Japan's Inpex Corp and joint-venture partner Total SA of France said Friday they would invest 34 billion US dollars in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Australia's far-north city of Darwin.
The Ichthys project will produce 8.4 million tons of LNG, mostly for export to Japan.
“Ichthys production volumes represent more than 10 per cent of Japan's LNG imports at current levels,” Inpex chairman Naoki Kuroda said when making the announcement in Darwin.
The gas comes from the Browse Basis off Australia's west coast and will be piped 889 kilometres to the onshore processing plant in Darwin, the Northern Territory capital.
Inpex has 72 per cent of the project with Total holding 24 per cent. Production is scheduled to begin before the end of 2016.
Inpex originally wanted to build the plant on Western Australia's Maret Islands, north of Broome, which are much closer to the gas field, but scratched their plans owing to opposition from environmentalists.
Ichthys is one of 200-billion-US-dollars' worth of LNG developments planned for Australia, which has hopes of becoming the world's leading LNG supplier, a position now held by Dubai. - Sid Astbury