Chevron Corp. liquefied natural gas workers in Australia threatened two weeks of 24-hour rolling outages at two major export plants from mid-September, in an escalation of a dispute that threatens global fuel supply.
(Bloomberg) — Chevron Corp. liquefied natural gas workers in Australia threatened two weeks of 24-hour rolling outages at two major export plants from mid-September, in an escalation of a dispute that threatens global fuel supply.
The workers have served Chevron notice that they plan full stoppages from Sept. 14, following partial strikes from Sept. 7, the Offshore Alliance grouping said Tuesday on Facebook.
Chevron has so far not canceled or delayed any LNG shipments as a result of the threat of disruption from industrial action, Colin Parfitt, vice president of midstream, said Tuesday on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Singapore.
The producer is in active talks with employees and aims “to find a solution that is a win-win-win for Chevron, our employees and the gas market,” he said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
A threat of worker action in Western Australia has roiled global natural gas markets that are still edgy after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year saw supply curbed and prices soar to unprecedented heights. The two facilities operated by Chevron — Gorgon and Wheatstone — made up roughly 7% of global LNG supply last year.
Chevron and workers have begun so-called conciliation conferences, according to a company spokesperson, after employees at the two plants voted down the company’s pay package proposal. The producer last week said it applied to the Fair Work Commission to seek assistance in dealing with the dispute.
A two-week shutdown at the Gorgon and Wheatstone facilities could lower Australian output by 1.1 million tons, BloombergNEF said Monday in its Global LNG Winter Outlook.
Chevron has so far not canceled or delayed any LNG shipments as a result of the threat of disruption from industrial action, Colin Parfitt, vice president of midstream, said Tuesday on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Singapore.
–With assistance from Dan Murtaugh, Yousef Gamal El-Din, Manus Cranny and David Stringer.
(Updates with executive interview comments from third paragraph)
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