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Ichthys Lng News

18 Aug 2022

Shell's Giant Prelude FLNG Unit to Remain Shut for Longer as Pay Dispute Continues

Unions at Shell Plc's Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) site off Australia have extended industrial action to Sept. 1 over a long-running pay dispute, the company said on Thursday. Shell shut down the 3.6-million-tonne-a-year site in July and told customers it would be unable to supply LNG cargoes for the duration of work stoppages approved by Australia's Fair Work Commission, or Protected Industrial Action (PIA). "We can confirm it's been renewed until Sept. 1," a Shell spokesperson said of the protected industrial action. The work stoppages began on June 10 and no cargoes have been shipped from the site in about five weeks, worsening a global LNG supply crunch amid the Ukraine conflict.

08 Aug 2022

Shell Delays Prelude LNG Maintenance Due to Industrial Action

Shell Plc said on Monday it is deferring planned maintenance work at the Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility that was due to go ahead in September because of industrial action at the site off northwest Australia."As a result of the ongoing Protected Industrial Action and inability to complete preparation work, we are not able to proceed with the planned turnaround at this time," a Shell spokesperson said in emailed comments.She said the extensive maintenance work, called a turnaround, would be put off to next year, with the timing to depend on a range of factors including weather conditions, contractor availability…

09 Jun 2022

Workers on Shell's Prelude FLNG to Start 12-day Strike on Friday

Workers on Shell Plc's Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility off Western Australia are set to begin 12 days of industrial action on Friday over a pay fight, a union alliance said on Thursday.Shell did not comment on what impact the mix of short work stoppages and bans on certain tasks, to run through June 21 might have on output at the 3.6 million-tonnes-a-year LNG facility."Shell recognizes the entitlement of all workers to exercise their rights, including the right to participate in industrial action," a Shell spokeswoman said in emailed comments.The action comes two months after Prelude resumed shipping LNG after a four-month shutdown due to a major power failure.The Offshore Alliance…

20 May 2022

Inpex Plans Maintenance at Australia's Ichthys LNG from July 1 to Aug. 5

Credit: Inpex

Japan's Inpex Corp plans to conduct scheduled maintenance at its Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Darwin, Australia, from around July 1 to Aug.

11 Feb 2022

Heerema's Giant Crane Vessel Sleipnir to Install LNG BCM on INPEX's Ichthys Explorer Platform

Credit: Heerema Marine Contractors

Dutch offshore installation company Heerema Marine Contractors has been selected by Japan's INPEX as a contractor of choice for the transport and installation of the 4,800 metric ton Ichthys LNG Booster Compression Module (BCM), offshore W. Australia.The module will be installed on the Ichthys Explorer Central Processing Facility, located off the northwest coast of Western Australia, as part of the Ichthys LNG phase 2 development.Heerema will transport the BCM from the fabrication yard on Batam Island in Indonesia to the Ichthys field before installing it in a single lift.

09 Feb 2020

Australia Becomes World's Largest LNG Exporter

Australia has become the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in the world. The record figure knocked Qatar out of the top spot."Australia is set to become the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter this year, overtaking Qatar, with its supplies expected to reach 81 million tonnes (MT) as Ichthys LNG and Prelude FLNG increase production," Rystad Energy said.Meanwhile, Qatari exports will remain at current levels, around 77 MT. The US will increase LNG exports from about 36 MT in 2019 to 56 MT in 2020, dominating new LNG supply contributions. Both Russia and Malaysia are each expected to add about 1.5 MT of LNG production during 2020.Overall in 2020…

29 Apr 2019

Ichthys Ramps Up Output

(File photo: INPEX)

A tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been floating off Australian waters for nearly two weeks as production at Ichthys project ramps up, industry sources told Reuters.The tanker 'Symphonic Breeze' has been moored at Darwin anchorage since April 17 after loading a cargo from the recently launched Ichthys LNG facility, shipping data from Refinitiv Eikon showed.The LNG cargo has already been sold to a North Asian buyer, who chose to lift it at a later date due to high inventory in its tanks, an industry source familiar with the matter said.The "floating cargo" situation has been part

13 Feb 2019

Oceanic Breeze Brings LNG to Japan

Japanese energy company INPEX Corporation announced that the LNG Tanker Oceanic Breeze called for the first time at INPEX’s Naoetsu LNG Terminal located in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan.The tanker has delivered a cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG project in Australia.Oceanic Breeze is owned by Oceanic Breeze LNG Transport S. A. (OBLT), a joint venture between INPEX Shipping Co., Ltd. (INPEX Shipping) (30%) and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K-Line) (70%), and designated to transport the 0.9 million tons per year of Ichthys LNG entitled to INPEX.Oceanic Breeze’s transportation and delivery of Ichthys LNG to the Terminal marks a significant milestone in INPEX’s development of a global gas value chain business…

