Due to the disturbance of the Australian strike, European gas prices are expected to rise for the third consecutive week.

GMTEight Source noticed that concerns about possible strikes in Australia have injected new volatility into the market, and European natural gas futures are expected to rise for the third consecutive week. As of the time of writing, the European natural gas benchmark, Dutch TTF, rose by 1.83% to 37.50 per megawatt-hour. In recent days, the possibility of strikes at three liquefied natural gas facilities operated by Woodside Energy (WDS.US) and Chevron (CVX.US) has become a focal point of attention for traders closely monitoring negotiations. If the strikes continue, they could disrupt global supply and intensify competition for natural gas. The Offshore Alliance, consisting of the Australian Workers' Union and the Maritime Union of Australia, stated that workers at Chevron's major LNG facilities are scheduled to vote for industrial action starting on Friday. Traders are weighing the supply risk against rising European inventories. European inventories are currently at 90%, well ahead of the EU's target date of November 1 to reach this level. However, strong inventories may not be enough to support the region through the winter. Meanwhile, significant maintenance is expected at Norwegian facilities. The Offshore Alliance has filed safety complaints with the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) regarding the Angel Platform's living and working conditions, which is part of the operations on the Northwest Shelf. On offshore platforms supplying natural gas to liquefied natural gas plants on the Northwest Shelf of Australia, approximately 99% of workers have agreed to let the union take action, including calling for strikes, which could disrupt transportation and lead to price increases for super-chilled fuels. It is worth mentioning that Woodside's operations on the Northwest Shelf and Chevron's Gorgon and Wheatstone Australian LNG businesses together account for about 10% of the global LNG market.