A placard reading Diesel sold out is seen at a gas station in Porto, Portugal on Wednesday. Rafael Marchante/ Reuters

Striking Portuguese fuel-tanker drivers have ended their strike after agreeing to return to negotiations over demands for better pay and conditions, the government said on Thursday, ending the nation’s worst outbreak of industrial unrest in years.

Infrastructure Minister Pedro Nuno Santos made the announcement after three days of strike action which prompted the government to declare an energy crisis, forced motorists to queue for hours outside petrol stations and took airports’ fuel reserves to critically low levels.

Santos told a news conference that the agreement to end the strike and go back to negotiations had been reached in talks between the government, the employers’ association and the union representing striking drivers.

The meeting ran until the early hours of Thursday morning.

Reuters