12 Feb 2019

INPEX Selects NAPA for LNG Carrier Fleet

Japan's largest oil and gas exploration and production company INPEX Corporation has installed ClassNK-NAPA GREEN for monitoring operations on three of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.NAPA said that Inpex awarded a deal to the company for the provision of a solution for monitoring and follow-up of ship operations on two LNG carriers built to service the Ichthys project and one LNG carrier for Shell’s Prelude FLNG project.With the core motivation of accurately verifying the technical performance of these highly complex carriers, INPEX chose ClassNK-NAPA GREEN for the combination of NAPA’s LNG carrier design understanding and market leading performance monitoring software.The Oceanic Breeze…

02 Jan 2019

Challenge Peak Ships 1st Plant Condensate from Ichthys LNG Project

The oil products tanker operated by Singapore-based NYK Bulkship (Asia) Challenge Peak  has shipped the first batch of plant condensate produced at the onshore gas liquefaction plant of the INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG Project.According to a press release from the Japanese shipping and logistics company NYK (Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha), the condensate was loaded from the gas liquefaction plant in Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia, and the vessel departed for an Asian country on December 26.A joint venture among INPEX (the operator), oil major Total, and others, the Ichthys LNG Project is one of the largest LNG projects in the world…

27 Dec 2018

Great Ships 2018: World’s Largest MOSS Type LNG Carrier

Photos: Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha

Pacific Breeze, a 182,000 cu. m. capacity LNG carrier, is the world’s largest MOSS type LNG carrier ever constructed, built at Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., Japan (KHI). This capacity was achieved by extending the equatorial ring section of No. 3 and 4 cargo tanks by 1.6m in height from the conventional spherical shape, which increases approximately 5,000m3 from the second largest MOSS type LNG carrier constructed by KHI. Kawasaki Panel System was adopted for the thermal insulation system of the cargo tanks…

20 Nov 2018

First LPG Shipped from Ichthys Project

Japan's Inpex Corp said it had sent the first liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) shipment from its giant Ichthys project in Australia.The LPG vessel Hellas Gladiator departed the onshore liquefaction plant at the Ichthys LNG Terminal in Darwin, the company said in a statement late on Friday. Ship tracking data showed the vessel was due to arrive at Yantai in China around Nov. 26.The project shipped its first condensate on Oct. 1 and its first LNG in late October.(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Joseph Radford)

18 Nov 2018

Inpex Officially Opens Ichthys LNG Site

A landmark celebration has officially opened the onshore LNG processing facilities of INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG – one of the largest and most complex resource developments in the world.Japanese, Australian and Northern Territory government representatives unveiled a plaque to commemorate four decades of future benefits Ichthys LNG will bring to the Northern Territory, Australia, Japan and the region.Symbolising the collaboration inherent in global enterprises on the scale of Ichthys LNG, Mr Hiroshige Sekō, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Senator the Hon. Simon Birmingham, Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator the Hon. Matthew Canavan, Australian Minister for Resources and Northern Australia and The Hon.

23 Oct 2018

First LNG Cargo Exported from Ichthys

(File photo: INPEX)

French oil and gas major Total said on Tuesday that the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from Australia's Ichthys LNG project has been exported following the production start-up at the end of July.Ichthys LNG, with reserves of more than 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent offshore Western Australia, including around 500 million barrels of condensate, is operated by Japan's Inpex Corp with a 62.2 percent stake.Total is a major partner in the project with a 30 percent stake.(Reporting by Bate Felix, Editing by Sarah White)

30 Jul 2018

Gas Production Begins at Ichthys LNG Project

Ichthys Explorer CPF (Photo: Inpex)

Inpex Corp said on Monday it has begun producing gas at the $40 billion Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off northern Australia, a major milestone for the long-delayed project."The project expects to begin the shipment of products towards the end of the first half of the current fiscal year," Inpex said in a statement. The first half ends in September.Condensate will be shipped first, followed by LNG, Inpex said.(Reporting by Sonali Paul)

11 Jul 2018

Inpex to Ship First Ichthys LNG Cargo by End of September

(Photo: Inpex)

Inpex said it expects to ship first cargo from its Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia by the end of September after safety issues have been resolved, maintaining an earlier schedule.Australian regulators had discovered safety issuess on the Ichthys offshore gas platform and was considering enforcement action.The Inpex-operated Ichthys LNG project carried out an inspection mainly on electrical equipment during the process of final safety verifications in cooperation with Australian regulators, in preparation for the start-up of production.

