Staff working for project contractor Bechtel building the 5mn t/yr second train at Australia's 4.9mn t/yr Pluto LNG terminal are set to strike from next month.
The Offshore Alliance (OA) workers' union have provided notice to Bechtel and action starts at 6am local time on 5 January 2026, a union spokesman said on 16 December.
Bechtel continues to engage constructively with its employees on the Pluto train 2 enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA), a spokeswoman said, adding that work onsite continues safely, and Bechtel remain focused on the successful completion of the project
Hundreds of union members represented by the OA voted to authorise protected industrial action via ballots published by the Fair Work Commission on 4 December allowing an unlimited number of stoppages at the site from 30 minutes to 24 hours in length.
But a new vote on the EBA is planned to take place on 20 December, which could see the industrial action cancelled. The present EBA covering Bechtel's workers expires on 19 December, Argus understands.
Australian independent Woodside Energy is the operator of the Pluto project, which is planning to produce 8mn t/yr of LNG from its Scarborough gas field offshore Western Australia later next year.
A Woodside spokesman told Argus the industrial dispute is a matter for Bechtel, its workforce and its unions.
Train 2 is due to come on line in the second half of 2026, Woodside has said, while train 1 modifications will be completed by early 2027 ahead of that facility processing an eventual 3mn t/yr of Scarborough's drier gas.
