Chevron, unions in final talks ahead of planned Australia LNG strikes

Workers are set to begin brief work stoppages and ban certain tasks from Thursday at Chevron's Gorgon and Wheatstone facilities and plan to escalate to a total strike for two weeks from Sept.

Chevron and a union alliance will hold a final round of talks on Wednesday ahead of planned strike actions at two major liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Australia as ongoing disputes over pay and conditions remained unresolved. Workers are set to begin brief work stoppages and ban certain tasks from Thursday at Chevron's Gorgon and Wheatstone facilities and plan to escalate to a total strike for two weeks from Sept. 14 if their terms are not met.

Work will stop for seven hours on Thursday, escalating to 10 hours from Sept. 8 to 13. There will be a single day with an 11-hour stoppage on Sept. 9. Australia's industrial arbitrator, the Fair Work Commission, has been hosting mediation talks since Monday, and negotiations are scheduled to run on all days this week.

Australia is the world's biggest LNG exporter and the ongoing dispute has stoked volatility in natural gas markets, as traders worry about the risk of long-term disruption. Dutch and British gas prices slipped on Tuesday as high gas inventories and weak demand helped the market shrug off low supply from Norway and the threat of a strike at the Australian LNG facilities.

Chevron's Gorgon, Australia's second-largest LNG plant, and its Wheatstone operations account for more than 5% of global LNG capacity.

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