Thank you for attending investor meeting at this venue and also online despite the COVID pandemic, and despite being a cold day with some snowfall, and despite some important competition programs being in progress right now at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games. I am Ueda, President and CEO of INPEX Corporation. I will begin with my explanation. I will first talk about the business overview for the fiscal year 2021, and then move on to the details of the INPEX Vision 2022 that we announced yesterday. After this, Mr. Yamada will explain the details of the forecast. I will begin with the business overview. I will start with the highlights from fiscal 2021.
INPEX posted consolidated net sales of JPY 1.2443 trillion, and net profit attributable to owners of parent of JPY 223 billion for the fiscal year 2021, with huge increases in both net sales and net profit year-on-year. This net profit for fiscal 2021 is the highest since the merger in 2008. Given the recent increase in crude oil prices, we are forecasting JPY 1.5415 trillion in net sales and JPY 250 billion in net income for fiscal 2022. As for dividends, we have decided to increase the year-end dividend by JPY 8 to JPY 28 to reflect our strong performance in fiscal 2021. Together with the interim dividend of JPY 20 , the full year dividend is to be JPY 48 .
This amount is an increase of JPY 30 over the four years compared to the annual dividend of JPY 18 prior to the commencement of our midterm business plan, as some of you may remember, and is the highest dividend that we have ever paid out. Furthermore, in fiscal 2021, INPEX conducted a share buyback for the first time at a cost of JPY 70 billion. With the buyback, the total amount of shareholder returns came to JPY 138 billion, and the total shareholder return ratio for fiscal 2021 was 61.9%.
As for the fiscal 2022 dividend forecast, INPEX will aim for a total payout ratio, a new metric for us, of around 40% or greater with stable dividends as a basis in line with our newly established medium-term business plan that I will explain later. As we are still at the beginning of this fiscal year, we are projecting a full year dividend of JPY 54, an increase of JPY 6 from the JPY 48 paid out in fiscal 2021, considering the uncertainties regarding oil prices and our financial performance. In line with our newly established shareholder return policy, we will determine the appropriate level of dividends and/or the necessity of a buyback in view of our financial performance during the year.
Regarding projects, and starting with our upstream business, as you can see towards the bottom, we have implemented various countermeasures against the spread of COVID-19 and were able to continue stable production at our major projects. At Ichthys LNG, our flagship project, we shipped 117 LNG cargoes in 2021. Also, we have made progress on asset portfolio optimization. We divested of our non-core assets in Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Last month, we sold our assets in Angola Block 14. On the other hand, we have acquired a promising upstream assets in Norway. Regarding exploration activities, we have discovered oil and gas deposits at onshore Block IV in Abu Dhabi.
As for the five net zero businesses, after announcing the business development strategy towards a net zero carbon society by 2050, January last year, we have made a good progress with this firmly embedded in our midterm plan. Last year, we agreed to acquire shares of an offshore wind power generation company in the Netherlands. We also joined a geothermal power project in Indonesia. In Japan, we start up a technical development business on methanation last October. Please go to the next page. Please allow me to update you on the Ichthys LNG project. Production volume based on our participating interest in the project averaged around 249,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the month of October to December 2021. We shipped 117 LNG cargoes in 2021.
This year, we expect to ship around 10 cargoes of LNG per month for the year. The project is expected to undergo scheduled shutdown maintenance during July and August, 2022, as we did last year. This maintenance work is important to continue stable operations for the long term. In order to minimize the impact to production, we plan to conduct this maintenance work efficiently at both the offshore and onshore facilities. We also continue to drill production wells in order to sustain stable production for the medium to long term. Currently, we are drilling and completing at a 23rd well. In regards to blocks in the vicinity of the Ichthys field, we currently have participating interest in 17 exploration blocks located near the Ichthys project with multiple discoveries of gas reservoirs.
