FWC, Chevron, unions plan no formal talks Oct. 17 as Australian LNG strikes near

Australia's industrial tribunal Fair Work Commission has not planned for any hearing between its Commissioner Bernie Riordan, Chevron and the workers unions Oct. 17, according to information from the commission's website, after several rounds of discussions until Oct. 16.

Chevron, on the other hand, continued to draft a proposal for its Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG plants.

"We're continuing work to conclude the drafting of proposed Enterprise Agreements for our Gorgon and Wheatstone facilities based on the clarifications provided by the Fair Work Commission," a Chevron Australia spokesperson said Oct. 17.

Officials from the FWC and the unions were not immediately available for comment on the matter.

Australia's Offshore Alliance, an alliance between the Australian Workers' Union and the Maritime Union of Australia, said Oct. 15 that 91% of its members supported starting protected industrial action at Chevron's Gorgon, Wheatstone LNG facilities for the second time from Oct. 19.

The latest moves came as Chevron requested the FWC commissioner's assistance to conclude drafting the Enterprise Agreements for Gorgon, Wheatstone Platform and Wheatstone Downstream based on clarifications to implement the commissioner's Sept. 21 recommendation which was accepted by Chevron and the unions.

This was also after the unions called off a Sept. 22 PIA at Chevron's Wheatstone and Gorgon facilities after endorsing a recommendation from the FWC commissioner to finalize enterprise agreements.

The Offshore Alliance started its PIA at Chevron's onshore and offshore LNG facilities on Sept. 8 and said its members would stop work completely for two weeks from Sept. 14.

The Gorgon project comprises a three-train, 15.6 million mt/year LNG facility and a domestic gas plant, while the Wheatstone project has a nameplate capacity of 8.9 million mt/year of LNG and a domestic gas plant.

Asian LNG prices rose Oct.16 on healthier demand fundamentals amid concerns about the strike announcement at Chevron's LNG facilities in Western Australia.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed JKM for December at $18.345/MMBtu Oct. 16.