Chevron, Woodside say no updates on Australian LNG wage talks as unions file safety complaint - Reuters
Chevron, Woodside say no updates on Australian LNG wage talks as unions file safety complaint | Reuters
Chevron, Woodside say no updates on Australian LNG wage talks as unions file safety complaint
[1/2]Australia's Woodside Energy Group's exhibition booth is seen at the World Gas Conference 2022 in Daegu, South Korea May 23, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Tan/File Photo/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
SYDNEY, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Woodside Energy (WDS.AX) and Chevron (CVX.N) said on Thursday there were no updates on wage disputes at some of Australia's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, as the unions involved in talks filed a safety complaint against Woodside.
Woodside's North West Shelf and Chevron's Gorgon and Wheatstone Australian LNG operations together supply about 10% of the global LNG market.
Some 99% of the workers on offshore platforms that supply gas to the North West Shelf LNG plant have agreed to let the union take action including calling strikes, which could disrupt shipments and see prices for the super-chilled fuel rise.
Chevron workers are set to vote in the next week on whether to give their union representatives the same powers.
A spokesperson for Woodside said on Thursday there were no additional updates on talks, a day after saying "positive progress" had been made in talks with the Offshore Alliance, an umbrella group representing the Maritime Union of Australia and the Australian Workers' Union.
A Chevron spokesperson said there were no updates but the company was continuing to engage with its employees.
On Thursday the Offshore Alliance said in a Facebook post it had filed a safety complaint with the offshore energy regulator the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA), regarding substandard living and working conditions at Woodside's Angel Platform, which is part of the North West Shelf operation.
The Woodside spokesperson declined to comment on the complaint.
Reporting by Alasdair Pal and Lewis Jackson in Sydney; Editing by Sonali Paul
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.