01 Jun 2018

LNG Prices Climb on Limited Supply

© donvictori0 / Adobe Stock

Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices rose this week to their highest since February as buying interest from China remained firm and as supply is expected to be limited during maintenance in August.Spot prices for July delivery in Asia were at $9.60 per million British thermal units (Btu) this week, gaining 40 cents from the previous week and are at the highest for this time of the year since 2014.Higher oil prices had been deterring some buyers from snapping up cargoes in the spot market in recent weeks but some of them may now need to cover their requirements promptly…

24 Apr 2018

Shell, Inpex Race to Export Aussie LNG

Shell aims to start exports from Prelude LNG this year; Inpex hopes to commence shipments from Ichthys LNG. Shell and Inpex are on the final stretch of a years-long race to export gas from offshore northern Australia, where both have spent billions of dollars building the world's biggest maritime vessels to grab a slice of Asia's booming LNG market. Anglo-Dutch energy major Royal Dutch Shell and Inpex, Japan's biggest oil and gas producer, are vying for first gas from two overlapping fields after delays and cost overruns that have plagued both projects. The pair have spent billions on offshore facilities, including Shell's 490 metre (1,600 ft) long Prelude floating liquefied natural gas unit and Inpex's Ichthys Explorer semi-submersible platform, both the world's largest of their class.

23 Mar 2017

Svitzer Orders Escort Tug from Sanmar

From left to right:  Sanmar Commercial Director, Rüchan Çıvgın with Svitzer Europe Managing Director, Kasper Friis Nilaus (Photo: Sanmar)

Svitzer has signed a contract with Sanmar to purchase a newbuild 80 tbp ASD escort tug for Southampton, U.K., strengthening its fleet to meet current and future customer requirements and reemphasizing its commitment to the port of Southampton. The new Sanmar-built Robert Allan-designed vessel – RAstar 2800 Class ASD Escort vessel – has been specifically chosen for her maneuverability and reliability. The tug will be named Svitzer Adira and will join the fleet in Southampton in early May.

11 Jul 2017

Stena Drilling Extends Inspection Contract with Sparrows

Stena Don (Photo: Stena Group)

Sparrows Group has been awarded a three-and-a-half-year extension to its inspection services contract for Stena Drilling’s global fleet of drilling vessels. The contract scope includes carrying out LOLER lifting gear surveys, potential dropped objects surveys, cargo carrying unit (CCU) and non-destructive testing (NDT) inspections as well as rig specific maintenance. As well as an extension to the contract, the scope has also been expanded to cover Stena’s entire fleet of seven vessels, including the Stena Don in Norway.

15 Sep 2017

Ichthys Explorer Moored off Western Australia

The world’s largest semi-submersible platform, the Ichthys Explorer, has been safely moored in the Ichthys Field, 220 kilometers off the north coast of Western Australia, where it will be located for 40 years, as part of the INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG Project.   Bardex Corporation supplied four moveable Chain Jacks and 28 underwater Barlatches to support the handling of 28 mooring lines. The mooring operation was completed ahead of schedule with the assistance of Bardex lifecycle services. Bardex said the use of its Clump Weight contributed to the efficient mooring up operation.

24 Oct 2017

New LNG Carrier for Ichthys LNG Project Named

The newbuild LNG carrier Oceanic Breeze was named during a ceremony at MHI’s Nagasaki Shipyard. (Photo: “K” Line)

A new vessel built for carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Ichthys LNG Project in Darwin, Australia to Naoetsu, Niigata has been named at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) Nagasaki Shipyard. The LNG carrier was named Oceanic Breeze by Toshiaki Kitamura, President of INPEX Corporation (INPEX), whose fully owned subsidiary INPEX Shipping Co., Ltd. will time-charter the ship. Oceanic Breeze, owned by Oceanic Breeze LNG Transport S.A. (OBLT), a 30/70 joint venture between Inpex Shipping and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd.

09 Feb 2018

LNG Rebounds as Asian Buyers Replenish Inventory

Interest for prompt spot cargoes still keen; demand could roll over to April. Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices rebounded this week as persistently cold weather in North Asia forced buyers to enter the spot market to replenish inventory. Spot prices for March <LSG-AS> delivery in Asia climbed 40 cents to $10.60 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) this week, according to several LNG traders in Asia. Cargoes for delivery in the first half of March are trading between $10.70 and $11 per mmBtu while cargoes for the second half of the month are trading at just above $10 a barrel, they said. Angola LNG sold a cargo for February at close to $11 per mmBtu to a Chinese company, traders said. The company has offered a March cargo as well.