Australia: Saipem Bags Ichthys Project Pipeline Deal from INPEX

Italy’s Saipem has been awarded new E&C Offshore contracts worth $1.8 billion which will be carried out by the newly-built Castorone pipelay vessel.  In Australia, Saipem has signed an EPCI contract with INPEX for the Gas Export Pipeline (GEP) on the Ichthys LNG Project.

Saipem’s scope of work will include the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation of 889 kilometres of a 42-inch-diameter subsea pipeline, in water depths of up to 275 metres, connecting the offshore central processing facility to the onshore processing facility in Darwin.

Offshore activities will be carried out during 2014 by the newly-built Castorone pipelay vessel. The recently upgraded Semac 1 pipelay barge will be employed for the shallow water section.

The Ichthys LNG Project is a Joint Venture between INPEX (76%, the Operator) and Total (24%). Gas from the Ichthys Field, in the Browse Basin, approximately 200 kilometres offshore of Western Australia, will undergo preliminary processing offshore to remove water and extract condensate. The gas will then be exported to onshore processing facilities in Darwin via an 889 kilometres subsea pipeline. The Ichthys Project is expected to produce 8.4 million tonnes of LNG and 1.6 million tonnes of LPG per annum, along with approximately 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak.

Gulf of Mexico

Additionally, in the Gulf of Mexico, Saipem has been awarded a T&I contract for a gas export pipeline, located in the US sector of the Gulf, approximately 400 kilometres south of New Orleans, Louisiana.

The development encompasses the transportation and installation of a gas export pipeline, 20 inches in diameter and 350 kilometres long, in a water depth ranging from 100 to 2,100 metres.

Offshore activities will be mainly carried out by the pipelay vessel Castorone during the second half of 2013.

The Castorone vessel, designed to lay large-diameter pipelines, is currently under construction at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore and is already committed to carrying out the Walker Ridge Export Pipeline project, in the US Gulf of Mexico.

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Offshore Energy Today Staff, January 18, 2012; Image: INPEX