Ichthys LNG on course to start up by end of March

The Inpex-led Ichthys liquefied natural gas project (LNG) in Australia remains on course to start production by the end of this month, contrary to reports of additional delays. 

Reuters reported last week that the LNG project had already started trial operations at the liquefaction and export plant located near Darwin.

Responding to LNG World News, an Inpex spokesperson said on Tuesday that the Ichthys LNG project was moving towards production start-up.

“There is no change to the plan to begin production from the wellhead, after which, condensate, LNG and LPG will be shipped out in sequence,” the spokesperson said.

The project initially targeted a start-up in the third quarter of 2017, however it was pushed back to the end of March this year.

Nearing the end of last year, the project’s two offshore facilities the floating production, storage and offloading facility (FPSO) Ichthys Venturer, and the central processing facility (CPF), the Ichthys Explorer have been moored at their respective locations in the Ichthys field, 220 kilometers off the north coast of Western Australia.

Once the production starts up, the Ichthys LNG project is expected to produce up to 8.9 million tons of LNG and 1.6 million tons of LPG at peak annually, with up to 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak.

LNG World News Staff