The increase in European natural gas prices continues due to the strike in Australia

Natural gas prices in Europe have soared since Friday, when workers at liquefied natural gas facilities in Australia went on strike and raised fears of global supply disruptions.

Indicative prices for natural gas in Europe increased by 7 percent today. The increase has exceeded 13 points since Friday. Prices rose to 34.50 euros per megawatt hour ($393 per 1,000 cubic meters).

Action in the sector includes the Gorgon and Wheatstone facilities, which account for around 7 per cent of global LNG supply and are operated by US oil and gas giant Chevron.

THE ACTION WILL INtensify

Chevron confirmed in its statement that the talks ended without an agreement. The unions said their members would initially take limited action, stopping work for up to 11 hours. If an agreement is not reached before September 14, it plans to completely paralyze work for two weeks.

The American giant stated: “We negotiated in good faith and tried to reach an agreement that would allow us to achieve a competitive result in the market. “Unions continue to seek terms that go beyond equivalent terms with others in the industry, including agreements recently reached,” he said.

CAN CHALLENGE THE GLOBAL MARKET

“The first strike that started today is limited for now in terms of LNG supply,” said Tom Marzec-Manser of energy consultancy ICIS.

Stating that a two-week strike would remove “approximately 1 million tonnes of LNG from the market”, Marzec-Manser said: “This potential reduction in supply is tightening the global gas market, which is very delicately balanced, even as Europe enters the crisis.” winter with very high storage.”