INPEX Corporation has today confirmed the first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has departed from the Ichthys LNG Project’s onshore gas liquefaction plant in Darwin, Northern Territory. 

The first LNG shipment is destined for the INPEX-operated Naoetsu LNG terminal in Niigata Prefecture in Japan.

Earlier this morning, INPEX President Director Australia, Seiya Ito, announced that the first cargo from Ichthys LNG is a historic moment for INPEX, Japan and Australia.

“Ichthys is an iconic project for Australia. With an operating life of around 40 years, Ichthys LNG will be delivering benefits to the Australian economy and community for decades to come,” he said.

Chief Minister, Michael Gunner said that during its peak, the project created around 11,000 jobs with more than 1000 local businesses engaged in the project in construction.

“We have released a Five Point NT Gas Strategy to continue creating jobs through exploration, production, supply, export, manufacturing, research and innovation, and have re-established the NT Gas Task Force to implement the strategy,” he said.

Ichthys will gradually increase its production volume of LNG to approximately 8.9 million tonnes of LNG per year when it reaches its production plateau – which is equivalent to more than 10 per cent of Japan’s annual LNG import volume. Approximately 70 per cent of the LNG produced by Ichthys is scheduled to be supplied to Japanese customers.

This announcement follows the departure of the LNG cargo from the project’s shipment of field condensate (ultra-light crude oil), which commenced on 1 October 2018. Moving forward, the Ichthys LNG Project is also scheduled to commence the shipment of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) later this year.

The Ichthys LNG Project is led by INPEX (Operator, 62 per cent) alongside major partner TOTAL (30 per cent) and the Australian subsidiaries of CPC Corporation, Taiwan (2.6 per cent and Tokyo Gas (1.5 per cent), Osaka Gas (1.2 per cent), Kansai Electric Power (1.2 per cent), JERA (0.73 per cent) and Toho Gas (0.42 per cent).

More information on the project can be found here.