Mega LNG project owner Inpex dismayed by offshore gas challenges
afr.comThe local boss of Japanese gas giant Inpex says Australia’s deteriorating policy climate for gas threatens future investments to support the $US45 billion ($69.5 billion) Ichthys LNG project in Darwin.
Tetsu Murayama said the retrospective application of new rules to sanctioned gas projects was of great concern to Inpex’s leadership given the investments required to support the potentially 40-year future of Ichthys LNG, Japan’s biggest overseas investment.
Inpex is separately gearing up for a big increase in spending on renewables to advance Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target.
Inpex Australia president director Tetsu Murayama and Enel Green Power Australia CEO Werther Esposito in Sydney last week. Louie Douvis
He also called for “regulatory changes” to provide more clarity and certainty for offshore gas projects, pointing to the legal challenges that have overturned approvals for work at Santos’ $5.8 billion Barossa gas project in the Timor Sea, and Woodside Energy’s $16.5 billion Scarborough venture in Western Australia.
“Most recently, the environment project approvals is a significant issue for our industry,” Mr Murayama said in a joint interview with Werther Esposito, the head of the Australian renewables subsidiary of Italian power giant Enel, in which Inpex has invested to launch its green energy ambitions in Australia.
Inpex aims to develop the Cash-Maple gas field in the Timor Sea which it acquired jointly with Ichthys partner TotalEnergies, in a deal in August to supply replacement gas to Ichthys LNG when its existing supplies run down.
The field, targeted to start production in the mid-2030s, would be captured by the new safeguard mechanism rules requiring net-zero emissions for new gas supply projects
Read more on afr.com
