Japan's biggest oil and gas explorer, Inpex Corp., is committed to plans to start up its huge Australian Ichthys LNG export plant in July to September of 2017, despite trouble over the completion of a power station.

The Ichthys project was dealt a blow in January as engineering firm CIMIC, involved in building the facility's power station, reported it was exiting the project. This led many to expect production delays.

"The contractor is saying the construction will be finished as scheduled," Masahiro Murayama, Inpex's senior managing executive officer, told reporters on Feb. 10 during a briefing on third-quarter 2016 earnings results.

"I'm not worried that this would cause a big change on the overall schedule," he said.