We expect to have synergies, including the use of our existing facilities, and so we will be accelerating our involvement in exploration as well as the development of discovered assets nearby to further enhance sustained production over the long term and to further expand production volume and visualize the expansion of Ichthys in around 2030. Next, I'd like to talk about the Abadi LNG project in Indonesia. At this point in time, we have been forced to suspend detailed survey work at and around the scheduled LNG plant construction site due to the impact of COVID-19. Going forward, we will conduct a comprehensive study to make the project cleaner through means such as CCUS and to enable further cost reduction. In regards to Abadi, we work to make the project competitive and clean with the aim of commencing production in the early 2030s.
We are now continuing our dialogue with the Indonesian government, and it is important that we make a final investment decision towards a competitive project. Next, please look at the right side of the slide. Regarding operations in Abu Dhabi, all producing projects are continuing to operate stably, and we are currently working to further enhance their production capacities. As mentioned earlier, we conducted exploratory drilling activities and discovered multiple oil and gas deposits at Abu Dhabi Onshore Block 4, which we were awarded as the operator. Now, this has not been reported widely. However, this is the first original oil in place discovered in 30 years in Abu Dhabi. This is a huge reserve of some one billion barrels.
We are currently drilling the second well, and going forward, we will conduct appraisal work with the aim of starting our production at an early stage. Next, I'd like to explain our natural gas business in Japan. In 2021, we sold a total of approximately 2.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas in Japan, an increase of 0.13 billion cubic meters year-on-year. We expect to sell about 2.19 billion cubic meters this fiscal year, around the same level as the previous fiscal year. Regarding exploration in Japan in 2022, we will conduct exploratory drilling operations at Minami-Sekihara near Minami-Nagaoka Gas Field in Niigata Prefecture and offshore Shimane and Yamaguchi prefectures. We'll be exploring for natural gas. At Minami-Sekihara, we plan to commence drilling in November.
Regarding offshore Shimane and Yamaguchi prefectures, we will conduct exploratory drilling between March and July offshore. In the Eurasia region, we acquired a 50.5% share of a Norwegian entity, as you can see at the bottom of the slide. This entity holds 11 oil and gas assets in production or development, including the Snorre project, as well as interest in multiple promising discovered but undeveloped oil and gas fields and exploration licenses. We strongly believe this will contribute to the optimization of our upstream portfolio. In the Americas region, at our Eagle Ford tight oil project, we have taken advantage of the characteristics of the shale business, namely mobility. Last year, we accelerated investment following the oil price recovery, aiming to maximize our cash flow and profit through further optimization of project planning.
Next, I would like to discuss our five net zero businesses. The net zero domain is a new area for us comprising hydrogen, ammonia, CCS, CCUS, renewable energy, new fields like methanation, and forest conservation. We call them the five net zero areas. Of such, I would like to explain about the hydrogen and ammonia business. We are preparing to demonstrate a feasibility of a business model to produce even cleaner carbon-free hydrogen ammonia, aiming to construct a large-scale blue hydrogen and ammonia production demonstration plant in Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture, and begin operations by 2024. Furthermore, based on the results of the demonstration, we are aiming to take this blue hydrogen project in Niigata Prefecture to commercial scale by around 2030. In Abu Dhabi, we are currently conducting a joint study on a clean ammonia production business.
Based on the outcome of this joint study, we are aiming to construct a large-scale clean ammonia plant in cooperation with ADNOC, a UAE-owned company in Abu Dhabi and others, and begin supply from the second half of the 2020s. We'll also pursue evaluations with the aim of joining other large-scale hydrogen projects overseas. Regarding CCS/CCUS, we are working on developing CO2-enhanced oil recovery technology in Agano City in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, and we are aiming to commence CO2 injection tests by 2023, next year. In Abu Dhabi, we are aiming to increase CCUS capacity together with ADNOC. We are also aiming to introduce CCS at the Ichthys LNG project in the late 2020s.
Also, we will make full use of our knowledge, experience, and assets with the aim of commercializing the CCS business in Japan as well as worldwide. Please go to the next page. The next topic is our renewable energy initiatives. Overseas, we acquired a stake in Dutch offshore wind farm project and joined the Muara Laboh geothermal power project in Indonesia, in addition to our Sarulla project in the country, both in December 2021. In Japan, we have joined a consortium for the implementation of a floating offshore wind power project of Goto City in Nagasaki Prefecture, and we're planning to conduct development work aiming for the startup of operations in 2024. Assessments and studies are going on for geothermal power projects in Akita Prefecture and Hokkaido. Let me now explain our carbon recycling and new business opportunities.
