LNG

Feb 13 (LNGJ) - Inpex Corp., the Japanese oil and gas company with LNG assets in Australia and Indonesia, reported a 6.8 percent decline in annual consolidated net sales to 2.16 trillion yen ($14.5 billion) from 2.32 trillion yen ($15.57Bln) in 2022 due to a fall in the price of crude oil. Inpex reported a 19.4 percent drop in annual net profits to 371.53 billion yen ($2.49Bln) from 461.06Bln yen ($3.09Bln) in 2022.

   Net sales of crude oil fell by 9.5 percent to 1.61 trillion yen ($10.78Bln) from the previous year while net sales of natural gas increased by 2 percent to 535.7 billion yen ($3.59Bln). “The average sales price of overseas natural gas decreased by $1.27, or 18.4 percent, to $5.62 per thousand feet. The average sales price of domestic natural gas in Japan increased by 9.9 percent to 90.08 yen ($0.605) per cubic metre,” said Inpex.

Japan said assurances had been received during the official visit of a delegation from Tokyo that more extreme green policies by Australia would not affect Japanese energy security and the stable supply of Australian LNG and coal.

Inpex Corp., the leading Japanese energy company and operator of the Ichthys liquefied natural export plant in Australia and developer of the Abadi liquefaction project in Indonesia, reported 34 cargoes shipped in the first quarter from the Ichthys plant at Bladin Point near Darwin.

Inpex gave the figure in its first-quarter earnings when it reported a more than 60 percent surge in net income on higher volumes and prices.

The company posted a 19 percent jump in quarterly sales of 578.4 billion yen ($4.28Bln) in the first three months of 2023 versus 485.3Bln ($3.59Bln) in the 2022 quarter.

Net income for the quarter rose by 61.2 percent to 151.4Bln yen ($1.12Bln) compared with 93.9Bln yen ($695 million) in the prior-year quarter coming mainly from sales of oil, pipeline gas and LNG.

Gas prices

The average overseas natural gas sales price for Inpex increased by 11 percent to $6.73 per thousand cubic feet of gas from $6.06 per mcf.

The Inpex oil and gas assets in Japan comprise the domestic Japanese Minami-Nagaoka Gas Field in Niigata Prefecture and the Naoetsu LNG import terminal.

Inpex said average quarterly domestic natural gas prices soared to 110.67 yen per cubic metres from 65.76 yen per cubic metre in the same quarter last year.

“The company’s net sales of crude oil increased by 44.1Bln yen, or 12.4 percent, to 399.6Bln yen, and net sales of natural gas increased by 49.8Bln, or 40.2 percent, to 173.7Bln yen,” the company said.

“Sales volume of crude oil increased by 1,502 thousand barrels, or 4.3 percent, to 36,677 thousand barrels, and sales volume of natural gas increased by 2,456 million cf, or 2.0 percent, to 128,241 million cf,” Inpex added.

Inpex own a 66 percent stake the Ichthys plant in Australia’s Northern Territory and currently supplies about 10 percent of Japan’s LNG imports. The other main shareholder is TotalEnergies.

The Japanese company has also finalized a revised development plan for the Abadi LNG export project in Indonesia, a joint venture with Shell. 

Inpex submitted the new plan to Indonesian regulators in April 2023 incorporating a carbon-capture and storage component.

Inpex's venture will be located onshore Yamdena Island in the Tanimbar Island chain and use feed-gas from the Abadi gas field in the Masela Block of Indonesia's Arafura Sea.

The liquefaction and export plant could be expected to be operational by around 2030.

Inpex Corp. the leading Japanese energy company and operator of the Ichthys LNG plant in Australia and developer of the Abadi liquefaction project in Indonesia, reported a jump in earnings and operating activities.

Venture Global LNG, the US operator of the Calcasieu Pass export plant in Louisiana and developer of three other plants in the US Gulf Coast state, has signed a sales and purchase agreement with a key Singapore-based Japanese trading firm.

French major TotalEnergies reported a 43 percent increase in third-quarter net profits to $6.6 billion, driven by its liquefied natural gas business even with taking a $3Bln hit over Russian assets and temporary problems affecting supplies from liquefaction plants in Egypt, Nigeria, Australia and the US.

Japanese LNG industry participants, export plant operator Inpex Corp. and engineering company JGC Holdings are teaming up with the Thai national energy provider, which has increasing natural gas and LNG stakes, to develop a carbon-capture and storage (CCS) project in Thailand.

Thailand’s Public Company Exploration and Production (PTTEP) has stakes in Malaysian floating LNG as well as in Mozambique LNG and is taking over the operatorship of the main natural gas field in neighbouring Myanmar.

