Japan’s Inpex said its Ichthys export project in Australia has shipped 117 LNG cargoes in 2021, down by five cargoes when compared to the year before.
Besides LNG cargoes, the 8.9 mtpa LNG plant at Bladin Point near Darwin exported 21 condensate cargoes and 32 LPG cargoes, down by one and two shipments respectfully. The project also shipped 32 offshore condensate cargoes, compared to 34 in 2020.
In total, the project has shipped 354 LNG cargoes since its launch in 2018.
Takayuki Ueda, CEO of Inpex, said during a news conference after the firm reported its quarterly and full-year results on February 10 that Inpex expects the Ichthys project to dispatch about ten cargoes per month during 2022.
Ueda also said that Inpex plans to close the LNG plant for scheduled maintenance between July and August this year as the firm did last year during May and June.
This includes both offshore and onshore facilities.
Natural gas arrives in Darwin from the giant Ichthys field offshore Western Australia via an 890-kilometer export pipeline.
Ichthys LNG is a joint venture between operator Inpex and major partner France’s TotalEnergies.
Other partners include Australian units of CPC Corporation Taiwan, Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power, JERA and Toho Gas.
Abadi LNG delayed
Ueda said that the preparatory work for the Abadi LNG project’s FEED in Indonesia had been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Going further, Inpex would conduct a comprehensive study to make the project “cleaner” including carbon capture and storage, and to enable further cost reduction.
He said that Inpex now aims to start LNG production from the project in the “early 2030s.”
In addition, Inpex is looking to reach a final investment decision in the second half of the 2020s.
Ueda said that Inpex continues to work with the Indonesian government on the project.
Inpex said in July 2019 that it planned to start front-end engineering design (FEED) on the project, also known as the Masela gas project, in 2020, with LNG production at the giant field due to start by 2027-2028.
The Japanese firm is developing the Abadi LNG project with energy giant Shell. However, Indonesian upstream regulator SKK Migas has confirmed in 2020 that Shell was in talks to withdraw from the proposed LNG export project.
The Inpex-operated project has seen many changes over the years and initially, the development of the Masela offshore block involved a floating LNG plant.
The latest revised plan includes a 9.5 mtpa onshore LNG plant with an estimated cost of about $20 billion.
Inpex has a 65 percent stake in the Abadi development while Shell owns a 35 percent stake.
