Perth’s Resources Technology Showcase: INPEX boss Hitoshi Okawa to take delegates on tour of Ichthys

The head of the Australian operations of Japanese energy giant INPEX is poised to give an unprecedented look inside the giant Ichthys LNG project — one of the most technically complicated projects undertaken anywhere in the world.

INPEX president director Australia Hitoshi Okawa will use his keynote address at this week’s Resources Technology Showcase 2019 to detail the technological breakthroughs behind the development off the Kimberley coast.

Mr Okawa’s address on Thursday will trace the Ichthys LNG’s journey from being the subject of a drilling program 21 years ago to last October’s first shipment of LNG.

The Ichthys field, which is part of the Browse Basin and a relative stone’s throw from Shell’s giant Prelude floating LNG platform, is connected to a processing plant in Darwin via an 890km subsea pipeline.

MORE RTS2019

• Everything to see and do at the free Resources Technology Showcase exhibition
• At 5.5m tall and 118 tonnes, Caterpillar haulpak a mighty site at Elizabeth Quay
• Free public seminars to explain how we’re unlocking our high-tech future, today

The field turned out to be one of the richest finds of the past quarter of a century.

The development represents the biggest foreign investment ever by a Japanese company.

Mr Okawa will shine a light on the Ichthys Explorer central processing facility, which is the biggest semi-submersible platform in the world.

The Ichthys Venturer, at more than three times the length of a soccer pitch, is one of the world’s longest floating, production, storage and offloading facilities.

Speaking to WestBusiness ahead of his address, Mr Okawa said the project involved a number of industry firsts — including being the biggest semi-submersible production platform in the world and the longest subsea pipeline in the southern hemisphere.

“The platform is even equipped with a radar which provides a weather data feed to the Bureau of Meteorology to help with cyclone tracking,” he said.

“In constructing Ichthys LNG, more than 400 million work hours were invested by more than 50,000 people working at locations across the globe.”

Mr Okawa is one of several high-ranking resources executives taking part in Resources Technology Showcase 2019 .

The conference starts at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre tomorrow.

Mr Okawa will also take part in an LNG panel session with fellow oil and gas heavyweights, Woodside Energy chief executive Peter Coleman, Shell Australia chairwoman Zoe Yujnovich and Chevron Australia managing director Al Williams.

For more information about Mr Okawa’s keynote and panel appearance, and the full conference agenda, visit rtsperth.com.