Australia: Total Reiterates Wish to Increase Ichthys Stake

Total’s president of exploration and production, gas and power Yves-Louis Darricarrère in a media briefing today in Perth, Australia, said that the company was in negotiations with INPEX to increase its stake in the giant Ichthys LNG project, the local website PerthNow reports.

According to Darricarrère, Total’s aim is to lift its interest in the project by 6 per cent, which will then see the company own a 30 per cent stake in the $34 billion dollars project operated by the Japanese INPEX.

PerthNow quoted Darricarrère as saying: “We have an agreement with Inpex to increase the stake from 24 per cent to 30 per cent.”

Total’s wish to increase its stake in the project is nothing new. In December 2011, a month before the final investment decision would be made, Total’s CEO Christophe de Margerie’s had spoken about the desire for a larger slice of the Ichthys cake.

The project, approved by the partners, Total and INPEX last month, is expected to develop approximately 3 billion barrels oil equivalent of reserves, including around 500 million barrels of condensate.

INPEX recently ordered a floating central processing facility (CPF) from Samsung Heavy Industries to develop the Ichthys Offshore Field. The greater part of the condensate will be transferred from the field via a subsurface pipeline to a nearby floating production; storage and offtake (FPSO) facility where it will be treated and transferred to offtake tankers for export. Natural gas from the field will be directed through an approximately 850km long gas export pipeline from the field to the onshore facilities in Darwin for processing into LNG and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). First production from the project is scheduled for the end of 2016.

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Offshore Energy Today Staff, February 21, 2012; Image: INPEX