The prospects of a workers' strike at offshore platforms in Australia apparently led to an uptick in gas futures prices in Europe today.
Last week, trade unions at Woodside Energy Group's North West Shelf offshore gas platforms announced plans to launch a strike, which may start as soon as September 2. Some media outlets have warned that this development may result in the disruption of liquefied natural gas from Australia.
Later in the day, the price dropped to $458.8, which still amounts to an 11.8 percent uptick.
One media outlet suggested that while Europe rarely gets fuel from Australia, this price increase was caused by traders being concerned about the possibility of growing competition for “alternative cargoes” if gas shipments to Asia are disrupted.
Meanwhile, oil prices have also been on the rise today in light of a decrease in exports from Saudi Arabia and Russia.
The prices of Brent and WTI crude rose by 61 and 63 cents, respectively: a barrel of Brent thus traded for $85.41 while a barrel of WTI went for $81.88.
This development came amid what appears to be a global decrease in supply and increase in demand, according to media reports.