As for methanation, which involves the production of methane from CO2 and hydrogen, we established a test facility within our Koshijihara plant in Niigata Prefecture and have conducted various tests. Going forward, we plan to conduct a demonstration test at a facility with larger production capacity between the latter half of 2024 and 2025. As for artificial photosynthesis, we, as participant in ARPChem, constructed a solar hydrogen production test facility in Darwin, Australia, and have been conducting trial runs. We'll implement R&D aiming to ultimately achieve 10% solar energy conversion efficiency and realize practical application. Regarding the promotion of forest conservation, we are supporting the Rimba Raya REDD+ project in Indonesia. We plan to acquire 5 million tons worth of carbon credits over five years. Next, I would like to talk about our net production volume for fiscal 2021.
Our net production volume for the full year was 584,000 barrels per day, which is up 11,000 barrels year-on-year. This increase reflects factors such as the easing of the OPEC+ production cuts. Please look at the graph on the right-hand side. The graph shows our production cost per barrel of oil equivalent for fiscal year 2021. Our production cost per barrel of oil equivalent was $5.4 due to factors such as an increase in the OPEX of the Ichthys LNG project.
Next, I would like to go over our long-term strategy and medium-term business plan. Due to factors including the announcement of the business development strategy towards a net zero carbon society by 2050, we have brought forward by one year the timing of the formulation of the medium-term business plan. Yesterday, we announced a new medium-term business plan together with our long-term strategy, which we call INPEX Vision 2022. I will first provide a review of our previous medium-term business plan. Looking back on our previous medium-term business plan, 2018 to 2022, firstly, we achieved production startup from the Ichthys LNG project in 2018 after making FID in 2012. Following startup and steady ramp-up process, the project is operating steadily today.
This has helped us strengthen our oil and gas business portfolio, improve our production efficiency, and meet the major milestones set in the medium-term business plan. As for our renewable energy business, we agreed to acquire 50% share of Luchterduinen and 15% share of Borssele III/IV offshore wind power generation projects in the Netherlands in December last year. Also, in June last year, the consortium, including INPEX, was selected as operator of a floating offshore wind power project of Goto City in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Based on these developments going forward, we will aim to become a key player in the floating offshore wind power generation sector worldwide. Our business targets for the upstream oil and gas business and the five net zero businesses have made significant progress. Regarding our financial performance, INPEX recorded its highest net income since the establishment of the company.
Operating cash flow came close to approximately JPY 450 billion, and production volume grew to the level of 640 KBOED in the second half of fiscal year 2021. This amount on an annual average basis was 580 KBOED. Targets set in the medium-term business plan, 2018-2022, were largely met. Regarding shareholder returns, in order to meet the expectations of our shareholders and to acknowledge their support, the dividend payout for 2021 was raised to JPY 48 per share, the highest level ever. We also implemented share buybacks in the size of JPY 70 billion in 2021. These initiatives brought our dividend payout ratio to 31.2% and our total payout ratio to 61.9%. Let me now explain our INPEX Vision 2022.
Firstly, I will explain the long-term strategy. Looking ahead towards a net zero carbon society by 2050, INPEX will transform net zero carbon from an ideal to reality in 2030. We hope to play a role in realizing such society. We will maintain a stable supply of oil and gas, which remains essential sources of energy for our economic and social activities. In particular, demand for natural gas is expected to increase steadily, mainly in Asia. We will strengthen and expand the business as a revenue base while making it cleaner through initiatives such as CCUS. Mainly as an outcome of these upstream initiatives, we will generate approximately JPY 5 trillion-JPY 6 trillion in operating cash flow before exploration in the nine years between 2022 and 2030.
