Widening strike action at Inpex’s huge natural gas facilities in northern Australia has hit cargoes of light oil that were headed for Japan and South Korea, putting supplies at risk for refiners that Australia depends on for fuels during the Middle East crisis.
Two shipments of condensates, a type of light oil, due to be shipped from the Ichthys field off the coast of Western Australia have been delayed due to the “irresponsible” strike action organised by the Offshore Alliance, the Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association said.
Tara Diamond, deputy chief executive of the association, said the industrial action was putting crucial energy security relationships for Australia at risk, noting that South Korea is Australia’s largest supplier of diesel.
“At the very moment Australia has pledged to be a dependable partner – to the very countries that help keep Australian fuel flowing – union action is cutting off the supply those partners rely on, and undermining the reliability that makes Australia worth depending on,” Diamond said.
The disruption to the two cargoes comes after the Offshore Alliance, a partnership of the Maritime Union of Australia and the Australian Workers Union, on Monday escalated industrial action by 400 members to daily eight-hour stoppages at the facilities owned by the Japanese gas giant.
That followed the collapse of long-running pay talks over the weekend and heightened market concerns about LNG exports in the middle of a global energy crisis.
On Tuesday, Inpex, which is partly owned by the Japanese government, said it had made an urgent application to the Fair Work Commission to stop the protected action and give time for further talks to reach a resolution.
In a statement on the Offshore Alliance’s Facebook page early Thursday, the alliance said its members were in the fight “for the long haul”, and said Inpex had overplayed its hand. It accused Inpex of “ripping off Australian taxpayers for years” and of undermining safety standards on oil and gas facilities by using “non-competent” workers in critical roles.
Only weeks ago, Inpex provided a cargo of condensate from the same facility now impacted by strike action to help supply Australian refiners, Diamond said.
Extracted in full from: https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/strike-hits-inpex-oil-exports-to-asia-risking-fuel-security-20260611-p6062m
