Strike at Ichthys LNG to escalate from Thursday
Workers at Ichthys LNG have threatened to escalate strikes starting Thursday after wage negotiations with Inpex failed, raising the concerns over disruptions to roughly 10% of Australia's LNG exports.
Australian record
Nov 16 (LNGJ) – The 10 Australian LNG plants exported 7.13 million tonnes of LNG in October, or around 104 cargoes, down slightly from the 7.21MT lifted in September but at record prices, according to estimates by Adelaide-based consultants EnergyQuest.
The firm estimated that Australian LNG export revenues increased significantly in October to a new record of A$10.6 billion (US$7.2Bln), up from a previous record A$10.2Bln in September 2022 and up by 82 percent on October 2021. “Compared with September, Australian projects delivered three more cargoes to North Asia - China, South Korea and Japan in October. There were no cargoes delivered to Europe,” said EnergyQuest.
Samsung Heavy Industries says Inpex has counter-sued over Ichthys LNG central processing facility dispute
Inpex Corp., the Japanese oil and gas developer and operator of the Australian Ichthys LNG export plant near Darwin, has counter-sued South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries over a payment dispute related to the delivery of the Central Processing Facility (CPF) for the Ichthys gas field offshore northwest Australia.
SHI confirmed that the law suit had been filed by Inpex after the South Korean company had sought arbitration in April 2021 over the unpaid full CPF contract settlement.
The commissioning at the CPF was completed at the end of May 2018 and that was the last major task to be carried out by the developers in the offshore section.
However, Inpex claimed at the time that late deliveries of the CPF and other offshore equipment were among several factors that caused the delayed commercial start of the Ichthys venture for Inpex and French major Total, now called TotalEnergies.
The Ichthys feed-gas is sent to Bladin Point in the Northern Territory through a 890 kilometres-long gas pipeline.
SHI said in its claim that after the installation of the CPF it asked the Japanese company to settle the balance of the contract amounting to $116M.
But Inpex refused, saying the delayed CPF arrival and installation had caused project hold-ups.
SHI finally lodged a complaint against Inpex on April 30, 2021, with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, seeking payment for the rest of the contract amount.
This latest Inpex lawsuit is separate from another involving the joint venture Ichthys LNG engineering consortium JKC, consisting of KBR, Chiyoda and JGC Corp.
The Ichthys project's final cost was estimated at more than US$40 billion.
This far exceeded a 2012 cost estimate of US$34Bln for the venture, which was beset by delays of almost two years.
The first shipment of LNG from liquefaction plant was finally delivered on the 30th October 2018 to the Inpex-operated Naoetsu LNG Terminal in Niigata Prefecture.
A total of 8.4 MTPA of LNG out of the almost 9 MTPA from the two-Train plant was pre-sold to Japanese utility companies Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power, Jera Co. Inc. and Toho Gas. CPC Corp. of Taiwan also receives shipments.
Japanese LNG operator Inpex pledges security of oil and gas supply in Japan during emergency
Inpex Corp., the operator of the Ichthys LNG export plant in Australia and developer of the Abadi project in Indonesia, has pledged to help provide security of domestic natural gas and oil supply in Japan after the country’s declaration of a state of emergency over the coronavirus.
Inpex of Japan satisfies Australian Ichthys LNG financing and looks ahead to Indonesia venture
Japanese energy major Inpex Corp. has achieved completion of the project financing contracts for its Ichthys LNG export plant at Bladin Point near Darwin in the Australian Northern Territory after costs and delays multiplied over several years.
McDermott and Baker Hughes-GE win contracts to develop feed-gas needs of Ichthys LNG plant
US engineering companies McDermott International and Baker Hughes-GE said they were awarded subsea contracts to provide field development services for the feed-gas needs of the Ichthys LNG export plant in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Japanese PM to formally open LNG plant near Darwin to help make Australia No. 1 LNG nation
Australia is expected to soon assume the title of the world’s largest LNG exporter and the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will formally open the Japan-led Ichthys LNG export joint venture plant near Darwin on November 16 that will help make it happen.
Inpex expects to avoid Ichthys LNG mistakes with planned Indonesian Abadi joint venture
Inpex, the Japanese energy company with majority stakes in the Ichthys LNG project in Australia’s Northern Territory and with an onshore plant proposed for Indonesia, is expecting LNG to transform its earnings and for the new liquefaction venture to have a smoother path to completion.
Last-minute delays in the Ichthys LNG project start-up revealed to be offshore electrical faults
An Australian regulatory body said some safety problems had been found on the offshore natural gas platform deployed offshore northwest Australia as part of the Ichthys LNG project of Japanese energy company Inpex Corp. and French energy major Total.
Inpex of Japan set to start LNG production at US$37Bln Ichthys export project in Australia
Inpex Corp, the Japanese energy company, said its Ichthys LNG export project in Australia’s Northern Territory completed the commissioning of the offshore Central Processing Facility, opening the way for the start of production at the US$37 billion joint venture, now more than 18 months behind scheduled.
