Inpex Puts Off Ichthys Launch, Expects Cost Increase

Japan’s Inpex will hold up the expected production start-up but also raise the anticipated production capacity of the Ichthys LNG Project, the company informed earlier today.

Namely, the production, which was initially expected to start toward the end of December 2016, is now expected to start in the third quarter of 2017 (July-September 2017).

Meanwhile, based on the company’s recent technical evaluation of the latest technological information pertaining to the entire LNG production system, Inpex said it will boost the annual LNG production capacity by approximately 6% to 8.9 MTPA from the initially planned 8.4 MTPA,

While the project’s overall development was approximately 74% complete as of June 2015, Inpex said it has updated the production start schedule based on the findings of a detailed review of the project’s development schedule.

Furthermore, the company expects the revised production start-up schedule and other factors to increase the project’s investment. Nevertheless, the increase is expected to be limited to approximately 10%, according to Inpex.

Inpex believes that the financial impact of the production start schedule update should be minimal, for the year ending March 31, 2016, and plans to cover the costs of the project through its own funds as well as external loans.

To remind, Ichthys LNG Project has recently seen three more subsea production manifolds safely and successfully landed on the seabed.

When operational, five manifolds will commingle production from the subsea wellheads, distributing to the project’s central processing facility via 18 inch flowlines and flexible risers.