Natural Gas Workers in Peru May Strike

Natural gas workers in Peru, South America's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, said on Friday they had pulled out of wage talks with Argentine energy company Pluspetrol and would vote on a possible strike in a few weeks.

Pluspetrol leads the consortium that taps Peru's Camisea fields, the source of the country's daily natural gas output of around 1.2 billion cubic feet.

Juan Carlos Vargas, a spokesman for the SUTRAPPEC union that represents 193 of the 494 Camisea workers, said a walkout would halt natural gas production.

"There would be no one to pump the gas," Vargas said.

Vargas said the union decided on Friday to end the talks that started in July. A vote on whether to strike will take place in three weeks.

Pluspetrol did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Unionized workers mainly work in production, including the company's Malvinas and Pisco natural gas plants, Vargas said.

Peru exports about 600 million cubic feet of liquefied natural gas per day.

(Reporting by Mitra Taj. Editing by Richard Lough and Andre Grenon)