(April 13): Japan’s Inpex Corp will make two additional cargoes of natural gas condensate — used to produce refined fuels such as gasoline — from its Australian liquefied natural gas export project available to domestic refiners as the country grapples with fuel shortages.
A cargo of about 630,000 barrels, or roughly 100 million litres, is set to leave the Ichthys offshore facility in late April for delivery to a refinery on Australia’s east coast in May, the company said Monday. The condensate is a by-product of the LNG that’s exported from the plant.
The Japan-backed producer also plans to offer a second cargo of similar size to domestic buyers in coming months, subject to commercial terms and refinery demand. The volumes will be preferentially marketed to Australian refiners.
While Australia is one of the world’s largest fossil fuel exporters, it relies heavily on imports of refined products such as gasoline, diesel and kerosene for its transport, mining, defence, agriculture and aviation sectors. In 2025, more than 80% of refined fuel consumed in Australia was imported, mostly from Asia.
Inpex said it has delivered 30 condensate cargoes to Australian customers since Ichthys started in 2019.
Inpex operates and owns 67.82% of Ichthys, which can produce more than 100,000 barrels a day of condensate. TotalEnergies SE has 26%, and the rest is owned by units of Japan’s Osaka Gas Co, Kansai Electric Power Co, Jera Co, Toho Gas Co and Taiwan’s CPC Corp.
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