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TOKYO, April 28 (Reuters) - Japan's biggest oil and gas explorer Inpex Corp 1605.T said on Friday it would delay the start up of its Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Australia by several months at least from its original target of the third quarter this year.
The company cited delays in the installation of offshore production facilities for the hold up.
Inpex said the production of LNG, condensate and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the project would begin by the end of March 31, 2018.
An Inpex spokesman attributed the move to a delay in offshore manufacturing facilities.
The central processing facility (CPF) was scheduled to be shipped from South Korea by the end of last year, but it has finally sailed away from Geoje, South Korea to the Ichthys field offshore Western Australia this week, a company spokesman said.
The project's floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility, which was also scheduled to sail away from South Korea by the end of last year, has not been shipped yet, pending commissioning work, the spokesman added.
One of the project's partners, Total TOTF.PA already indicated there could be a delay earlier this month, saying the project would start shipping ultra-light crude known as condensate by end-2017 and LNG shipments next year.