Ichthys Project on Track for First Gas in 2016

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Perth, Australia)--Samsung Heavy Industries (Seoul, Korea) has commenced construction on its part of the INPEX (Perth, Australia)-operated Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, with the first steel cutting, earlier this month, for what will be the world's largest semi-submersible platform. When complete, the 150-meter by 110-meter central processing facility will displace 140,000 tonnes and will have a peak gas export rate of 1,657 million standard cubic feet per day, making it the largest of its kind.

INPEX Australia President Seiya Ito said: "This is one of the most exciting parts of the project - the first materialization of what has been many years of hard work; it's when the design comes to life. The hull size is nearly at the limit of what the biggest shipyards can build in their dry docks today. It will be moored by 28 mooring lines, representing more than 25,000 tonnes of anchor chain."

The 25,000 tonnes of anchor chain represents more than the yearly worldwide production of large-scale anchor chain.

January also marked the first steel cutting for the turret of the floating production storage & offloading vessel (FPSO) in Singapore. The turret links the FPSO to the subsea well, and allows the vessel to weathervane or rotate in response to prevailing weather conditions. The Ichthys FPSO turret will be capable of storing 1.2 million barrels of condensate.

Onshore work is progressing quickly, with contracts for most major work already signed and teams mobilizing to the site. Leighton Contractors (Chatswood, Australia) is one of the big winners, having secured more than $1.04 billion (AUD $1 billion) worth of work. It is responsible for the temporary site facilities and the operations complex, and has just been awarded a $938 million (AUD $900 million) civil works contract.

Craig Laslett, managing director of Leighton Contractors, said the company is proud to have been chosen to deliver this vital LNG infrastructure. "Leighton Contractors is committed to delivering this onshore infrastructure with certainty and to the highest quality while maximizing the opportunities for the local workforce and businesses," he said.

"Our people have started laying the foundations for a successful project, assembling a highly skilled and experienced team and establishing key partnerships with specialist contractors to carry out the piling and electrical and instrumentation cabling activities," Laslett said.

"We will provide Darwin's local workforce and businesses with as many opportunities as possible to capitalize on the delivery of this world-class infrastructure, and support the growth of its skills base and experience for the benefit of future development in the region. We anticipate more than 3.5 million man-hours will be worked to deliver the project, with a peak workforce of more than 900 people."

Gas from the Ichthys Field will undergo preliminary processing at the offshore central processing facility (CPF) to remove water and raw liquids, including a large proportion of the condensate. This condensate will be pumped to a floating production, storage and offloading facility anchored nearby, from which it will be transferred to tankers for delivery to markets.

The gas will be transported from the CPF through a subsea pipeline more than 885 kilometers to the onshore LNG processing plant proposed for Blaydin Point on Middle Arm Peninsula, Darwin, Northern Territory. It will be cooled to below minus 161 degrees Celsius, the point at which the gas becomes a liquid, which is known as liquefied natural gas.

The Ichthys Project will have an initial capacity to produce 8.4 million tonnes of LNG per annum and 1.6 million tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas per annum, as well as approximately 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak.

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