The Sleipner camp, a North Sea center for British fossil fuels, was about to close over the weekend due to a wage dispute. Norwegian oil and gas workers had already closed three camps on Monday and were expected to follow three more on Tuesday before the government intervened.
If the striking workers had managed to close the three additional fields, it would have affected around 13 per cent of Norway’s total gas exports.
Three additional camps, including Sleipner, were due to close on Saturday.
This means that the supply of British gas is unlikely to be disrupted on Saturday as a result.
Labor Minister Mars Mjoes Persen told Reuters that Oslo had used its powers to intervene and that the strike would have had “serious consequences”.
He said: “Norway plays a vital role in the supply of gas to Europe and in the planned escalation [of the strike] it would have had serious consequences, for Britain, Germany and other nations.
“When the conflict can have such great social consequences for the whole of Europe, I have no choice but to intervene in the conflict.
“It’s unjustifiable to let gas production stop to such an extent.”
Union leader Audun Ingvartsen told Reuters the strike was over.
READ MORE: Savages on German radio plan to reclaim Britain’s Brexit in EU
Hansen added that the closure of Sleipner would also have affected supplies in Belgium.
Josef Pospisil, a utilities specialist at Fitch Ratings, argued that a short-term drop in supply would not have a major impact on the UK due to the large volumes it receives from other countries shipped from around the world.
Norway is the largest gas supplier in the UK providing 32 billion cubic meters (bcm) of the 76 bcm consumed last year.
On Tuesday evening, about 30 per cent of British gas was supplied through the Easington terminal.
The dispute will now move to what the Norwegian government has described as a “mandatory wage board”.