LNG

Australian strike ends

Australia’s Offshore Alliance union agreed to the pay and conditions recommendation of the nation’s labor disputes arbitration body, the Fair Work Commissioner, and called off the strike by around 500 members at the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG export plants in Western Australia that had failed to disrupt cargo flows. “The Offshore Alliance will now work with Chevron to finalize the drafting of the agreements and members will soon cease current industrial action,” the unions said in a statement.

Exmar takeover progress

Belgian shipping company Exmar, which chartered a regasification barge to the Netherlands and sold a floating LNG production vessel to Italy’s Eni for deployment in Africa, is set to be taken over by Saverex NV, the holding company of the family of Exmar Executive Chairman Nicolas Saverys. Exmar, based in Antwerp, had reopened the acceptance period to September 15 for the voluntary public takeover bid launched by Saverex for all shares and share options not already controlled by the bidder.

Vopak agrees €407M sale

Royal Vopak, the Dutch global storage company and LNG sector participant, has reached agreement with Infracapital on the sale of Vopak chemical terminals in Rotterdam. Vopak, whose latest LNG investment was taking a 50 percent stake in the Dutch Eemshaven terminal in Groningen with utility Gasunie, said it reached an agreement with Infracapital on the sale of its three chemical terminals in Rotterdam, the Botlek, TTR and Chemiehaven facilities for a total price of €407 million ($434M).