Japan’s Inpex has begun front-end engineering and design (FEED) work on the Abadi LNG project off the coast of Indonesia, the Japanese firm revealed in a press release on August 4.

The Abadi LNG project is located about 150 km east of the Tanimbar islands in the Masela block. The facility will boast a production capacity of 9.5mn tonnes per year (tpy). A final investment decision (FID) has yet to be taken, but Inpex is targeting FID in 2027. Drilling preparation is slated for 2026, and a target of 2030 has been set for the project to come online.

The FEED work is being divided into four packages, namely the onshore LNG plant (OLNG), floating production storage and offloading (FPSO), subsea umbilicals risers and flowlines (SURF), and a gas export pipeline (GEP). There will also be a carbon capture and storage component involved with FEED work on each stage.

Moreover, the FPSO and OLNG stages will utilize a dual FEED approach that will involve two separate contractor consortia in parallel to spur competitive tendering. The winning bidder will secure the engineering, procurement, and consortium (EPC) contract.

The first consortium will feature Technip Engineering Indonesia as the lead contractor, while the other consortium members include Technip Indonesia and JGC Indonesia.

The second consortium will see Saipem Indonesia serve as the lead contractor supported by McDermott Indonesia, Tripatra Engineering, and also Tripatra Engineers & Constructors.

Meanwhile, the GEP and SURF packages of the project will feature Worley SEA Indonesia as the lead contractor.

The commencement of FEED work marks a key step forward for a project that has battled with delays after Shell exited the project in June 2023 choosing to sell its 35% stake to Indonesian state-owned company Pertamina and Malaysia’s state-operated Petronas.

Another decision in 2023 to improve the green credentials of the project and add a carbon capture and storage (CCS) component further delayed timelines.

Inpex holds a 65% stake in the project, while Pertamina has a 20% interest and Petronas possesses a 15% stake.