Oil eases as Norway ends labour dispute Oil prices fell below $99 after the Norwegian government used special powers to prevent a looming shutdown of its oil industry late on Monday night. The government of the world's fifth-largest oil exporter forcibly ended a two-week dispute between unions and major oil companies moments before all production was scheduled to cease at midnight. ICE August Brent, which had jumped 2 per cent to above $100 on Monday on expectation of lower Norwegian production, fell $1.77 to $98.55. News that crude imports into China, the world's second biggest crude consumer, fell in June to their lowest this year from a record high the previous month also weighed on oil prices on Tuesday. The Norwegian government's decision, which Hanne Bjurstrøm, the labour minister, said was to protect the country's "vital interests," concluded a 16-day strike by offshore workers, which had already reduced Norway's oil production by 15 per cent and prompted a rush to secure supplies. Oljeindustriens Landsforening (OLF), Norway's oil industry association, which represents companies including Statoil, BP and ExxonMobil, escalated an ordinary pensions dispute late last week, threatening to halt production on the Norwegian continental shelf. Analysts had initially expected the government to step in to end the strike almost immediately, as it did in 2004, when similar threats were made by the industry, but the Labour-led coalition intervened only at the last minute. The move angered the unions, which threatened more strikes in the coming months. The dispute, which had entered it third week, centred on union demands that all offshore workers should be allowed to retire with a full pension at 62. But OLF has argued that the oil workers have a good deal already adding that all Norwegians are being asked to work for longer. "Offshore workers rank among the country's best-paid professions in Norway, with an average annual pay of nearly NKr1m," said Jan Hodneland, chief negotiator for OLF. "It is a responsible choice made by the government," he said. The threat of losing nearly 2m barrels a day of Norwegian oil - equal to the daily consumption of France - came at a difficult time for the global oil market, which is already facing lower oil exports from Iran and disruptions in countries from South Sudan to Yemen. It prompted speculation that the International Energy Agency, the western oil watchdog, might order the release of strategic petroleum reserves to offset the shortage should the shutdown last for more than a few days. Oil traders were particularly worried about the impact of the strike because Norwegian oil output is critical for the Brent benchmark, the most followed oil futures contract. A shutdown would have cost the oil companies operating in the region NKr1.8bn ($300m) a day. The dispute will now go before an arbitration committee with the power to rule on pensions and pay.