Ichthys Condensate Production Delayed

Inpex has delayed the start of condensate production at its Ichthys LNG project by three months. 

The anticipated start in April or May represents the second delay to the project's schedule. After more than five years of construction work, the delayed $40 billion (A$51.6 billion) project has seen completion of commissioning for the first production train onshore, the FPSO and subsea production systems.

Located about 220 kilometers offshore Western Australia, Ichthys represents the largest discovery of hydrocarbon liquids in Australia in 40 years. The project has effectively been three mega-projects rolled into one, involving some of the largest offshore facilities in the industry, a state-of-the-art onshore processing facility and an 890-kilometer (550-mile) pipeline uniting them for an operational life of at least 40 years.

Natural gas and condensate from the subsea wells undergo preliminary processing on the large, floating central processing facility permanently moored near the field. The onshore processing facilities near Darwin will cool gas from the pipeline and transform it into liquid to reduce its volume for transport. Onshore facilities include two LNG trains and LPG and condensate plants.

The Ichthys project will produce 8.9 million mt/year of LNG with a production capacity of 100,000 b/d of oil equivalent of condensate and 1.65 million mt/year of LPG at its peak. Inpex expects the production of LNG, condensate and LPG to reach its peak in 2020-2021. 

Ichthys condensate will be the third condensate introduced to the Asian market this year after that of Australia's Wheatstone and Malaysia's Bergading.