Total announced Monday the beginning of production at the Ichthys LNG project offshore northwestern Australia.
'The Ichthys LNG project reached a major milestone on [Friday] July 27 with the opening of the first offshore production well, marking the start of 40 years of operations of this gas and condensate field,' the French energy giant said in a press release.
At full capacity, the offshore facilities are expected to produce 1,600 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (285,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day) and 85,000 barrels of condensate per day, according to the statement.
The gas will be exported to an onshore LNG plant that will produce 8.9 million tons of LNG annually to supply the Asian market, and approximately 1.65 million tons of LPG per year as well as an additional 15,000 barrels of condensate a day.
President for Exploration and Production at Total, Arnaud Breuillac called production startup at Ichthys a 'major achievement'.
'Ichthys will be an important addition to Total's portfolio in the fast growing LNG market and will also contribute to the group's production and cash flow growth in the coming years,' he said.
The project consists of the development of the Ichthys gas and condensate field offshore northwestern Australia at a water depth of 260 meters, and a 889-kilometer gas pipeline together with an onshore LNG plant near Darwin in the Northern Territory.
The offshore facilities consist of a subsea well development connected to a central processing facility for gas treatment and a floating processing, storage and offloading vessel for condensate.
Onshore installations, on the other hand, include two LNG trains with a combined capacity of 8.9 million tons per year and facilities for the extraction and the export of LPG and condensate.
Total holds a 30 percent stake in the Ichthys LNG project alongside operator INPEX, which has a 62.25 percent stake. The remaining stakeholders are CPC Corporation, Taiwan with 2.63 percent, Tokyo Gas with 1.57 percent, Osaka Gas with 1.2 percent, Kansai Electric Power with 1.2 percent, JERA with 0.74 percent and Toho Gas with 0.42 percent.
By Hale Turkes
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr