Australia is a major player in the international LNG market and the Northern Territory (NT) has been building its capacity to become a recognised global oil and gas hub.

The NT now supports four LNG trains including two at INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG project, where Ventia, through a joint-venture called TRACE, provide maintenance services at the world-leading facility in Darwin.

Providing local employment

As part of the ongoing contract we provide some of the strongest employment and development opportunities for residents in the local region.

The contract is operated by 220 locally employed people, 16% of whom are local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people.

We are also the Northern Territory's highest employer of apprentices with 21 people currently undertaking Mechanical and Electrical apprenticeships.

The commitment and effort of our people to support apprentices has been recently recognised, with TRACE selected as a finalist for the Resources Supply and Service Award in the 2020 Northern Territory Export and Industry Awards.

This award acknowledged our teams' outstanding achievement and resilience in diversifying our apprentice training program and engaging local businesses to identify placements for apprentices that were temporarily impacted by business changes as a result of COVID-19.

In collaboration with local businesses Winnellie Hydraulics, Callidus and Combined Electrical we secured placements for each apprentice and set up a rotation program. The external rotations provided apprentices with valuable hands-on experience and industry exposure, while also providing extra resourcing to local partners.

Eddie Clarke is one of our apprentices who was outplaced with Winnellie Hydraulics and is pursuing a Certificate III in Mechanical Engineering at Charles Darwin University while he works for TRACE.

I am grateful that TRACE is so supportive of me as I complete my studies and the opportunity to be outplaced with another local company to learn new skills was a benefit in disguise during COVID. 

In 2019 Eddie spoke about his career and the positive aspects of working at Ichthys LNG project at a Facing North resources event at Parliament House in Canberra. TRACE was an ambassador at this event, highlighting the importance of the energy sector in the Territory and its economic contribution to the nation. The event was a joint initiative between INPEX, Santos, Origin Energy and ConocoPhillips to showcase jobs, exploration, innovation and sustainability of oil and gas projects in the Northern Territory.

In 2020, Eddie was also awarded the Group Training Northern Territory (NT's largest non-profit employment provider) Outstanding Second Year Apprentice and 2020 Broadspectrum Apprentice of the Year awards.

^{Pictured above: Second-year Mechanical Fitter Apprentice Eddie Clarke was outplaced with Winnellie Hydraulics in 2020.} 

Lindsay Gerrard is another one of our employees recognised by INPEX for her outstanding efforts.

On International Women's Day in 2020, Instrument Electrician Lindsay, received the Community Commitment Award for her contribution to the INPEX Mentoring Project with Amity Community Services, a program that provides mentoring and support for Indigenous youth engagement.

Lindsay's commitment to the community also extended to her attending events at the Palmerston Girls Academy where she talked to students about her current role, career pathways and the way she manages challenges and opportunities.