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“I can confirm that the scheduled maintenance activity is proceeding according to plan, and we expect production to begin in early October as scheduled,” the spokesman said.
Data posted on the Inpex Australia website shows that the maintenance scope included both Ichthys LNG trains.
Inpex began maintenance on August 16 and is expected to complete it on October 8, according to the data.
In addition, the scope also included Ichthys Explorer CPF and Ichthys Venturer FPSO.
Inpex kicked off maintenance on the CPF on August 19 and the FPSO on August 23, with completion dates for both facilities on September 29.
Inpex Australia announced in a separate social media post that it will be conducting flaring from October 4 to October 9 at the LNG plant as part of the restart of activities.
Heat exchangers
Inpex previously said that it will replace six heat exchangers at the Ichthys LNG facility during the shutdown.
“As for the extent of the replacement of heat exchangers, it has been decided to replace all the heat exchangers that caused temporary production issues in the de-methanization process of Ichthys LNG Trains 1 and 2 last year,” the firm said.
Ichthys LNG Train 2 was taken offline in August last year due to a heat exchanger issue. It was then returned to service on October 9 after repairs were completed.
In September 2024, Inpex announced it had decided to reduce Train 1’s rate of operations to about 70 percent to carry out inspections, as the unit utilizes the same equipment as Train 2.
85 LNG cargoes
The spokesman also said that Inpex shipped 85 LNG cargoes from the Ichthys LNG plant to date in 2025.
He confirmed that the company expects Ichthys LNG to ship “around the same number of cargoes as last year.”
The plant sent 116 LNG cargoes in 2024, down by 13 shipments compared to the year before.
During the first half of this year, 65 LNG cargoes left the plant, down by one cargo compared to the same period last year.
The project sent 12 LNG cargoes in July and eigh shipments in August before the maintenance.
Ichthys LNG is a joint venture between operator Inpex and major partner TotalEnergies.
Last year, Inpex also purchased a small stake in Ichthys LNG from compatriot Tokyo Gas to boost its stake from 66.245 percent to 67.82 percent.
Besides TotalEnergies, other partners in the Ichthys project include Australian units of CPC, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power, Jera, and Toho Gas.
Natural gas arrives to the LNG plant at Bladin Point, near Darwin, from the giant Ichthys field offshore Western Australia via an 890-kilometer-long export pipeline.