Loading bans hit Chevron’s LNG as output cut
Unions have started a ban on tanker loadings at Chevron’s Wheatstone and Gorgon LNG plants in Western Australia in an escalation of industrial action that raises the likelihood of disruptions to exports and higher gas prices.
The ramping up of the action came as production at the 8.9 million tonnes-a-year Wheatstone onshore plant was unexpectedly cut by a quarter on Thursday afternoon after a turbine “tripped”, posing another risk to export cargoes.
A cargo of LNG is loaded at the Wheatstone plant near Ashburton North in Western Australia.
European benchmark gas prices, based on the TTF futures contract, rose about 1.2 per cent in early trading on Thursday, European time, after a 6.1 per cent gain on Wednesday amid nervousness around disruptions to global gas supplies.
Thursday saw the three Chevron-run LNG facilities in WA embroiled in unpredictable and sporadic strikes, work bans and partial stoppages, disrupting operations.
While the unions had notified of 24 one-hour stoppages every day from September 14, members are treating the notice as giving them broad options about the length of action they can take.
A spokesman for the Offshore Alliance – comprising the Australian Workers’ Union and the Maritime Union of Australia – said members “in many different work areas across the three separate facilities are meeting regularly to determine what action they will take as a team”.
“That strike action could take many forms from single one-hour stoppages to longer action, and this action may differ from team to team, or it could be collective action consistent across all 500 members,” he said.
Notified action from Thursday includes daily bans on mooring tankers or loading them with LNG and condensate.
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