Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
MELBOURNE, July 12 -- Japanese company Inpex plans to raise as much as $7.5 billion (Aus.) through a global share offering to finance its planned 8.4 million tonne/year Ichthys LNG project off Western Australia and in Darwin.
The company will issue 1.2 million shares to raise the funds and will issue a further 84,000 shares if demand is strong.
The offer price will be set between July 26-28.
Inpex expects to spend ¥4 trillion during 2010-17 on three overseas projects: Ichthys LNG, Abadi LNG in the Timor Sea off Indonesia, and Kashagan oil field in Kazackhstan.
For the $22.7 billion (Aus.) Ichthys development, a final investment is expected during fourth-quarter 2011.
The development plan includes a floating processing platform capable of stripping 100,000 b/d of condensate from the gas stream and sending the dry gas through an 850-km subsea pipeline to an onshore LNG plant at Blaydin Point in Darwin.
The plant will initially comprise two trains capable of producing 8.4 million tpy of LNG as well as 1.6 million tpy of LPG. It will come on stream in 2015.
The draft environmental impact statement for Ichthys is expected to be released by the end of July and will be open for public comment for 8 weeks.