The Inpex-operated Ichthys LNG Project has marked another milestone with the arrival of its floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility in Australian waters on Monday.
The 336 meters long, 59 meters wide, ship-shaped facility, named Ichthys Venturer, will be permanently moored in the Browse Basin, about 220 kilometres off the Western Australian coast.
The unit started its journey from South Korea to Australia on July 18. Once it is moored in the 250-meter deep waters of the Ichthys field, the hook-up and commissioning activities will start.
“The safe completion of the 5600-kilometre, 26-day tow of the Ichthys Venturer from South Korea to Australian waters is another significant stride forward for the Ichthys LNG Project,” said Managing Director Ichthys Project, Louis Bon .
“The FPSO has been designed to hold 1.12 million barrels of condensate and operate for 40 years in a cyclonic environment, setting new benchmarks for durability.”
Ichthys Venturer joins the Ichthys LNG Project’s Central Processing Facility (CPF) – the Ichthys Explorer – the world’s largest semi-submersible platform that was moored in the Ichthys Field recently. The CPF arrived in Australia from South Korea in May.
The FPSO will process, stabilise and store the condensate delivered from the Ichthys Explorer before periodically offloading it to tankers for export to market.
The Ichthys LNG Project is expected to produce up to 8.9 million tonnes of LNG per annum and 1.65 million tonnes of LPG per annum, along with approximately 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak.