Norway's oil drillers reach wage deal to avoid strike

OSLO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Norwegian oil drilling workers reached a last-minute wage deal with employers on Sunday to avoid a second strike in just two months, bringing relief to one of the world's top oil and gas exporters.

The sides agreed to a 4.5 percent wage increase plus a one-off 3,641 crown ($630) cash supplement for 650 workers at services firm KCA Deutag, and unions called off a strike which would have impacted two key North Sea installations, union Industri Energi and the oil industry association OLF said separately.

In July, a 16-day strike among Norway's oil production workers halted 13 percent of Norway's oil production before the government forcibly stopped it to protect the country's reputation as a stable exporter.

Norway is the world's eighth largest oil exporter and Europe's second biggest natural gas supplier. The country's oil workers are the best paid in the world, earning around $180,000 a year on average.

Norway's economy has been one of Europe's brightest points this year, growing by an annual 5 percent in the second quarter, and employees in all sectors are increasingly demanding a bigger share of the country's success.

Oil services workers, also demanding better pay and conditions, have also threatened strikes and their case is still unresolved.