McDermott and Baker Hughes install subsea infrastructure for Inpex off Australia

A consortium of McDermott and Baker Hughes has completed the installation of subsea infrastructure for Inpex its gas field located offshore Australia. 

Awarded to the consortium in 2019, the subsea infrastructure development project for the Ichthys field included engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of umbilicals, risers and flowlines (URF), a subsea production system comprised of a new seven-inch vertical Christmas tree system (VTX), all forming a subsea well gathering system (GS4) tied back to the existing Ichthys Explorer central processing facility.

The companies’ scope of work also included an in-fill URF EPCI involving the development of new subsea wells tied in to the existing gathering systems.

“The McDermott and Baker Hughes partnership has been marked by resilience and adaptability, guided by our firm commitment to deliver for the INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG and Australia,” said Mahesh Swaminathan, McDermott’s Senior Vice President, Subsea and Floating Facilities.

“Together, leveraging McDermott’s unique end-to-end EPCI capabilities and Baker Hughes’ subsea development solutions, we navigated project complexities and overcame the unique challenges posed by the pandemic. Our hard work paid off, and I would like to thank our teams in Perth, Batam, and beyond, whose collective efforts enabled the safe completion of this important work scope.”

According to Romain Chambault, Baker Hughes Senior Vice President, Subsea Projects and Services, manufacturing the highly complex seven-inch VXT from Baker Hughes’ dedicated SP&S facility in Batam has expanded the global capability for the company in the Asia Pacific region, complemented by a strong McDermott presence in Batam and the region as a whole.

Located about 220 kilometers offshore Western Australia and 820 kilometers southwest of Darwin, the Ichthys field covers an area of around 800 square kilometers in water averaging depths of around 250 meters. It is estimated to contain more than 12 trillion cubic feet of gas and 500 million barrels of condensate.

Inpex discovered the Ichthys field in the Browse Basin in 2000. A final investment decision (FID) for the field was reached in 2012 and production commenced in July 2018.

The Ichthys LNG project is led by Inpex as the project operator, alongside major partner TotalEnergies and the Australian subsidiaries of CPC Corporation Taiwan, Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power, Jera and Toho Gas. Inpex recently announced its plans to acquire the participating interests (1.575%) held by Tokyo Gas in the project.