Japan’s Inpex said on Tuesday it has shipped the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from its giant Ichthys project in Australia.
The 182,000-cbm LNG vessel Pacific Breeze loaded the cargo from the Ichthys LNG terminal located near Darwin on Monday and is en route to the Inpex-operated Naoetsu LNG terminal Japan, Niigata Prefecture.
LNG is currently being produced from the first liquefaction train, with the second train expected to start up in the coming weeks.
To remind, the $40 billion LNG export project recently shipped its first condensate cargo. The project is also scheduled to commence the shipment of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The Ichthys project had several delays and significant cost overruns.
Inpex said in its statement that the Ichthys project is scheduled to gradually increase its production volume of LNG, and produce about 8.9 million tons of LNG per year, equivalent to more than 10 percent of Japan’s annual LNG import volume, when it reaches its production plateau.
About 70 percent of the LNG produced by the export project will be supplied to Japanese customers.
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.