The Northern Territory Government has given development consent for the multi-billion dollar Ichthys gas plant at Blaydin Point. This follows the announcement last week that the Ichthys Final Investment Decision is locked in.
An offer for a Crown Lease on the project site had been made. This will enable construction of the LNG onshore processing facility at the Blaydin Point site, provided the project meets the conditions set.
The Ichthys Project is the second-largest private investment in Australia’s history. At the peak of construction, a workforce of approximately 3,000 will be needed to build the onshore facilities, which include an LNG plant, a condensate plant, product loading jetties and a 300-megawatt power station.
During 2000 to 2001, three exploratory wells resulted in the discovery of an extremely promising gas and condensate field now known as the Ichthys Field.
The field was named after the classical Greek word for “fish”. Most likely resource estimates are 12.8 trillion cubic feet of gas and 527 million barrels of condensate to be produced over an operational life of more than 40 years.
INPEX is the Operator of the Project. Italy’s Saipem has been awarded new E&C Offshore contracts worth $1.8 billion which will be carried out by the newly-built Castorone pipelay vessel.
Gas from the Ichthys Field, in the Browse Basin, approximately 200 km offshore of WA, will undergo preliminary processing offshore to remove water and extract condensate. The gas will then be exported to onshore processing facilities in Darwin via an 889 km subsea pipeline.
NT residents could benefit as there are expected to be greater education opportunities with the new North Australian Centre for Oil and Gas at Charles Darwin University and the Larrakia Trade Training Centre.
Today’s Year 12 students, apprentices and trainees could be working as engineers, tradesmen and project managers when the gas plant begins operating at the end of 2016.
[Images courtesy INPEX.]