Major Australian LNG plant to close after strike vote

The vote on whether or not workers at Inpex’s Ichthys facility in Australia strike over pay and conditions is set to close later this Friday.

The strike at the 9.3 metric ton-per-year Darwin facility could worsen already tight global energy supplies. Japanese power and gas utilities who buy from this company are closely monitoring it. Australia is Japan's biggest LNG supplier. The country is facing a potential?supply crisis due to the Iran War and increasing air-conditioning demands as Japan enters summer. A spokesperson for Inpex said that a majority of employees eligible to vote had rejected a pay agreement presented by the company last Friday. The Offshore Alliance - a coalition of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Australian Workers Union - had already indicated that its 430 members were going to vote against the contract.

A union representative has estimated that?about 95% of the Ichthys employees are unionized. The protected action 'ballot' was approved by Australia’s Fair Work Commission in April.

A strike in 2023 by members of the?Offshore Alliance? at Chevron Wheatstone's facility?in Australia reduced global LNG supplies.

Since the Iran War began on February 28, more than 20% of world LNG supplies have been impacted by the closure of the Strait o f?Hormuz. Helen Clark reported from Perth, Yuka Obayashi from Tokyo and Alasdair pal edited the article.

(source: Reuters)