While all three companies are heavily involved in the energy transition on fuels in their promotion of LNG and pipeline gas, with Inpex operating the Ichthys LNG plant near Darwin in Australia and JGC being a builder of LNG plants and terminals, they are now exploring Southeast Asian CCS prospects.

They said the potential development of the CCS project in Thailand would help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and accelerate the decarbonization of Thai industries and the country as a whole.

Studies and solutions

Inpex, JGC and PTTEP have now signed an accord on the Thailand Carbon-Capture and Storage Initiative, which aims to study the potential development of CCS solutions to help industries including the oil and gas sector, hard-to-abate industries and power generation reduce their carbon-dioxide emissions.

CCS involves capturing CO2 from industrial processes before it enters the atmosphere and transporting the CO2 for underground storage in geological formations where they will be appropriately managed and monitored.

“The collaboration will involve identifying and evaluating facilities as well as procedures and technologies concerning CCS to build economically viable CCS solutions for Thailand,” said a statement.

PTTEP said the initiative reflected its determination to take part in regional efforts to manage and mitigate GHG impacts.

“We have the potential to help industries and Thailand reduce carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality goals,” the Thai company added.

Reforms

Inpex said it was proactively engaging in energy structure reforms towards the realization of a net-zero carbon society by 2050 while responding to the energy demands of Japan and other countries.

“The company aims to create clean energy business opportunities centred on CCS in Thailand with a view to expanding these opportunities to other parts of Asia,” said Inpex, whose headquarters are in Minato City in Tokyo.

JGC, based in Yokohama, noted that among the three it had “a rich track record” of building CCS facilities not only in Japan, but also in Algeria and Australia.

“The company also provides technical consulting services with energy and environmental themes, combining various methods such as surveys, analysis and evaluation, simulation, and risk assessment, and contributing to the realization of CCS through the provision of a wide range of solutions,” it explained.

This Japanese corporate collaboration on the Thailand CCS initiative is linked to the Asia Energy Transition Initiative (AETI), a plan unveiled by the Government of Japan in 2021 that aims to help achieve sustainable economic growth and carbon neutrality in Asia through energy transitions. 

McDermott of the US has won an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project after successfully completing front-end design services for a booster compression module for the Australian Ichthys LNG project operated by Inpex of Japan.

The module will be added to the “Ichthys Explorer” central processing facility, located off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

The Ichthys plant came on stream in 2018 and produces almost 9 million tonnes per annum of LNG from two processing Trains, while the Ichthys gas field is offshore northwest Australia and connected to the plant by a 890-kilometre subsea pipeline.

Shares in Ichthys LNG held by Inpex amount to around 66 percent of equity, while French major TotalEnergies has 26 percent.

Micro-stakes are additionally held by customers CPC Corp. of Taiwan and Japan’s main utilities and LNG buyers, JERA Co. Inc., Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric and Toho Gas.

“Ichthys LNG is ranked among the most significant and complex energy developments in the world,” explained Mahesh Swaminathan, McDermott's Senior Vice President for the Asia-Pacific region.

“We've been there since 2012, and we are very familiar with the Ichthys gas field,” added Swaminathan.

This is the third contract McDermott has been awarded for the project after successfully completing FEED services and converting contracts to EPCI.

McDermott's EPC scope involves a booster compression module which will extend the production from the gas reservoir to the central processing facility.

McDermott is currently undertaking work on umbilicals, risers and flowlines as part of an expansion of the existing offshore facilities.

The work will be executed from McDermott's Engineering Centres in Perth, Western Australia, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Chennai on the East Coast of India.

“Fabrication will be completed at McDermott's yard on Batam island in Indonesia, which has been delivering complex offshore and onshore structures for over 50 years,” added McDermott.

TotalEnergies of France said it benefited from a leading position in liquefied natural gas to generate $4.8 billion in adjusted third-quarter net income versus $848 million in the 2020 quarter while cash flow amounted to $8.4Bln.

Sept 1 (LNGJ) - Inpex Corp, the Japanese energy company and operator of the Ichthys LNG export plant at Bladin Point, said it signed a firm supply agreement with Iruma Gas, the utility in Iruma City in east-central Honshu, for LNG cargoes with carbon offsets. Iruma Gas supplies domestic gas to Iruma residents who with four neighbouring cities signed a joint declaration in February 2021 to support lower carbon aims.

   Inpex has been working closely with city-gas operators in Japan to supply wholesale natural gas at a higher price because of a self-imposed carbon tax. The LNG volumes to be supplied to Iruma Gas were not disclosed. “The neutrality of the natural gas to be supplied through this agreement is based on carbon credits certified by a credible certifier as deriving from carbon-dioxide reduction efforts at forest conservation projects, etc. based around the world where greenhouse-gas emissions have been offset throughout the entire value chain process from development to combustion,” explained Inpex.