Australia’s Offshore Alliance starts strike action at Ichthys LNG sites: union

The Offshore Alliance trade union said it began strike action at the INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG sites in Australia early June 2, a development that could add to tightening supply in the Pacific Basin.

"Protected industrial action ramps up today on all 3 INPEX facilities with stoppages of work and work bans," the union said in a Facebook post.

The union said that negotiations over an enterprise agreement the previous week made "significant progress" but "have fallen short on a number of fundamental claims."

Offshore Alliance and INPEX were not immediately available for comment.

The Ichthys project currently has a nameplate capacity of 9.3 million metric tons/year of LNG, 1.65 million mt/year of LPG and 100,000 barrels/day of condensate, with roughly 70% of LNG output destined for Japanese buyers, according to INPEX.

The industrial action comes as global LNG spot prices remain elevated and volatile as the war in the Middle East continues to constrain about 20% of global LNG supply that normally transits the Strait of Hormuz.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed the July JKM benchmark price reflecting LNG delivered to Northeast Asia at $18.338/MMBtu May 29, a slight decline from the previous assessment but still about 71% higher than before the conflict.