The United States could soon experience heightened demand for liquefied natural gas from Asian buyers. These buyers usually source the commodity from Australia, but recent employee protests in Australia’s mining sector have disrupted operations. If the situation escalates, the demand for American LNG is likely to surge even further.

The uncertainty caused by protests at LNG processing facilities operated by Woodside Energy Group and Chevron in Western Australia has led to increased demand for LNG from Asian buyers in the United States.

Consequently, the price of this commodity on the Asian market has risen to its highest level in the last five months.

Furthermore, several experts, as noted by Reuters, suggest that liquefied natural gas might become even more expensive. Currently, the situation in Australia’s mining sector does not seem to be easing.

Nearly seven hundred employees at Australian LNG processing facilities are currently threatening a complete work stoppage. The reasons behind this threat are wage demands and requests for improved workplace safety.

Unless negotiations between employees and employers not make significant progress, the first strike could commence as early as September 2nd.

This tension could also impact consumers in Europe who predominantly source liquefied natural gas from the United States, as well as Qatar.

“Some shipments that were originally destined for Europe from the U.S. and Qatar could be redirected to Asia,” said Massimo Di Odoardo, Vice President of consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, in a statement to Reuters.

LNG exports from the U.S. to Asia decreased by 44% last year due to increasing demand from Europe. However, the situation might now take a temporary turn.

Source: Varadhan – Reuters