Japanese oil and gas explorer Inpex, via its Australian subsidiaries, will acquire an additional 0.735% participating interest in the Ichthys LNG project from JERA, increasing its total holding to 68.555%.
The Ichthys field lies roughly 220km off the coast of Western Australia (WA) and around 820km south-west of Darwin. Inpex discovered the Ichthys field in the Browse Basin in 2000.
It spans roughly 800km², with average water depths of around 250m.
The agreement follows JERA’s earlier decision, announced in December 2025, to sell its entire 0.735% stake in the project to MidOcean Energy, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company backed by US-based private equity group EIG.
Inpex exercised its pre-emptive rights under the joint operating agreements and shareholders’ pact, thereby blocking the sale to MidOcean and opting to acquire the stake itself.
JERA confirmed it will transfer its entire interest in the Ichthys LNG venture to Inpex.
The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Completion is subject to certain conditions including approvals from Australian Government regulatory agencies.
The additional interest includes assets in Blocks WA-50-L and WA-51-L, including the Ichthys gas-condensate field, and shares in Ichthys LNG.
Ichthys LNG owns the gas export pipeline and liquefaction facilities, liquefies natural gas and carries out LNG marketing and related activities.
Inpex said the purchase aligns with the targets and pathways in its Vision 2035 initiative, formulated in February 2025, and would contribute to energy security in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.
It also said it would lead efforts to maintain stable project operations with joint-venture participants, local communities and the Australian federal, Northern Territory and WA governments.
Inpex group companies operate Ichthys with a 67.82% stake, followed by TotalEnergies at 26%. Other partners are Australian subsidiaries of CPC Corporation Taiwan (2.625%), Osaka Gas (1.2%), Kansai Electric Power (1.2%), JERA (0.735%) and Toho Gas (0.42%).
The final investment decision for Ichthys LNG was finalised in 2012 and production began in July 2018.
The development spans subsea, offshore, pipeline and onshore stages, transporting gas and condensate from the Ichthys field to processing facilities near Darwin via an 890km pipeline.
It has the capacity to produce up to 9.3 million tonnes (mt) of LNG and 1.65mt of liquefied petroleum gas annually, plus more than 100,000 barrels of condensate a day at peak.
In March 2026, MidOcean Energy signed definitive agreements with JERA to acquire an additional 0.417% interest in the Gorgon LNG project offshore WA.
