This story requires a subscription
This includes a single user license.
The Offshore Alliance, which includes the Maritime Union of Australia and Australian Workers’ Union, said on June 2 that “protected industrial action ramps up today on all three Inpex facilities with stoppages of work and work bans.”
The combined Inpex unions have 426 financial members across the Inpex facilities, according to the Offshore Alliance.
After failing to reach a new enterprise agreement as part of the bargaining process, the Offshore Alliance said in a social media post on Monday that its members are ramping up the four-hour stoppages and bans which commenced last week.
“Last night, members endorsed work stoppages escalating to eight hours per day, and we’ll be loading up a stack of work bans on Thursday,” it said.
“Disruption would be significant”
Inpex senior vice president corporate, Bill Townsend, confirmed to LNG Prime in emailed comments on Tuesday that the company had been notified of further potential protected industrial action that may occur from June 11 to June 23.
In addition, Inpex confirmed “filing an application to the Fair Work Commission under Section 424 of the Fair Work Act 2009.”
FWC’s website states that Section 424 requires it to “suspend or terminate protected industrial action if it threatens the life, health, safety, or welfare of the population, or causes significant damage to the Australian economy.”
“If the Ichthys production facilities are taken offline, there will be impacts to our LNG buyers and to the recipients of our domestic gas supply in the Northern Territory. In the context of current fuel supply constraints, the disruption would be significant,” Townsend said.
“Inpex will be seeking urgent orders from the Fair Work Commission to stop the protected industrial action, so that the parties can continue bargaining to reach an agreement,” he said.
“The Fair Work Commission’s interest-based bargaining process has been constructive and while substantial progress has been achieved, several key items are yet to be resolved, including rates of pay, allowances, and career progression framework,” Townsend said.
Recently, Inpex shared a range of agreement options with bargaining representatives and employees prioritizing different claims for their consideration, he said.
“All agreement options result in improvements to overall terms and conditions and the opportunity for substantial pay increases,” Townsend said.
“Inpex remains focused on maintaining safe operations at Ichthys LNG – and importantly, ensuring reliable energy supply to our key trading partners in the Indo-Pacific region amid disruption to global energy markets,” he added.
Japan and Taiwan
Last year, Ichthys LNG accounted for 8 percent of both Japan and Taiwan’s respective LNG import volumes, delivered via long-term sales and purchase agreements, according to Inpex.
The facility shipped 112 LNG cargoes in 2025. It shipped 43 LNG cargoes in the first four months of this year, up by two shipments compared to the year before.
Ichthys LNG is a joint venture between operator Inpex and major partner TotalEnergies.
In 2024, Inpex also purchased a small stake in Ichthys LNG from compatriot Tokyo Gas to boost its stake from 66.245 percent to 67.82 percent.
Besides TotalEnergies, other partners in the Ichthys project include Australian units of CPC, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power, Jera, and Toho Gas.
Natural gas arrives to the LNG plant at Bladin Point, near Darwin, from the giant Ichthys field offshore Western Australia via an 890-kilometer-long export pipeline.