With this steady cash flow, we will sustain our resilient financial base, maintain an adequate level of shareholder returns, and invest in our sustainable growth. Specifically, in those nine years, we will allocate about JPY 3.8 trillion-JPY 4.4 trillion to growth investment, out of which JPY 0.7 trillion-JPY 1 trillion will be invested into the five net zero businesses, which is approximately 20% of the growth investment. By commercializing the five net zero businesses by 2030, including hydrogen/ammonia, renewable, and methanation, we will establish a strong position in each of these businesses and aim to generate about 10% of operating cash flow from the five net zero businesses.
With these initiatives, we will build a well-balanced portfolio and aim to steadily achieve our 2030 climate change response goals, which is 30% or more reduction in GHG net carbon intensity versus the actual in fiscal year 2019. Next, I will explain our vision for around 2030. The list is shown on the left of the slide, where you can see from the top the five net zero businesses, the hydrogen, ammonia, CCUS, renewable energy, methanation, and forest conservation. As for the five net zero businesses, we are still at an early stage towards commercialization, with the exception of our renewable energy business. We will make steady progress with R&D and demonstrations at a smaller scale. Towards 2030, we will expand the scale of the business and work on commercialization. First, I will talk about our hydrogen and ammonia business.
By commercializing a blue hydrogen project in Niigata, Japan, and clean ammonia in Abu Dhabi and other initiatives, we are aiming to achieve 100,000 tons per year in hydrogen production. As for CCUS, our target is to inject 2.5 million tons per year by 2030. Our scope 1 and 2 emissions for 2020 are around 8 million tons. Therefore, 2.5 million tons would amount to about 1/3, which is the amount injected underground. We will evaluate CCUS opportunities, and we consider CCUS as our key to achieving our 2030 climate change response goals. As for renewable energy, we will enter the floating offshore wind business using our knowledge gained through our acquisition of European wind projects that we have announced recently.
We will expand our geothermal power business with a focus on Sarulla and Muara Laboh projects in Indonesia and the Oyasu project in Japan and others. Through these initiatives, we aim to achieve a renewable power generating capacity of 1-2 GW in 2030. As for methanation, we are aiming to supply methane on a commercial scale of 10,000 normal cubic m per hour in 2030. This would amount to 60,000 tons per year of methane, which equates to the demand of approximately 200,000 standard Japanese households. We are aiming to further expand methanation plants in around 2035. As for forest conservation, the last area, in addition to acquiring credits through the Rimba Raya project, we are targeting to produce 2 million tons of carbon credits per year by joining projects.
As for our upstream oil and gas business, by working towards zero flaring, implementing energy savings, and utilizing renewable energy at our operations, we will make the business cleaner and aim to achieve a 30% or more reduction in GHG net carbon intensity. In addition, currently our investment ratio for gas is 50%. However, we will increase the ratio to 70% towards 2030, and we'll promote gas development in a cleaner form. We will also target a total 10 million ton LNG handling volume, including our participating interests, by strengthening our trading functions. Through these initiatives, we aim to sustain and expand our supply of clean oil and gas going forward. Next, on page 15, I will talk about our core business areas. INPEX previously focused its four core business areas on its upstream business.
Now, considering that we are expanding our business to include the oil and natural gas, as well as the five net-zero businesses, and are seeking to tap synergies, we have selected five new core business areas that are common to all business fields. Specifically, our core business areas are Australia, Abu Dhabi, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Europe. We will manage our business efficiently by centralizing our business assets in these five areas. Next, I will explain our medium-term business plan for the three years, from 2022 to 2024. We will accelerate our efforts to realize the vision for around 2030. As for the five net-zero businesses, we will steadily implement demonstration and research activities. By strengthening our technical capabilities and accumulating knowledge, we will aim to create business opportunities. We will prepare for full-scale investments and commercialization in the future.
As for the oil and gas business, we will work on reducing CO2 in line with our climate change response goals and making the business cleaner on a full scale. We will also work on strengthening our business through portfolio optimization and cost reduction. By doing so, we will safely and stably operate our business and continue to contribute to the stable supply of energy and secure revenue and cash flow. To have sufficient cash to implement future oil and gas and net-zero businesses, we will build a resilient financial base, including improving of our D/E ratio, and at the same time, strengthen shareholder returns. In addition to that, we will strengthen R&D and reinforce our organizational structure, et c.
