National

Gas giant charged with under-reporting toxic emissions

By Lloyd Jones

Aug 5, 2026

The Inpex Ichthys facility. — Gas giant Inpex has been charged with under-reporting toxic emissions at its Darwin plant. -AAP Image

Japanese gas giant Inpex has been charged by an environmental regulator for under-reporting toxic emissions released only kilometres from residential areas.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

The Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority is prosecuting after Inpex told the regulator in Occtober 2025 it significantly under-reported levels of emissions from its Ichthys facility near Darwin.

"The charges relate to failure to comply with a condition of the licence by under-reporting benzene and toluene emissions between 2019 and 2024," the authority said in a statement on Wednesday.

The gas facility is visible from the NT capital across Darwin Harbour.

Under an environmental protection licence granted in 2017, Ichthys LNG is required to annually report total tonnes of air emissions to the regulator.

Following the under-reporting, the regulator recommended changes to the licences of Inpex and fellow gas giant Santos.

Environment Centre NT senior climate campaigner Bree Ahrens said the regulator had done the right thing by the Darwin community in standing up to the gas industry.

"This is a massive win for Darwin residents who have been exposed to toxic pollution from the gas industry for far too long," she said in a statement.

"Finally, we see Inpex being held accountable for massively under-reporting the amount of toxic pollution it's pumping into Darwin's air."

Inpex has been contacted for comment.