Picket lines may soon go up at two of Chevron’s biggest liquefied natural gas projects in Australia, Gorgon and Wheatstone. Talk of industrial action emerged after Offshore Alliance, a union, spurned a recent pay proposal. The union threatened to cost the supermajor billions of dollars: the plants made nearly $7bn last year, almost a fifth of Chevron’s total profit. A strike planned for Thursday has been delayed by at least a day, while the two sides negotiate.

Any strike would squeeze gas markets too. The facilities accounted for close to 7% of global LNG supply last year. A prolonged shutdown could bring its contribution offline. When news of potential strikes first broke in early August, European natural-gas prices shot up by almost 40%.

Chevron has assuaged investors’ fears for the moment. It says it can run the facilities with a skeleton crew for many months. Moreover, European storage is brimming with gas, helping soften prices. But that may change if workers hold the line.