1.1bn) in after-tax profits and $9.2bn in revenues for the previous year.
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.” Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, said: “We will not tolerate unacceptable pay offers.”
Strike action could begin later this month, according to Unite, and would affect the Forties and Beryl oilfields. The union said the action could bring one of the critical North Sea platforms, known as Charlie, “being brought to a standstill,” and could ultimately cause the entire Forties pipeline system to “go down.” Unite said the pipeline handles almost a third of the UK’s oil and gas and that disruption could also ripple out and affect other large North Sea operators. 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.”
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.”
Apache said it had “engaged constructively throughout the pay discussions” and added that it had 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.”
“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,” the company said. “The proposed pay increase is also in line with that awarded to our non-unionised employees earlier this year.”
The company said it had contingency plans in place, including keeping “experienced personnel” on key sites, and added that it did not expect any strike action to affect other producers and their ability to operate through the Forties pipeline system. Any reduction in pipeline pressure as a result of industrial action, Apache said, 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.
The strike threat comes as UK consumers already face record fuel prices amid a US-Israeli military campaign against Iran that has been disrupting supplies of crude and refined oil products from the Gulf. On Friday, the average price of diesel at British pumps climbed to a record £2 a litre.
Separately, G7 leaders announced they would release up to 100 million barrels of their emergency diesel and crude oil stockpiles after Donald Trump threatened to cut off supplies of US diesel.
In a recent parallel dispute, planned strikes by Unite-organized offshore workers at Neo Next were called off this summer after the union said workers secured a deal lifting the pay package by more than £4,000. That agreement came days before strikes were due to begin on 22 July.
Ineos, which operates the Forties pipeline system, was contacted for comment.