INPEX CORPORATION is one of Japan's largest oil and gas exploration and production companies and the first Japanese company to operate a large-scale liquefied natural gas project. Its head office is at Akasaka Biz Tower, 5-3-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, the present company was established on 3 April 2006 with capital of 290.8 billion yen, and its shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The business employs 889 people at the parent company and 3,720 across the group.
Ichthys LNG, the flagship asset
The Ichthys LNG project in the Timor Sea off north-western Australia is operated by INPEX group companies, which hold a 67.82% participating interest, alongside TotalEnergies with 26%, CPC Corporation Taiwan with 2.625%, Kansai Electric Power and Osaka Gas with 1.2% each, JERA with 0.735% and Toho Gas with 0.42%. The gas field lies about 220 kilometres offshore Western Australia and 820 kilometres south-west of Darwin, and the onshore plant at Bladin Point has two liquefaction trains with combined capacity of 8.9 million tonnes of LNG a year, together with 1.65 million tonnes a year of LPG and condensate capacity of up to 100,000 barrels a day. The project took final investment decision in 2012, started offshore production in July 2018 and shipped its first LNG cargo that October.
On 25 September 2026 INPEX agreed with JERA to acquire its 0.735% interest, exercising pre-emption rights in the joint venture and lifting the group's participation to 68.555%. Completion depends on conditions including approval by Australian regulatory agencies; the stake would otherwise have transferred to MidOcean Energy.
Abu Dhabi and the wider portfolio
The Middle East is the second pillar of the upstream business. INPEX acquired a 5% interest in the Abu Dhabi Onshore Concession in April 2015 under a 40-year agreement effective from 1 January 2015, covering 11 onshore fields with combined production capacity of about two million barrels a day. In 2018 it was awarded 10% of the Lower Zakum offshore concession, extended its 40% interest in Satah and raised its stake in Umm Al Dalkh from 12% to 40%, and in 2019 it took an onshore exploration concession.
Beyond Australia and Abu Dhabi the project list includes the Abadi LNG development in Indonesia, the Tangguh LNG project in the Berau block, the Ruby gas field in the Sebuku block off East Kalimantan, blocks 05-1b and 05-1c in Vietnam, the Bayu-Undan and Darwin LNG projects, a stake in the Prelude floating LNG project and the Ravensworth and Griffin oil fields in Australia, and interests in Norway such as Snorre and in Azerbaijan's Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
The Japanese gas and iodine businesses
At home, INPEX produces and markets natural gas, operates pipelines and offers transit supply services, and runs the Naoetsu LNG terminal, the Naoe'tsu oil terminal with its service station network, an iodine business and a renewable diesel business. The Minami-Nagaoka gas field in Niigata Prefecture is among its domestic producing assets. The company also runs renewable energy operations in Australia through Potentia Energy, covering wind, solar and battery storage.
Hydrogen, ammonia and carbon capture
INPEX is developing lower-carbon businesses alongside its upstream portfolio. In August 2026 it began injecting CO2 into a depleted gas field at its Kashiwazaki Hydrogen Park in Niigata Prefecture as part of an integrated blue hydrogen and ammonia demonstration, and in July 2026 the Metropolitan Area CCS project started drilling an appraisal well off Kujukuri in Chiba Prefecture. The project list also covers the Bonaparte CCS project in Australia and the Nagaoka methanation demonstration. At Abadi LNG, front-end engineering design for the subsea production system and gas export pipeline was completed in the first half of 2026 and engineering, procurement and construction tendering for those packages, the floating production unit and the onshore LNG plant began in July 2026.
Results, ownership and strategy
INPEX reported consolidated results for the six months ended 30 June 2026 on 7 August 2026. Attributable profit rose 18% to 263.1 billion yen, earnings per share reached 226.14 yen, and revenue was slightly lower than a year earlier. The interim dividend was raised to 56.00 yen a share from 50.00 yen, with a matching 56.00 yen year-end forecast for an annual total of 112.00 yen against 100.00 yen in the previous year; payment began on 1 September 2026. The company also revised its full-year forecasts, opened a new research and development centre in August 2026 and passed a treasury share purchase resolution that it expanded in September 2026.
The Japanese government is the anchor shareholder: the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry holds roughly 23% of the shares and a single Class A share, which carries special rights over certain major corporate decisions. INPEX describes its framework as INPEX Vision 2035, combining continued investment in oil and gas with hydrogen, ammonia, carbon capture and renewable energy. General enquiries, investor questions and procurement contacts are handled through web forms rather than a published e-mail address.