Natural gas is in the spotlight today after worker unions in Australia announced that it will begin a long-awaited strike at Chevron Australian LNG plants today. Partial strikes began today at Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG facilities, which combined account for around 7% of global LNG supply. Those partial strikes include work stoppages as well as ban on working overtime. Offshore Alliance union even said that its members will stop working completely for two weeks, starting on September 14.
This comes after weeks-long negotiations failed to result in an agreement with Chevron and union members remaining apart on key claims. An immediate impact is likely to be minor if any as gas consumption in Asian countries - key consumers of Australian LNG - is currently muted. However, continued failure to reach an agreement and prolonged strikes that could drag close to the beginning of the heating season may be a serious factor for natural gas prices later this year.
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Create account Try a demo Download mobile app Download mobile appTaking a look at the US natural gas price (NATGAS) chart at the H4 interval, we can see that the price bounced off the $2.50 support zone yesterday and jumped over 4% since. The near-term resistance zone to watch can be found ranging below $2.65 level, and is marked with previous price reaction as well as 50- and 200-period moving averages. US natural gas prices are up 'only' 1% today but reaction is much bigger in Europe with the European gas benchmarks jumping over 10%.
Source: xStation5
