Jan 12 (Reuters) - Japan's top oil and gas explorer Inpex Corp said on Thursday it has agreed to sell a 1.575 percent stake in the Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to Tokyo Gas Co, a buyer of Ichthys LNG. Inpex will see its stake in the Ichthys project, off the coast of Australia's Northern Territory, fall to 72.805 percent after the sale to Tokyo Gas is completed, the company said in a statement. Inpex, the project's operator, earlier this week finalised sales deals with the remaining three planned buyers after sealing deals with five other buyers last month, paving the way for announcing as early as this week a final investment decision on the project costing more than $30 billion. Inpex has agreed to sell Osaka Gas Co a 1.2 percent equity in the project and Toho Gas Co a 0.42 percent stake. French energy company Total holds the remaining 24 percent. (Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

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