Ichthys Project update
The US$34 billion Ichthys LNG Project is one of the most complex oil and gas developments attempted. It is effectively three mega-projects in one: an onshore project, an offshore project, and a pipeline project. The Ichthys Project represents: the largest semi-submersible platform in the world; the first semi-submersible production platform in Australia; the largest Japanese investment outside Japan; the largest single French investment in Australia; the biggest ever project financing; the longest subsea pipeline in the southern hemisphere; and, the second largest resource Project in Australia, by CAPEX. The onshore project is being developed in Darwin and involves two processing trains rated to produce a total of 8.4 million tonnes of LNG a year. Offshore, construction of the central processing facility (CPF) and floating, production storage, and off-take (FPSO) vessel is underway. Both facilities will be permanently moored and are designed to withstand the most extreme weather conditions for more than four decades. An 889-km pipeline will link the Ichthys Field, 200 km off the Western Australian coast, to the onshore facilities in Darwin. The project’s final investment decision was announced in January 2012. This triggered intense construction activity and created hundreds of new construction jobs in Darwin and more globally. Since the discovery of the gas-condensate field in 2000, the Ichthys journey has been one of identifying and overcoming geographical, political, technical, financial, and commercial challenges. The project is a global effort, drawing on worldwide expertise to overcome these challenges and work towards first gas in late 2016.