Amid concerns about Europe's gas supply, a strike by oil and gas workers in Norway could cut its gas production by 292,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the short term.

That corresponds to 13 percent of production, said the employers' association Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (NOG) on Sunday.

Oil production could fall by 130,000 barrels a day.

The trade union responsible has threatened a strike on Tuesday if the employers do not respond to their wage demands.

However, initially only one field should be struck, whereby the extension to three more is not ruled out.

The Lederne union, which represents around 15 percent of the country's offshore oil workers, on Thursday rejected a collective bargaining agreement negotiated by companies and union leaders.

Since then, further talks have taken place, but a solution is not in sight, said a NOG spokesman.

The other Norwegian oil and gas workers' unions have accepted the collective agreement and do not want to go on strike.

This is untimely for the EU countries, as they are dependent on more gas from Norway due to a lack of Russian supplies.

Both sides want to intensify cooperation in order to ensure additional gas supplies from Norway in the short and long term, the EU and Western Europe's largest gas producer announced at the end of June.

Due to the supply cuts, Norway has already increased its gas production and is aiming to increase it by 8 percent, or about 100 terawatt hours, this year.

The EU has so far imported around 20 percent of its gas from Norway.

The price of the European futures contract for natural gas for delivery in one month rose 11 percent on Monday to €159.30 per megawatt hour.

However, this possible production disruption should be assessed as a short-term factor.

The European gas price is currently being driven much more strongly by the geopolitical situation and concerns about further supply cuts from Russia.

Since June 7, the price has more than doubled, starting from EUR 78.50.

The price of the contract, which has been traded since 2007, rose above its 2008 high of EUR 35 for the first time in July of the previous year.

The upward movement had started in the wake of the Corona crisis and accelerated noticeably.

Shortly before Christmas 2021, the price had skyrocketed to 180.68 euros.

Since then it has been moving sideways at a very high level with strong fluctuations, where this level has increased again due to Russia's attack on Ukraine.

The price reached its current high of 202 euros at the beginning of March.