French oil giant Total says it wants to buy a further 6 per cent of the Inpex-operated $US34 billion Ichthys LNG project off the Kimberley coast.

If successful, Total would increase its interest in the historic development from 24 per cent to 30 per cent.

Yves-Louis Darricarrere, the upstream boss of Paris-based Total, revealed the French giant's Ichthys ambition in Perth today and said it reflected his confidence in the project.

He did not discuss timing or the likely cost of buying more Ichthys equity off operator Inpex, which has about 74 per cent of the project.

The partners gave the development go ahead for Ichthys last month in what will become Australia's most expensive LNG project.

The project is based on 12.8 trillion cubic feet of gas and 530 million barrels of condensate in the Browse Basin.

The gas will be piped to Darwin for processing.

First production is slated for late 2016.

Total is pinning much of its growth on new projects in Australia, such as Ichthys and the Santos-run Gladstone coal seam development in Queensland.