Woodside to ask Australian labour tribunal to end strike at Pluto LNG

摘要

Woodside Petroleum said it will ask Australia’s national labour tribunal to put an end to a strike that began in April at its $11 billion Pluto LNG plant in Western Australia.Twelve crane drivers and forklift operators stopped work on April 28 in their bid for increased pay and better working conditions. Woodside says it intends to make an application to Fair Work Australia to prevent further industrial action.The current strike compares lightly with the action taken earlier this year when 1,600 workers at the site downed tools in protest at being made to change accommodation at the end of every 30-day shift.Construction of the 4.3 mtpa first train is around 90% complete and Woodside expects it to produce first LNG in March, 2011. But the company has warned that further industrial unrest could delay start up.Pluto LNG will liquefy gas from the offshore Pluto (4.4 Tcf) and Xena (0.6 Tcf) fields. The project is a joint venture between Woodside, the operator, with a 90% interest and Japanese utilities Tokyo Gas (5%) and Kansai Electric (5%), who became project partners in January 2008 and who have 15-year sales agreements for the LNG.Woodside is targeting a final investment decision (FID) on second and third trains at Pluto by the end of 2010 and 2011 respectively. The company is carrying out an exploration program to prove up additional gas reserves to feed the expansion. – JO’C