Ichthys: LNG future northwest Australia
Ichthys is one of the most complex, LNG projects that has the capability to produce
8.9 million metric tons of liquified natural gas every year. Ichthys is a gas field located
offshore Australia operated by a consortium that includes INPEX (660245%), Total Energies
(26%), Japanese Gas Buyers (5.13%), and CPC (2.625%) (Total Energies, n.d.). The project
engineering is so fascinating, it is made up of deep offshore production facilities where the
produced gas from all wells meets, and undergoes initial processing, the gas is separated
from water and other petroleum condensates, these are then transported to shore by
shutter tankers, while the processed gas is transported via a subsea pipeline. Onshore, the
gas goes to two liquification trains, a train is a series of completed and accurately design
facilities that give at the end of the line a liquid gas at near ambient pressure and – 162
degrees Celsius. The train includes stations to clean the gas from any water droplets left, and
then separating the gas molecules based on composition, where ethane and higher
hydrocarbon molecules are then directed to another processing unit while the methane gas
goes on to next cryo-genic facility. Methane’s boiling point is -162 degrees Celsius at 14.7
psi, so the aim at the next station after all impurities have been removed is to
decrease its temperature. The liquification facilities make use of the removed gases to
use as cooling gas, and the liquid nitrogen is used to further cool down methane
until it liquifies. The liquified gas is then uploaded to transportation tanker that are
built specifically for LNG and are shipped to the designated importer’s ports.
The project being a “Giga-project” had an initial cost of 34 billion USD, but
the cost later increased to 37 billion USD after an alleged faut in one of the unit’s
“turret” according to Claude Cahuzac, Ichthys LNG project Offshore director (Kang,
2017). The project is one of the biggest in the world and is part of Australia’s plan to
conquer the world’s LNG business.
References
Kang, C. (2017, July 7). Investors are worried there’s a multibillion-dollar crack in one of the
world’s largest LNG projects. Retrieved from CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/07/inpex-ichthys-lng-project-investors-areworried-theres-a-multibillion-dollar-crack.html
Total Energies. (n.d.). Ichthys: a bold LNG project off the coast of Australia. Retrieved from
TotalEnergies: https://totalenergies.com/energy-expertise/projects/oilgas/lng/ichthys-a-bold-lng-project-off-the-coast-of-australia