Ichthys deepwater pipelay works moving forward

Saipem’s deepwater pipelay vessel Castorone has passed the 70 percent mark of pipe laying works for Ichthys project’s gas export pipeline offshore Australia.

The giant LNG project, operated by Inpex, is on schedule to lay all 882 kilometres of the gas export pipeline before the end of the year, the Japanese company said in a project update.

When the project starts production, gas and some condensate from the Ichthys field, located offshore Western Australia, will be transmitted through the pipeline to the liquefaction plant at Bladin Point near Darwin.

Castorone started pipe laying works in February this year. The vessel will lay the remaining 718 kilometre offshore section of the 42-inch diameter pipeline following the completion in November 2014 of the 164 kilometre shallow water section by the SEMAC-1.

The remaining seven kilometres of the pipeline is onshore, incorporating the beach valve and the final section to the onshore LNG facilities site at Bladin Point.

Japan’s Inpex said last week that it has postponed production start-up at its Ichthys LNG project until the third quarter of 2017, from the end of 2016.

The company will also raise the project’s annual LNG production capacity by approximately 6% to 8.9 MTPA from the initially planned 8.4 MTPA.

The Ichthys project is a joint venture between Inpex, major partner Total, CPC Corporation and the Australian subsidiaries of Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric, Chubu Electric Power and Toho Gas.

LNG World News Staff; Image: Inpex