Drilling under way at Ichthys

Development drilling has commenced at the Inpex-operated Ichthys gas-condensate field, marking another milestone in the US$34 billion project.

The drilling is located about 200 kilometres off the Kimberley coast in the Browse basin.

In a statement today, the company said drilling commenced using a rig that recently arrived at the field after undergoing upgrades in Singapore.

It will be later joined by a semi-submersible drilling rig.

Inpex said both rigs would be supported with aviation and marine services, as well as bulk goods supplies, from its offshore logistics base in Broome.

The LNG project’s managing director, Louis Bon, said the safe start to the drilling campaign was another major milestone for the project.

“Today we officially mark the beginning of our drilling program after years of intensive optimisation studies and detailed planning,” Mr Bon said.

“This campaign will target the Brewster reservoir with 20 production wells. The wells will be drilled into reservoirs about 4,000 to 4,500 metres beneath the seabed.”

The company said the next Ichthys LNG project milestone will be the start of the deepwater pipe lay for the 889 kilometre-long pipeline, linking the gas fields with the gas liquefaction plant in Darwin.

It is scheduled to commence in the coming weeks.