Inpex seeks urgent orders to stop strike action in Darwin

Inpex is attempting to stop industrial action taking place at its Ichthys LNG facility in Darwin. (Supplied: Inpex)

Inpex has launched proceedings with the Fair Work Commission seeking urgent orders to stop strike action at its Ichthys LNG facility in Darwin.

Experts say the impacts of strike action on the gas market could be significant.

Earlier in the week, the Offshore Alliance — a union comprising the Australian Workers' Union and the Maritime Union of Australia — flagged on social media that more than 400 workers would escalate protected industrial action and accused Inpex of "completely butchering" enterprise bargaining negotiations.

The Offshore Alliance is pushing for improved conditions and annual pay rises of three per cent, which an industry lobby group says would push the average salary of an Inpex worker to beyond $500,000 a year.

In a post to social media on Monday, the Offshore Alliance said members endorsed ramping up current four-hour work stoppages at the Darwin onshore and offshore facilities to eight hours from Thursday.

"We're ready to step up and take Inpex," the Offshore Alliance Union said in the post.

"Whilst the Inpex HR bosses have completely butchered these negotiations by failing to agree to a single bargaining claim in the first seven months of bargaining, the Inpex bosses in Tokyo have signed off on extensive Protected Industrial Action."

The Fair Work Commission confirmed Inpex had filed an application under the Fair Work Act on Tuesday, and that a hearing had been scheduled before Deputy President Michael Easton for Friday.

"If the Ichthys production facilities are taken offline, there will be impacts to our LNG buyers and to the recipients of our domestic gas supply in the Northern Territory," Inpex senior vice president Bill Townsend told the ABC.

Mr Townsend said Inpex remained engaged in "good-faith" enterprise agreement negotiations and was committed to reaching a fair and sustainable deal.

"While substantial progress has been achieved, several key items are yet to be resolved, including rates of pay, allowances, and career progression framework," he said.

"Recently, Inpex shared a range of agreement options with bargaining representatives and employees prioritising different claims for their consideration.

"All agreement options result in improvements to overall terms and conditions and the opportunity for substantial pay increases."

Inpex's Ichthys facility produces about two per cent of the world's LNG, and global supply is already under strain from conflict in the Middle East.

Peter Strachan says t