Strike action in Australia’s LNG sector could begin as early as Sept. 2 if new talks between Woodside Energy Group Ltd. and union officials on pay and conditions fail to resolve disputes. Ballots are also taking place on potential walkouts by workers at Chevron Corp. facilities.

Any outages would threaten about 10% of global supply and a local export sector that generated an estimated A$92 billion ($59 billion) in earnings in the year to June 30.

Eoin Treacy's view

European storage is 90% full. Australian strike action is not going to spark a repeat of the price-insensitive buying seen last year. Eventually LNG workers will be placated and gas will flow in plenty of time for the Northern hemisphere winter.