Inpex-operated Ichthys LNG project held two naming ceremonies at the South Korean shipyards for the project’s two offshore facilities.
At the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard, the project’s central processing facility (CPF) has been named Ichthys Explorer while, earlier on Friday, the floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO) has ben named the Ichthys Venturer, at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard.
Inpex president & CEO Toshiaki Kitamura said, “our project’s two gigantic floating facilities will be located in the Ichthys gas- condensate field, located about 220 kilometers offshore Western Australia, for 40 years of continuous operation.”
At 130 meters by 120 meters, the Ichthys Explorer is the world’s largest semi-submersible platform. It will receive well fluids from a subsea gas gathering system, located at a water depth of approximately 250 meters, within the Ichthys gas-condensate field.
Most liquids will be transferred from the Ichthys Explorer to the 336 metre-long Ichthys Venturer for offshore processing and condensate offloading.
Ichthys Explorer will be linked to the onshore production facilities by the 42-inch and 890 kilometers long pipeline.
Ichthys LNG project is expected to start production by the third quarter of 2017, and is set to have an annual LNG production capacity 8.9 mtpa.
The project is a joint venture between Inpex, major partner Total, Taiwan’s CPC Corporation and the Australian subsidiaries of Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric, Chubu Electric Power and Toho Gas.