The national petroleum industry regulator has responded to media reports that Inpex’s Icthys LNG operation is unsafe, saying it gave the all clear for gas to flow at the $US45 billion ($62 billion) facility.
The national petroleum industry regulator has responded to media reports that Inpex’s Icthys LNG operation is unsafe, saying it gave the all clear for gas to flow at the $US45 billion facility ($62 billion) facility.
It comes after a media report earlier today suggesting that Ichthys was at risk of a “deadly gas explosion” on its platform or vessel offshore, with an electrical audit by consultancy Kentech finding more than half of the fittings in a sample survey did not pass inspection.
First gas was exported from the operation’s Darwin LNG terminal in October, after multiple delays and cost blow-outs, after fluids were piped from the platform and vessel moored in Western Australia’s Browse Basin.
The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority said it had undertaken inspections prior to gas pumping getting under way.
“Prior to Inpex introducing hydrocarbons from wells to their Ichyths facilities, Nopsema undertook inspections of electrical equipment for hazardous areas on board the Inpex Explorer and the Inpex Venturer throughout June and July 2018,” a spokesperson said.
“Nopsema conducted follow-up inspections in September 2018, and is undertaking a further inspection this month, including a review of any third party audits.
“Activity would not be permitted to commence or continue if Nopsema is not satisfied that Inpex has appropriate risk mitigation measures established for the introduction and management of hydrocarbons for both facilities.
“As an inspection is ongoing it would not be appropriate for Nopsema to provide additional detail at this time.”
Updated
Inpex issued a statement on Friday evening saying it was confident all of its facilities were safe to operate.
"They are state-of-the-art and have been designed from the beginning with safety as the priority," it stated.
Inpex said a significant amount of work went into ensuring its facilities could be started up and operate safely, including:
- Preparation of a comprehensive risk based Safety Case for each facility
- A comprehensive internal Verification of Readiness process
- Use of a well-respected independent verification body to cover all aspects of our facilities (Design, Construction, Commissioning and Operation)
"We have continuing rigorous programs to maintain the integrity of equipment on our offshore facilities, including electrical equipment," Inpex added.
"The site based audits were conducted by Kentech in the third quarter of 2018, one of several independent assessments we undertook last year.
"The referenced audit report was an early draft and many of the comments referred to were inaccurate, taken out of context, and are no longer valid.
"The majority of the findings were not related to actual ignition risk and related to matters such as documentation or technical details.
"Any valid findings identified were immediately rectified. This is normal practice and industry standard for managing electrical equipment in hazardous areas.
"We are very confident in the integrity management of our facilities. Production is ramping up and we are very pleased with the performance of our facilities."
Kentech issued the following statement on Sat 12 January in response to the original media report.
"INPEX requested site-based audits by Kentech during 2018," the statement said.
"The site-based audits conducted by Kentech were one of several independent assessments INPEX commissioned last year.
"Audits such as these are standard industry practice designed to ensure the integrity and safety of equipment and operations in potentially hazardous areas.
"The audit statements referenced by The West Australian on 11th January 2019 appears to be from an early draft which was being developed as the audits were being conducted and does not reflect the statements of the final report.
"Kentech provided an audit snapshot at a set point in time and we understand that INPEX have on an ongoing basis continued to action the rectification of valid findings identified in our final report."
