(Finance) – The price of contracts TTF gas futuresused by operators as a benchmark for the European market, trades in increase of 6.7% to 34.9 euro/MWh mid-morning, after rising to 35.8 euro/MWh at the start of trading. The trend of the commodity traded on the Amsterdam market remains – since the beginning of August – at the mercy of news coming from Australiawhere there could be supply disruptions at major liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in the country.
Today’s LNG project workers Chevron in Australia they have started a strikeafter mediation talks between the unions and the energy company ended without an agreement, potentially halting production at plants representing approximately 5-7% of global supply.
The dispute over the wages and conditions of Chevron employees at i Gorgon and Wheatstone sites supports European gas prices, as traders worry that reduced Australian supplies could intensify the competition between Europe and Asia for LNG. Analysts note, however, that the impact on LNG shipments will not be immediate and gas consumption is currently limited in both Europe and Asia.
Unions said the work stoppages began at 1pm Perth time and will be in one-hour blocks for periods of between 3 hours and 11 hours each day. If an agreement is not reached by September 14ththere will be aescalation which would effectively stop exports of LNG, with workers completely stopping work for 2 weeks.