INPEX Holdings Nears Final Investment Decision for Proposed $6 Billion Ichthys LNG Project in Australia

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--INPEX Holdings Incorporated (TYO:1605) (Tokyo, Japan), through its 76%-owned Australian subsidiary INPEX Browse Limited (Perth, Australia), is expecting to make a final investment decision regarding the proposed Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in late 2008 after completing a prefeasibility study. If INPEX decides to go ahead with the project, the result would be two LNG trains constructed in Darwin, Australia, that will produce approximately 7.8 million metric tons per year of LNG.

The Ichthys project would involve the construction of an offshore production platform for central processing of the natural gas, a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for condensate, 50 subsea wells, a 900-kilometer pipeline to transport the gas to the LNG trains in Darwin and an onshore power plant. In addition to the LNG production, INPEX expects to produce approximately 100,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) of condensate. Of this, 85,000 BBL/d would be processed offshore and stored at the FPSO unit. From this, 1.6 million tons of LPG could be produced.

INPEX's partner in INPEX Browse Limited is Total SA (NYSE:TOT) (Paris, France), which holds the remaining 24% of the Ichthys LNG project. Upon a positive financial decision, INPEX expects to begin work on the Ichthys project in mid-2009. The first exports of LNG are expected to begin in late 2013 or early 2014. A portion of this production will de destined for export to Japan.

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