Inpex chooses Darwin

On Friday 26 September the Northern Territory Government announced that Darwin has been chosen as the onshore site for the INPEX gas plant, worth more than $US20 billion ($A23B).

Inpex President Mr Naoki Kuroda made the announcement with Chief Minister Paul Henderson and Federal Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, in Darwin.

INPEX must first go through a rigorous environmental assessment. The company must submit an Environmental Impact Statement, which will be available for public comment for eight weeks.

If the project meets the tough environmental criteria, construction of the gas plant could begin in 2010, and the first exports would start in late 2014 or early 2015.

Inpex will be the largest single private sector investment in Australia’s history, securing the Territory’s economic future for decades to come and providing thousands of jobs for Territorians - up to 2000 jobs in the construction phase and about 300 jobs when the gas plant gets up and running.

For more information on the INPEX project visit: www.nt.gov.au/dcm/inpex.