Japan's Inpex offers LNG cargoes from Australian Ichthys project -sources
19/10/2018 09:58
SINGAPORE, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Japanese energy explorer Inpex
Corp 1605.T has offered spot cargoes from its giant Ichthys
project in northwestern Australia, in a sign that it may be
ramping up production, two industry sources said on Friday.
The company, which is a majority shareholder and lead
operator of the project, is looking to sell four cargoes from
Ichthys over the second half of October through November, they
added.
It was not immediately clear if the cargoes had been sold.
An Inpex spokesman in Tokyo said on Tuesday that production
had been going smoothly and that shipments of LNG and liquefied
petroleum gas were set to begin, but he declined to comment on
commercial matters including the schedule for shipments.
Inpex was due to load its first LNG cargo from the
long-delayed Ichthys project this week after earlier selling its
first condensate cargoes, sources have said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1WW2P3
The LNG vessel Pacific Breeze was anchored at the Ichthys
LNG terminal near Darwin as of Friday, according to Refinitiv
Eikon data.
Ichthys has seen multiple delays and cost overruns of
billions of dollars due to technical difficulties. It was
originally slated to start in 2016.
At full operation, Ichthys is expected to produce 8.9
million tonnes of LNG a year, along with about 1.7 million
tonnes of LPG and about 100,000 barrels per day of condensate,
an ultra-light form of crude oil.
Inpex holds 62.245 percent of Ichthys and France's Total
TOTF.PA has 30 percent, with the rest spread among Taiwan's
CPC Corp MOEATA.UL and Japanese utilities Tokyo Gas 9531.T ,
Osaka Gas 9532.T , Kansai Electric 9503.T , JERA Corp and Toho
Gas 9533.T .
(Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan
Editing by Manolo Serapio Jr.)
((Jessica.Jaganathan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3822; Reuters
Messaging: jessica.jaganathan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;
Twitter: https://twitter.com/j3ssi3))