ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — A Chevron Corp. liquefied natural gas plant in Australia has resumed full production after a fault cut output by a fifth for three days amid a strike, the energy giant said Monday. US.
A turbine tripped at the Wheatstone LNG plant in Western Australia state on Thursday last week as around 500 unionized Chevron employees stepped up their strike over pay and conditions.
Wheatstone and Chevron’s Gorgon plant, both in the state’s Pilbara region, account for between 5% and 7% of global LNG supply.
Chevron said full production did not resume at Wheatstone until Sunday evening.
“During this time, LNG continued to be produced at approximately 80% of usual rates and ship loading continued,” Chevron said in a statement.
“There have been no changes to scheduled LNG deliveries,” Chevron added.
Wheatstone produces 8.9 million metric tons (9.8 million US tons) of LNG annually.
About 500 Chevron employees who are members of the Offshore Alliance, a partnership between the Australian Workers Union and the Australian Maritime Union that represents workers in Australia’s offshore oil and gas industry, stopped work for a second day. consecutive on Sunday and warned of more disruptions to come.
The union argues that less experienced non-union labor replacing striking union members would lead to a reduction in LNG production and cost Chevron more than the higher wages and better conditions demanded.
The union blamed the incompetence of non-union workers for a four-hour delay in shipping LNG from Wheatstone on Friday.
“It’s pretty clear that Chevron’s so-called contingency workforce is not up to par,” Offshore Alliance posted on social media Saturday.
The Australian Associated Press reported that the turbine failure at Wheatstone was caused by an instrumentation problem unrelated to the strike. The strike includes bans on lashing up tanker trucks and loading them with LNG, The Australian Financial Review newspaper reported last week.
The Offshore Alliance has not responded to requests for comment.