Employees at Chevron's liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Australia have commenced voting on whether to engage in strike action due to ongoing disputes concerning wages and working conditions. Australia's labor authorities granted unions the authorization to conduct Protected Industrial Action (PIA) ballots, enabling workers to cast confidential votes to determine whether they will proceed with strike actions.

The Protected Industrial Action Ballots for Chevron's Wheatstone Downstream and Gorgon Facility have opened on August 18, while the ballot for the Wheatstone Platform will open on August 21.

The Gorgon facility, situated on Barrow Island, includes a three-train LNG facility with a capacity of 15.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and a domestic gas plant capable of supplying 300 terajoules of gas per day to Western Australia.

Meanwhile, the Wheatstone project, Australia's first LNG hub, comprises two LNG trains with a combined capacity of 8.9 mtpa and a domestic gas plant. The project initiated its LNG shipments in October 2017.

The Offshore Alliance, formed by the Maritime Union of Australia and the Australian Workers' Union, has called on workers to vote in favor of all demands on the ballot across all three facilities. The alliance is aiming to address what they perceive as sub-standard employment standards at Chevron.

Chevron is currently engaged in ongoing negotiations with its employees, and the company's spokesperson reported to Reuters that discussions were ongoing. In anticipation of potential disruptions resulting from the labor regulator's decision, Chevron has taken steps to ensure reliable operations can be maintained.

Woodside Energy Group, along with Chevron, has been in talks with unions to prevent potential strikes at their respective facilities. Together, these facilities contribute approximately 10% of the global LNG market. Around 99% of workers at offshore platforms supplying gas to the North West Shelf have already supported industrial action, though no action has been called yet. Possible strike measures range from short work stoppages to bans on specific tasks or a complete strike.

In the previous year, production at the Prelude LNG export facility faced disruption for about two months until a pay agreement was reached between Shell and the Australian Workers' Union and Electrical Trades Union.