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Inpex decision could be made in days


10:41 AEDT Wed Jan 11 2012







A decision on whether a huge gas deal will go ahead in Darwin could be made within days.

A final investment decision on the $US32.5 billion Ichthys gas project, previously described as a "game changer" for Darwin by federal resources minister Martin Ferguson, is due to be made this month.

The NT News reported on Wednesday that the green light will be given to the project on Friday by Japanese firm Inpex and its joint venture partner, French energy company Total.

When the newspaper made claims in November that a final investment decision was imminent then, it was met with strong denials from Inpex.

But quizzed on whether the latest claims were accurate an Inpex spokeswoman said only that she could not confirm the story and a final decision was still due to be made "mid-January".

On Tuesday it was announced that Taiwan's CPC Corporation and Japanese companies Chubu Electric Power and Toho Gas were the latest to sign offtake agreements for gas from Ichthys.

Last month, liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales and purchase agreements totalling 4.0 million tonnes per annum of Ichthys gas were signed.

The Ichthys project will boost Australia's LNG export capacity to more than 80 million tonnes a year and has the potential to make Australia the world's largest LNG exporter.

The Ichthys gas field is offshore from Western Australia, but gas from the project will be processed in Darwin, involving the construction of one of the world's longest subsea