The Ichthys LNG Project is one of the most complex oil and gas developments attempted. It is three mega-projects in one: an onshore project, an offshore project, and a pipeline project.
The onshore project is being developed in Darwin and involves two processing trains rated to produce a total of 8.4 million tonnes of LNG per year.
Offshore, the central processing facility (CPF) will feature the world's largest semi-submersible platform. A substantial floating, production storage and offtake (FPSO) vessel, designed to hold more than one million barrels of condensate, will be stationed nearby. Both the CPF and FPSO will be permanently moored in an area notorious for cyclonic weather conditions and will be designed to withstand even the most extreme weather conditions for more than four decades.
An 889 km subsea pipeline will link the Ichthys Field, 200 km off the Western Australian coast, to the onshore facilities in Darwin. This represents the longest subsea pipeline in the southern hemisphere and fifth longest in the world.
A final investment decision for the project was announced in January 2012. This triggered intense construction activity and created hundreds of new construction jobs in Darwin and more globally. More than 4,000 direct jobs will be created at the peak of construction. An approved capital expenditure of $US34 billion by INPEX and the Ichthys Project joint venture participants shows a tremendous commitment to Australia.
Since the discovery of the gas-condensate field in 2000, the Ichthys road has been one of identifying and overcoming geographical, political, technical, physical, financial, and commercial challenges.
The Ichthys Project is a global effort, drawing on worldwide expertise to overcome these challenges and work towards first gas in late 2016.