No strike on TotalEnergies’ UK platforms as trade union works out pay deal

Employees working on two North Sea platforms operated by the UK subsidiary of French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies have accepted a new pay deal negotiated by the UK’s trade union Unite.

An enhanced offer amounting to a 2.25% increase in basic pay and a 5% increase in the offshore allowance negotiated by Unite was backed by around 50 Unite members based on the Elgin-Franklin and North Alwyn platforms, the trade union reported.

While strike action to secure a better pay offer was “overwhelmingly” supported by Unite members, it ended up not being necessary following the deal. According to Unite, the overall pay package is estimated to be worth around an additional £2,500 to the offshore workers. 

Unite’s General Secretary Sharon Graham said: “By being prepared to stand together and strike, our members at TotalEnergies have secured a substantial uplift in pay. Unite continues to deliver better jobs, pay and conditions for our offshore members.”

As disclosed, the workers undertake multiple roles on TotalEnergies platforms, including skilled engineers, control room and senior operators, as well as mechanical, operations, and production technicians.

Together with the Laggan-Tormore hub in the West of Shetland area, the Alwyn/Dunbar area in the northern North Sea, and the Elgin/Franklin and Culzean areas in the central North Sea are the main zones of operation for Total in its North Sea portfolio.

The Elgin-Franklin field is a series of high-pressure, high-temperature (HP/HT) gas reservoirs located in the Central North Sea and operated by TotalEnergies. Eni, Harbour Energy, Ithaca Energy, NEO Energy, and ONE-Dyas also hold non-operated interests in the field, which is said to be one of the largest HP/HT installations in the world.

The Elgin field is located in Block 22/30b and Block 22/30c of the UK sector of the North Sea, approximately 200 kilometers east of Aberdeen, in a water depth of 92 meters, while the Franklin and West Franklin satellites are situated 5.5 kilometers south of Elgin in Block 29/5b and Block 29/4d at a similar depth. Coming on stream in 2001, the field is expected to be operational until 2040.

Last year, Wood won a contract to handle flare gas recovery for Elgin-Franklin, after already completing a field study and front-end engineering design (FEED).

The Alwyn area development comprises eight producing fields: Alwyn North, Dunbar, Ellon, Grant, Nuggets, Forvie North, Jura, and Islay. The Alwyn North platform, located in Block 3/9a, is the hub and support centre for these fields, supplying them with power and water injection support while simultaneously receiving produced water, oil, and gas via a network of subsea cables and pipelines.

Alwyn North consists of two platforms: North Alwyn Alpha (NAA) and North Alwyn Bravo (NAB), which are linked by a bridge. The Dunbar platform processes fluids from the Dunbar, Grant, and Ellon fields and is tied back to Alwyn by pipeline.

The Alwyn area is envisaged to undergo a field life extension with the hydrocarbon production from the Alwyn East field. Based on the project’s environmental statement from 2021, the field will be developed using extended reach drilling, executed from Alwyn North.

The volumes from the new field are expected to boost production from the Alwyn platform with over 500,000 cubic meters of gas and 500 tonnes of oil per day.