LA-Long Beach Strike Deadline Looms as Venture Global Starts Long-Term LNG Deliveries

The two busiest US container ports face a new strike deadline on Wednesday. On Friday, employers and a small but strategically placed union agreed to extend talks rather than risk a walkout at the height of the import season.

The Pacific Maritime Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 26, which represents about 250 maritime watchmen, pushed the deadline back from Sunday to 5 p.m. Pacific time on Wednesday. The two sides are negotiating with help from federal mediators. The watchmen’s previous contract expired in July 2025.

The stakes are far larger than the union’s size suggests. Local 26 members work at eight terminals that handle roughly 85% of Long Beach cargo and a third of Los Angeles cargo, according to the PMA. The association warned that other ILWU members were unlikely to cross picket lines. “PMA remains committed to reaching a fair agreement at the bargaining table that avoids disruption,” it said.

A stoppage would hit a gateway already under strain. The ports handled a record 2.04 million twenty-foot equivalent units combined in September, and more than 35,000 import containers were waiting for trains last week.

Venture Global Inc., meanwhile, began delivering liquefied natural gas from its Plaquemines plant in Louisiana under long-term contracts after completing first-phase commissioning on Saturday. The tanker Malaga Knutsen sailed early Sunday with the first contract cargo for Shell Plc. Orlen, Sinopec, CNOOC Gas & Power and EDF are also due to receive supplies.

Until now, Venture Global had sold Plaquemines output on the spot market. It first produced LNG there 22 months ago and benefited recently as the Middle East conflict sent prices soaring. Contract cargoes will be priced well below recent highs of about $34 per million British thermal units on the Dutch TTF benchmark.

Chief Executive Officer Mike Sabel hailed “achieving commercial operations at the first phase of our second LNG project in 53 months.” The company is now the second-largest US LNG producer.