Japanese oil company Inpex has released timelapse footage of its latest gigantic floating central processing facility.
The mammoth structure, currently under-construction in South Korea, will be key to the operator’s Ichthys project 220km off Western Australia.
At the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard last week the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs the Hon. Julie Bishop MP officially named the central processing facility (CPF) “Ichthys Explorer”.
The hydrocarbon discovery is the largest in the region in 40 years, according to Inpex.
The company website describes Ichthys LNG Project as effectively three mega-projects rolled into one, involving some of the largest offshore facilities in the industry.
It involves a brand new onshore processing facility and an 890 km pipeline.
The field has an estimated operational life of at least 40 years.
INPEX President & CEO Toshiaki Kitamura said Ichthys was one of the largest conventional offshore gas development projects in the world.
He said: “Our Project’s two gigantic floating facilities will be located in the Ichthys Gas- condensate Field, located about 220 kilometres offshore Western Australia, for 40 years of continuous operation, setting new benchmarks for durability.
At 130 metres by 120 metres, the “Ichthys Explorer” is the world’s largest semi- submersible platform.
It will receive well fluids from an intricate subsea gas gathering system, located at a water depth of approximately 250 metres, within the Ichthys gas-condensate Field.
Most liquids will be transferred from the Ichthys Explorer to the 336 metre-long “Ichthys Venturer” for offshore processing and condensate offloading.
Linking the massive “Ichthys Explorer” to the onshore production facilities is the longest subsea pipeline in the Southern Hemisphere, 42 inches in diameter and 890 kilometres in length.