Heerema’s vessel done with Australian installation job to expand gas project’s production lifespan (Gallery)

Inpex Australia, a subsidiary of Japan’s oil and gas player Inpex, has disclosed the end of a miles-long journey, which the Netherlands-based offshore contractor Heerema Marine Contractors and its heavy lift vessel embarked on to transport a liquefied natural gas (LNG) booster compression module (BCM) from Indonesia to Australia, where it got put in place as part of efforts to up the production ante from a subsea reservoir at Inpex’s offshore energy project.

Two years after Heerema’s Sleipnir vessel was picked in February 2022 to install the 4,800-ton Ichthys LNG BCM on the Ichthys Explorer central processing facility (CPF), as part of the Ichthys LNG Phase 2 development off the northwest coast of Western Australia, the module departed the PTMI fabrication yard in Batam, Indonesia, in February 2024.

The vessel’s 1,638 nautical mile voyage to the Ichthys Explorer CPF has been completed. According to Inpex Australia, once the Ichthys LNG booster compressor module reached its final destination, it was lifted and installed onto the Ichthys Explorer central processing facility on February 27, 2024.

Heerema’s Sleipnir has installed the BCM in a single lift, enabling the extension of the production plateau of the field, which is estimated to contain over 12 trillion cubic feet of gas and 500 million barrels of condensate.

Inpex Australia highlighted: “The single crane lift was performed with remarkable precision. The BCM installation is one of INPEX Australia’s most significant offshore milestone events since the Ichthys LNG facilities arrived in field in 2017. Over two years in the making, this event is testament to the expertise and dedication of all involved.

“Now, the BCM enters hook up and commissioning works for the rest of 2025, as we continue safe and reliable production. Once operational, the BCM will provide the extra pressure boost needed to extend the production life of the Ichthys Field – contributing to the energy security of the Indo-Pacific region.”

Ichthys LNG joint venture consists of Inpex (operator with a 67.82% interest), major partner TotalEnergies (26%), and the Australian subsidiaries of CPC Corporation Taiwan (2.625%), Osaka Gas (1.2%), Kansai Electric Power (1.2%), JERA (0.735%), and Toho Gas (0.42%).

Located about 220 kilometers off the coast of Western Australia and 820 kilometers southwest of Darwin, the Ichthys field covers an area of around 800 square kilometers in water averaging depths of around 250 meters while an 890-kilometer pipeline exports gas and condensate from the field to onshore facilities for processing near Darwin. 

The Ichthys project produces up to 9.3 million tons of LNG and 1.65 million tons of LPG per annum, alongside over 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak. Following preliminary processing offshore to remove water and extract condensate, gas from the field in the Browse Basin is channeled into the trunkline in the Asia Pacific.