European gas prices calmer as Woodside CEO upbeat about resolving labor dispute

European natural gas prices rise modestly Tuesday as Woodside Energy (NYSE:WDS) CEO Meg O’Neill said the company is making good progress toward resolving a labor dispute in Australia that threatens to disrupt as much as 10% of global supplies while Asia and Europe prepare for the winter heating season.

More negotiations between Woodside (WDS) and workers at three offshore platforms that feed the North West Shelf LNG facility in Western Australia are scheduled Wednesday in an effort to reach agreement on issues around pay and conditions, O’Neill said.

Natural gas prices have been soaring since the workers voted earlier this month for potential action, including possible strikes, after months of talks failed to result in a deal.

Chevron (CVX) also has not concluded agreements with some of its workers in Australia.

Dutch TTF, the European benchmark price of natural gas, jumped nearly 9% on Monday to its highest level since mid-June; front-month TTE futures were +1.9% to €41.57/MWh by 12 p.m. in Amsterdam.

ETFs: (NYSEARCA:UNG), (UGAZF), (BOIL), (KOLD), (UNL), (FCG)

Woodside (WDS) reported a record H1 net profit of US$1.74B, partly the result of a full period of ownership of assets acquired from BHP which more than offset weaker oil and gas prices; revenues rose 27% to US$7.4B, as H1 production hit a record 91.3M boe.