NT EPA charges INPEX with under-reporting emissions
Sydney (6 August)
The Northern Territory Environmental Protection Authority (NT EPA) has charged Japanese producer INPEX with breaking the terms of an environmental licence by under-reporting some emissions at its Ichthys LNG plant for five years.
NT EPA’s charges relate to the alleged under-reporting of benzene and toluene between 2019 and 2024, the agency said on 5 August. Ichthys LNG Pty Ltd needs to annually report total emissions to air in tonnes to the NT EPA, the agency added.
NT EPA will not comment further on its case against INPEX because of legal proceedings.
“INPEX acknowledges the summons filed by the [NT EPA] to Ichthys LNG Pty Ltd, and we take this matter very seriously,” INPEX Senior Vice President Corporate Bill Townsend told Lithos on 5 August. “[But] it is inappropriate for INPEX to comment further regarding legal matters,” Townsend added.
“The safety and wellbeing of our people, and the protection of the environment and community through safe operations, remain our highest priorities,” Townsend said.
INPEX generated 556.9 tonnes of benzene emissions and 569.8 tonnes of toluene emissions at Ichthys in the July 2023 – June 2024 fiscal year, the company said in late October 2025. But it initially reported 4.12 tonnes of benzene emissions and 5.05 tonnes of toluene emissions from the plant because of unintentional calculation errors, the company added.
“INPEX assures the community it has not intentionally misreported [its emissions],” the company said. It reported its calculation errors to the NT EPA at the time.
INPEX’s Ichthys LNG plant is also part of the Safeguard Mechanism – Australia’s excess carbon pricing scheme – because INPEX generates more than 100,000 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2-e) Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions at the site.
Under the Safeguard Mechanism, Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator (CER) sets tailored Scope 1 emissions limits for large industrial emitters each year. When producers’ emissions exceed their CER-imposed limits, they surrender tradable carbon credits to cover the excess emissions. But the CER also gives producers tradable carbon credits when their emissions drop below Safeguard Mechanism limits.
INPEX generated 6.26 million tonnes of CO2-e Scope 1 emissions at Ichthys in 2024-25, below the plant’s CER-imposed limit of 6.32 million tonnes of CO2-e emissions. CER has issued INPEX with 67,524 Safeguard Mechanism Credits (SMCs) because it stayed within its 2024-25 Safeguard Mechanism limit.
By Avinash Govind