Energy workers in Australia threatened to go on strike. LOIC VENANCE/Getty Images
Natural gas prices rose as much as 9 percent on Wednesday as energy workers in Australia threatened to go on strike.
Australia is the world‘s second largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, so potential work stoppages could threaten global supplies of the commodity.
Natural gas prices are up 22 percent in the past week but are still 60 percent below last year’s levels.
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The prospect of strikes at Australian natural gas plants pushed prices for the commodity up to nine percent on Wednesday. Workers at major LNG plants off the coast of Western Australia have voted in favor of a possible walkout. Should the strikes continue and be prolonged, this could have a significant impact on global natural gas supplies during the typically busy winter months, as Australia is the world‘s second largest exporter of liquefied natural gas after Qatar.
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Natural gas prices hit a high of $3.018 per million British heat units on Wednesday, breaking above $3 for the first time since March 3. Natural gas prices are up 22 percent in the past week but are still 60 percent below last year’s levels.
According to the Australian Financial Review strike the employees of Chevron and Woodside, an Australian energy company. About 99 percent of the 180 production workers at Woodside’s North Rankin, Goodwyn and Angel natural gas platforms voted for protected action opportunities Wednesday for the first time in 30 years. These protected options for action include indefinite strikes.
Europe hopes for a quick solution
The vote means Woodside natural gas workers can walk away as early as next week on seven days’ notice, the Australian Financial Review reported. Meanwhile, hundreds of workers at Chevron’s Wheatstone and Gorgon natural gas plants requested a ballot Tuesday on protected measures that could ultimately lead to a possible strike.
Contentious issues in the union negotiations include higher wages for natural gas plant workers and restrictions on outsourcing jobs to contractors. European countries are likely hoping for a speedy resolution between workers and natural gas companies given their heavy reliance on LNG since the start of the Ukraine war, as Russia largely shut down supplies of its energy resources to the continent.
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Shares of Cheniere Energy, a US-based liquefied natural gas exporter, rose as much as five percent on Wednesday. Chevron shares were trading about 0.5 percent higher on Wednesday afternoon.
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