An offshore union said Monday that production at three North Sea platforms operated by Total was shut down as a result of a labor strike. “We can confirm that the strike action on Alwyn, Dunbar and Elgin platforms has gone ahead as planned,” John Boland, a regional officer for the labor group Unite, said in a statement emailed to UPI. “Production has been stopped and the wells have been shut.” Unite announced a series of planned labor strikes at the platforms operated by the French supermajor in early July. Full-day work stoppages are planned intermittently through August. A continuous ban on overtime hours began Monday. The outages, along with similar labor action in Norwegian waters, have been supportive of crude oil prices. […]