Workers at Chevron’s two liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Australia are planning to escalate industrial action, which could potentially lead to disrupted output from facilities accounting for over 5% of global supply.

At the Gorgon and Wheatstone facilities, workers have been engaging in brief work stoppages for the past six days after unsuccessful talks with Chevron regarding wages and working conditions.

From Thursday onwards, the unions have announced their intention to increase the pressure on the company, potentially by completely halting work. The union is now reviewing the type of action to be taken every 12 hours.

According to research group EnergyQuest, Chevron and its partners are at risk of losing approximately A$76 million ($49 million) in revenue per day due to the strikes. However, not all of the revenue will be lost as some cargoes could be deferred to a later date.

“There is a significant escalation of protected industrial action today, but it will be conducted in one-hour blocks,” said an anonymous union official.

“We are strategically assessing the protected industrial action we need to take every 12 hours and will continue to escalate at times which align with our industrial strategy.”

The union has stated that domestic supplies will not be impacted.

Chevron has expressed its commitment to maintaining operations in case of any disruptions, without providing specific details.

Australia, the world’s largest LNG exporter, primarily exports to Asia. If supplies are reduced, Asian buyers may compete with Europeans for cargo, leading to volatility in the European gas market.

Prices for wholesale gas in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom increased slightly on Wednesday in anticipation of the strike escalation.

In an attempt to halt the industrial action, Chevron is pursuing an untested legal strategy by applying for an “intractable bargaining” declaration from the Fair Work Commission, Australia’s industrial arbitrator. If granted, the declaration would cease the strikes and allow the tribunal to determine an agreement.

The commission’s first and only hearing is scheduled for September 22, and a decision is expected soon after.

Goldman Sachs analysts noted that any 24-hour strikes could increase supply risks, but the likelihood of a major outage causing a significant spike in gas prices is low.

“This is due to potential revenue losses for Chevron and potential regulatory intervention,” stated Goldman Sachs.