LNG

Japanese energy company Inpex Corp. has acknowledged another delay in the export of the first cargo from the Australian Ichthys LNG export plant near Darwin, now envisaged for October after delays caused by electrical faults on an offshore platform.

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.

Japanese energy company Inpex said it was still scheduled to ship its first LNG cargo from the Australian Ichthys liquefaction plant near Darwin by the end of September, even as the joint venture has had some last-minute delays.

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.

May 21 (LNGJ) - Inpex Corp., the lead developer of the Ichthys LNG project in Australia, has named Takayuki Ueda as its new Chief Executive and President from June 26 and also made changes in other senior management posts. Ueda replaces incumbent CEO Toshiaki Kitamurato who takes the post of Chairman. Ueda, aged 62, had joined Inpex in April 2017 as an Executive Vice President after various roles at the Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry. The new CEO has law degrees from the University of Tokyo and the University of Washington in the US. Inpex added that among other changes Yoichi Iwata, general manager of planning at Ichthys LNG becomes Vice President of the Ichthys Project, while Hitoshi Okawa, deputy general manager of the Perth office in Western Australia, becomes a Vice President and Director of Corporate Coordination in Perth.