SINGAPORE, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Japanese energy explorer Inpex Corp 1605.T has offered spot cargoes from its giant Ichthys project in northwestern Australia, in a sign that it may be ramping up production, two industry sources said on Friday.
The company, which is a majority shareholder and lead operator of the project, is looking to sell four cargoes from Ichthys over the second half of October through November, they added.
It was not immediately clear if the cargoes had been sold.
An Inpex spokesman in Tokyo said on Tuesday that production had been going smoothly and that shipments of LNG and liquefied petroleum gas were set to begin, but he declined to comment on commercial matters including the schedule for shipments.
Inpex was due to load its first LNG cargo from the long-delayed Ichthys project this week after earlier selling its first condensate cargoes, sources have said. LNG vessel Pacific Breeze was anchored at the Ichthys LNG terminal near Darwin as of Friday, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.
Ichthys has seen multiple delays and cost overruns of billions of dollars due to technical difficulties. It was originally slated to start in 2016.
At full operation, Ichthys is expected to produce 8.9 million tonnes of LNG a year, along with about 1.7 million tonnes of LPG and about 100,000 barrels per day of condensate, an ultra-light form of crude oil.
Inpex holds 62.245 percent of Ichthys and France's Total TOTF.PA has 30 percent, with the rest spread among Taiwan's CPC Corp MOEATA.UL and Japanese utilities Tokyo Gas 9531.T , Osaka Gas 9532.T , Kansai Electric 9503.T , JERA Corp and Toho Gas 9533.T .