Hogan Lovells has been advising JKC Australia LNG (a joint venture between Japan’s JGC Corporation, Houston-based KBR and Japan’s Chiyoda Corporation) in relation to the US$34 billion Ichthys LNG Project in Australia. JKC signed a contract with INPEX earlier this year for the engineering, procurement and construction of the onshore LNG facilities, to be built near Darwin in Australia.
The Ichthys LNG Project is a joint venture between INPEX (76%, the operator) and TOTAL (24%). Gas from the Ichthys Field, in the Browse Basin approximately 200 kilometres offshore of Western Australia, will undergo preliminary processing offshore to remove water and extract condensate. The gas will then be exported to onshore processing facilities in Darwin via an 889km subsea pipeline. The Ichthys LNG Project is expected to produce 8.4 million tonnes of LNG and 1.6 million tonnes of LPG per annum, along with approximately 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak.
Since the main EPC contract was signed in February this year, the Hogan Lovells team has continued to advise JKC in connection with its ongoing subcontract negotiations. Eight major EPC subcontracts have been awarded so far, including:
- Combined cycle power plant – CH2M Hill/UGL and GE
- Cryogenic tanks – Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Laing O’Rourke
- Site development civil works – Macmahon and John Holland
- Accommodation village – Laing O’Rourke
- Product jetty – BAM Clough
- Module offloading facility – BAM Clough
- Temporary telecommunications – Kentz
- Temporary site facilities – Leighton Construction
The Hogan Lovells team includes lawyers from London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.
It has been led by London-based Infrastructure and project finance partner Scott Tindall with support from Craig Brook, a senior associate in the firm’s Singapore office. The core team also included project, engineering and construction partner Tim Hill (Hong Kong), Of Counsel Julien Reidy (Singapore), senior associates Chris Healy (London) and Rachel Guan (Hong Kong) and associate Julien Berenholtz (Tokyo).
Speaking today, Scott Tindall commented:
“The Ichthys LNG Project is one of the largest projects the world has ever seen, with a value of US$34 billion. The sheer size and importance of the deal has made it a uniquely challenging, but uniquely rewarding experience, since the very beginning. The fact that so much progress has been made in such a short period of time is testament to the huge experience and expertise of those involved, especially our clients – JGC Corporation, KBR and Chiyoda Corporation. The project is yet another example of the fantastic, cutting edge work which Hogan Lovells is doing for our clients in the energy sector throughout the world. Completing deals like this one is only possible because of the abundance of talent that we have at the firm.”
Crispin Rapinet, Regional Managing Partner for Asia and the Middle East, added:
“Our infrastructure, energy and resources practice in the Asia region continues to be a strength on which we are keen to build. This flagship project has been a great opportunity for us to demonstrate the depth and quality of a team that is able to cover the needs of our clients right across the region.”
The team continues to advise JKC in connection with the project.
