Output Back up at Nelson, Shearwater
Friday 12 August 2016
Production has resumed at two of Shell’s UK North Sea platforms that shut down last week for planned maintenance amid an ongoing industrial dispute.
“The planned maintenance on Nelson and Shearwater was completed earlier this week and both platforms are fully operational,” a Shell spokesman said on Friday.
Production was suspended on Shearwater on Monday 1 August and on Shearwater on Tuesday 2 August, a couple of days before members of the RMT and Unite unions employed by contractor Wood Group stepped up strike action by embarking on a 48-hour stoppage.
Other action had been planned for the coming weeks but on Thursday it was announced this would be suspended following an agreement between Wood Group, the RMT and Unite to hold further talks aimed at resolving the stalemate over pay and conditions.
Shell said previously the Nelson and Shearwater shutdowns were planned long before the workforce decided to down tools.
Seven facilities have been affected by the action – Gannet, the Curlew floating production, storage and offloading vessel, Nelson, Shearwater, Brent Alpha, Brent Bravo and Brent Charlie.