The Ichthys project also sent 11 plant condensate cargoes, 16 offshore condensate cargoes, and 17 LPG cargoes during the first half of this year, Inpex said on Friday in its financial report.
This compares to 12 plant condensate cargoes, 16 offshore condensate cargoes, and 17 LPG cargoes during the first half of 2024.
Inpex also provided shipment data for July. The Ichthys project sent 12 LNG cargoes, three plant condensate cargoes, three offshore condensate cargoes, and four LPG cargoes during the last month.
During the first quarter of this year, the LNG plant shipped 30 LNG cargoes, four fewer than in the same period in 2024.
According to Inpex, the number of cargoes shipped (35 cargoes) during April to June reached a record high.
Replacing heat exchangers
Inpex also noted that maintenance turnaround of approximately 6 weeks is scheduled between August and October, as initially planned.
A spokesman for Inpex told LNG Prime that Inpex still expects Ichthys LNG to ship “around the same number of cargoes as last year – 116 cargoes – despite the scheduled shutdown maintenance.”
During the maintenance shutdown, Inpex will replace six heat exchangers at the Ichthys LNG facility.
Ichthys LNG Train 2 was taken offline in August last year due to a heat exchanger issue. It was then returned to service on October 9 after repairs were completed.
In September 2024, Inpex announced it had decided to reduce Train 1’s rate of operations to about 70 percent to carry out inspections, as the unit is using the same equipment as Train 2.
“As for the extent of the replacement of heat exchangers, it has been decided to replace all the heat exchangers that caused temporary production issues in the de-methanization process of Ichthys LNG Trains 1 and 2 last year,” the spokesman said.
August 18 – October 8
Data posted on the Inpex Australia website shows that the maintenance scope includes both Ichthys LNG trains.
Inpex plans to start maintenance on August 18 and complete it on October 8.
In addition, the scope also includes Ichthys Explorer CPF and Ichthys Venturer FPSO.
Inpex aims to begin maintenance on the CPF on August 19 and the FPSO on August 23.
Maintenance work on both facilities is expected to be completed on September 29.
Ichthys LNG is a joint venture between operator Inpex and major partner TotalEnergies.
Last year, Inpex also purchased a small stake in Ichthys LNG from compatriot Tokyo Gas to boost its stake from 66.245 percent to 67.82 percent.
Besides TotalEnergies, other partners in the Ichthys project include Australian units of CPC, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power, Jera, and Toho Gas.
Natural gas arrives to the LNG plant at Bladin Point, near Darwin, from the giant Ichthys field offshore Western Australia via an 890-kilometer-long export pipeline.
