Australia’s National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) informed that it found safety problems on Inpex’s offshore gas platform Ichthys LNG project off northern Australia. As a result the authority is considering enforcement action.
Namely, as Reuters reported, the problems regarded the suitability of electrical equipment in dangerous areas. The inspection has not concluded so NOPSEMA did not provide any further details.
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Enforcement steps that could be taken involve the issue of improvement notices, prohibition notices regarding a specific activity, as well as civil and criminal prosecutions for major breaches.
Due to these issues, Ichthys was not able to start operations during June, as it was planned. As a NOPSEMA spokeswoman told Reuters, Inpex delayed introducing hydrocarbons to the platform to address the said deficiencies.
An Inpex spokeswoman did not provide a comment on the specific issues, but said that the problems found do not pose major challenges.
Ichthys will provide the city of Darwin with gas, via an 890-km (550-mile) pipeline. Once at Darwin, the gas will be turned into LNG for export.