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July 5 Reuters European stocks fell on Tuesday as a strike by Norwegian oil and gas workers exacerbated worries about an energy shock in Europe and added to concerns over redhot inflation.

The continentwide STOXX 600 index was down 0.4. It gave up the opening gains, which were powered by positive economic data from Asia and a report that U.S. President Joe Biden was considering rolling back some tariffs on Chinese imports.

Norwegian offshore workers began a strike on Tuesday demanding wage hikes to compensate for rising inflation. This could reduce oil and gas output at a time when supplies of natural gas to Europe are tight due to Russian export cutbacks.

Their action is set to exacerbate the pain of rising prices and is leading to even tighter supply in the already squeezed energy market, said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

It comes at a highly fragile time geopolitically, given that the EU is facing the threat that Russia will turn off the taps abruptly, potential plunging vital industries into crisis.

European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Monday the euro zone economy could suffer a recession if Russia cuts off gas supplies and industry had to adjust to a shortage of energy.

Concerns about Europe39;s dependency on Russian gas…