First LNG cargo from Ichthys project arrives in Japan

The first shipment from the Inpex-operated Ichthys LNG Project in Australia arrived at the company’s Naoetsu LNG Terminal in Japan. 

Inpex said on Wednesday that the LNG shipment arrived at the terminal in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, at approximately 8:30 AM local time.

The LNG received at the terminal will be re-gasified and combined with natural gas produced from the Inpex-operated Minami-Nagaoka gas field, and then supplied to customers located along the company’s 1,500 kilometer-long natural gas trunk pipeline network stretching across the Kanto-Koshinetsu and Hokuriku regions.

The first shipment of LNG departed the onshore gas liquefaction plant in Darwin, Australia earlier this month. Production of gas from the Ichthys LNG Project in Australia began at the end of July.

The shipment of LNG followed the shipment of condensate (ultra-light crude oil), which started on October 1, 2018. The cargo departed from the project’s massive FPSO Ichthys Venturer, which is moored in the Browse Basin, some 220 kilometers off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

“The arrival of LNG produced from the Ichthys LNG Project at the terminal is a significant milestone for Inpex, as it organically links the company’s LNG development business LNG carrier Pacific Breeze arrives at Naoetsu LNG Terminal laden with Ichthys’ first LNG cargo overseas to its gas distribution network in Japan,” the company said.

According to Inpex, this milestone is a significant step toward the development of a global gas value chain business, positioned as one of the company’s business targets outlined in Vision 2040, Inpex’s long-term vision announced in May 2018.

“Bringing Ichthys LNG to Japan will also contribute significantly to a stable supply of energy to Japan. Going forward, Inpex will continue to strive to serve its customers with safe and stable supplies of natural gas, an environmentally friendly fuel,” Inpex added.