The Ichthys LNG project will, during the current fiscal year (ending March 2018), begin production of condensate, LNG and LPG in sequence and then ship these products.
INPEX announced that the Ichthys Explorer, the INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG project’s central processing facility (CPF), sailed away from its construction site in Geoje, South Korea en route to the Ichthys gas field offshore Western Australia, following the completion of shipyard commissioning and preparation work.
The Ichthys Explorer will be towed to the Ichthys field over a period of approximately one and a half months, after which it is scheduled to undergo hook-up, the Japanese operator said, adding that the facility will then separate and process the produce lifted from subsea production wells into gases and liquids over 40 years of continuous operation.
“The Ichthys Venturer, the Project’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility, is also scheduled to be towed to the Ichthys field and undergo hook-up.”
INPEX has reminded that it will also continue to proceed with construction work on the onshore gas liquefaction plant outside of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. “Following the arrival of the CPF (Ichthys Explorer) and the FPSO (Ichthys Venturer), installation and commissioning work will be undertaken and production from the wellhead will commence” as gas production is now expected to start in the third quarter of 2017.
The Ichthys LNG project will, during the current fiscal year (ending March 2018), begin production of condensate, LNG and LPG in sequence and then ship these products, according to the project's latest schedule released by INPEX.
In seems that INPEX has given up its very aggressive targeting for the Ichthys construction completion, shipping a first LNG cargo by the end of September 2017.
Earlier, Ichthys LNG project’s partner, Total had admitted that the project will start shipping condensate by end-2017 with LNG shipments next year as it sees further slippage in the project that has in recent months been hit by subcontractor disputes.
Updates:
On 31-May-2018, INPEX announced that the commissioning of the Ichthys LNG project’s Central Processing Facility (Ichthys Explorer) required for production start-up has been completed.
“This milestone marks the completion of the necessary commissioning of all key onshore and offshore facilities for production start-up” as the project is scheduled to commence production of gas from the wellhead upon conducting final safety verifications, and will thereafter proceed with the shipment of cargoes by the end of September.
On 10-Jul-2018, INPEX had confirmed that introduction of gas to the Ichthys LNG facility in Australia is likely to be delayed until resolving “deficiencies” uncovered during an inspection being carried out by Australian safety regulator Nopsema who declared that the deficiencies identified relate to the use of unsuitable electrical equipment in hazardous areas.
Nopsema is unclear how much work needs to be done or how long it will take to ensure the electrical equipment is replaced, leaving open the possibility that INPEX’s timeline could be affected as the Japanese operator missed its target to start production from the facility’s associated gas field by mid-June.
The Ichthys plant has faced numerous delays, which have pushed back the start of LNG shipments from the original target of December 2016.
“We are waiting to hear if the project will be delayed until October or November even though our contract does not start until the next financial year in April,” a trader with a term offtaker said. “But most buyers seem prepared for a delay. A one or two month delay is not much, but could still mean INPEX may need to buy two to five replacement cargoes.”
On 27-Jul-2018, Total announced that Ichthys LNG project reached a major milestone with the opening of the first offshore production well. At full capacity, the offshore facilities are expected to produce 1,600 MMCF/D of gas and 85,000/bbl of condensate.
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