The Ichthys LNG Project reached a major milestone recently with the opening of the first offshore production well, marking the start of 40 years of operations of this gas and condensate field.
At full capacity, the offshore facilities are expected to produce 1,600mn standard cubic feet per day of gas (285,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day) and 85,000 barrels of condensate per day.
The gas will be exported to an onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant which will produce 8.9mn tonnes of LNG per year for supplying the Asian market, and approximately 1.65mn tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) per year, as well as an additional 15,000 barrels of condensate a day.
“The start-up of production on Ichthys is a major achievement. Ichthys will be an important addition to Total’s portfolio in the fast growing LNG market and will also contribute to the group’s production and cash flow growth in the coming years”, commented Arnaud Breuillac, president exploration & production at Total.
The project consists of the development of the Ichthys gas and condensate field offshore north Western Australia (in 260 metres of water depth) and an 889-kilometre gas pipeline together with an onshore LNG plant near Darwin in the Northern Territory.
The offshore facilities consist of a subsea well development connected to a central processing facility (CPF1) for gas treatment and a floating processing, storage and offloading (FPSO2) vessel for condensate.
Onshore installations consist of two LNG trains with a combined capacity of 8.9mn tonnes per year and facilities for the extraction and the export of LPGs and condensate.
Total holds a 30% stake in the Ichthys LNG project, while INPEX, the operator, holds 62%.
