Inpex hit by $1.3 bln Australian LNG assets impairment

Japan’s oil and gas giant Inpex has flagged a 139.7 billion yen ($1.33 billion) impairment loss on its Australian LNG assets.

Inpex noted that the majority of its writedown was on the Shell-led Prelude FLNG project, approximately $1.24 billion.

The remaining loss of $84.4 million was booked on Inpex’s stake in the Bayu Undan project.

Inpex participates in Prelude FLNG through its INPEX Oil & Gas Australia unit, while it has a stake in the Bayu Undan project through its INPEX Sahul unit.

The company did not report and writedowns on its Ichthys LNG project in Western Australia.

Inpex’s reported total writedowns of $1.8 billion.

The company posted a 120.8 billion Japanese yen ($1.15 billion) loss for the first six months of the year, which compares to a 69.49 billion yen ($658.7 million) profit.

Inpex noted that the financial results have been impacted by the substantial decline in crude oil prices resulting from the COVID-19 induced reduction in global energy demand and other factors

The company has further revised its forecast for the year 2020, noting it expects to report a 136 billion Japanese yen ($1.29 billion) loss.