Australia's Ichthys LNG project is experiencing delays and cost overruns that commentators have blamed on bottlenecks at Korean shipyards.

Earlier due online in 2016, the USD34 billion project has been rescheduled for the third quarter of 2017, Inpex Corporation announced on 11 September.

While expected to go 10% over its budget, Ichthys also now has a greater forecast capacity, up 6% to 8.9 MTPA.

Within days of Inpex's announcement, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported that the delays were partly due to bottlenecks at the South Korean shipyards building the project's offshore facilities.

To exploit oil and gas fields off Western Australia, the Ichthys LNG Project involves three megaprojects: offshore facilities, an onshore processing facility, and an 889 km pipeline uniting them.

AFR added that Shell, a rival to Inpex, had lobbied Samsung Heavy Industries to prioritise its USD12 billion Prelude floating LNG vessel, which like Ichthys is destined for the Browse Basin hydrocarbon resources.