PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Energy major Inpex Corporation has warned of a 10% cost blow-out and delayed start at the A$10-billion Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, offshore Western Australia.

Inpex has pushed back the expected start date of the Ichthys project from December 2016 to the third quarter of 2017, as the company worked to increase the anticipated production capacity from the originally planned 8.4-million tonnes a year to 8.9-million tonnes a year.

The increased production capacity was based on a recent technical evaluation of the latest technological information pertaining to the entire LNG production system, the company said.

In addition, the updated schedule also reflected the expectations of a shortened timeframe between the start of production and the point where stable production was reached.

Inpex noted that the revised production start-up and the increased capacity would result in a 10% increase in investment costs.

The Ichthys project was some 74% completed by June.

“The Ichthys LNG project is a world-class project with an expected operational life of at least 40 years. All the LNG initially planned to be produced from the project has been sold. Of this, about 70% of the LNG is set to be supplied to Japan and this is expected to further contribute to the long-term, stable supply of energy to the country and improve Japan’s energy procurement risk management,” said Inpex president and CEO Toshiaki Kitamura.

The Ichthys project would lift LNG from offshore Western Australia, which would then be transported to an onshore plant in the Northern Territory to produce some 8.9-million tonnes of LNG and 1.6-million tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas a year, along with some 100 000 barrels of condensate a day.

The project is jointly owned by Inpex, Total, CPC Corporation Taiwan, Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric, Chubu Electric Power and Toho Gas.