TOKYO, Jan 18 Reuters Inpex Corp, Japan39;s top oil and gas explorer, is set to accelerate development of its 20 billion Abadi Indonesian liquefied natural gas LNG project, with the aim of starting operations as soon as late this decade, its CEO said on Thursday.

The launch timing would be slightly ahead of its previous target to make a final investment decision in the latter half of this decade and start production in the early 2030s.

The Indonesian government has expressed a very strong hope for accelerating the project, Inpex CEO Takayuki Ueda told Reuters in an interview.

Inpex, which owns a 65 stake in the project, could start the frontend engineering design FEED at the end of this year or the beginning of next, Ueda said.

From there it will be 2 years plus 4 years for engineering, procurement and construction EPC, he said, adding that production could start in the late 2020s or early 2030s.

Nothing has been finalised … but we want to do this on an accelerated schedule as much as possible, he said.

Abadi LNG, led by Inpex, will use gas from the Masela block to produce 9.5 million metric tons per year of LNG at its peak, which will be shipped from the proposed terminal for domestic industry and overseas customers.

The project has faced years of delay after various changes in planning, and more recently, Shell39;s withdrawal. Last year, Indonesia39;s Pertamina PERTM.UL and Malaysia39;s Petronas became Inpex39;s new partners after taking over Shell39;s 35…