As for our management targets, in view of the current situation, making it difficult to forecast the business environment, including oil prices, we will present two base cases assuming a Brent oil price of $60 and $70 per barrel. Firstly, we are targeting JPY 170 billion in net income attributable to owners of parent at $60 per barrel, and JPY 240 billion at $70 per barrel. We are targeting JPY 600 billion and JPY 700 billion in operating cash flow before exploration, respectively. Thirdly, we are targeting an ROE of around 6%-8% respectively. We will aim to further improve the ROE by strengthening our business, as well as by improving management efficiency, including share buybacks, etc .
Also, by reducing the interest-bearing debts, we will build a resilient financial base and be prepared for future cash demand for oil and gas and net-zero businesses. Therefore, we are targeting our net debt-to-equity ratio to be 50% or less compared to the current level of approximately 65%. As for our business targets, firstly, regarding net production volume, this is set at a low level due to factors such as the OPEC production cuts. However, we are targeting a level exceeding 700,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day based on the recovery in OPEC output, as well as a capacity increase at the Ichthys LNG project. Also, as for the production cost per barrel, we are targeting a reduction towards $5 per barrel or below in order to make the business more resilient.
Regarding GHG net carbon intensity, we are targeting a reduction of 10% or more, or 4.1 kg per BOE over a three year period, aiming for our 2030 target of a reduction of 30% or more, or 4.1 kg per barrels of oil equivalent. Lastly, as our safety target, we are targeting zero major accidents. Next, I will explain the cash allocation for the three years between 2022 to 2024. With an assumed Brent oil price of $60 per barrel, we expect the three year cumulative operating cash flow before exploration to be around JPY 1.8 trillion.
With this cash flow, we will first pursue a debt reduction of about JPY 500 billion as a first priority, and achieve a net interest-bearing debt level from the current JPY 2 trillion to about JPY 1.5 trillion, aiming for our management targets of 50% or less net D/E ratio to build a resilient financial base. As for shareholder returns, in line with our shareholder return policy that I will explain momentarily, based on JPY 170 billion net profit, we are expecting the annual shareholder returns to be around JPY 70 billion per year and JPY 200 billion for the three years. As for gross investment, out of the total JPY 1.1 trillion, we expect to allocate JPY 900 billion to oil and gas and JPY 200 billion to the five net zero businesses.
These are the explanation based on an assumed Brent oil price of $60. Based on the $70 oil price assumption, the operating cash flow before exploration is expected to grow by JPY 300 billion. In this case, we will consider using the cash flow strategically while comprehensively looking at business strategy progress, shareholder returns, and financial base, et c. I would like to note that this cash allocation plan should serve as guidance, and in the case of a change in our business environment or other such events, it is possible that we may modify the allocation flexibly. Next, I will explain our shareholder return policy. Previously, we had set our dividend payout ratio to 30% or more. Going forward, we will aim for a total payout ratio of around 40% or greater and implement share buyback based on business environment, et c.
Also, we will increase our minimum annual dividend per share to JPY 30. Even in the event where the business environment deteriorates sharply over a short period, such as the negative oil price we expected two years ago, we set the minimum annual dividend per share, and we have set that minimal dividend at JPY 30 per share. This will strengthen shareholder returns in accordance with growth in financial performance with stable dividends as a basis. This concludes my presentation. Thank you very much.
Hello, everyone. I am Daisuke Yamada, and I'm responsible for the finance and accounting division. I would like to explain the financial results for the year ended December 31, 2021. This slide outlines our earnings highlights. Please look at the top table, second row from the bottom. For the fiscal year 2021, we generated net income attributable to owners of parent of JPY 223 billion. This level of net profit is the highest since our merger in 2008, and we have also achieved a V-shaped recovery from the large net loss incurred in 2020.
This is mainly due to the average Brent crude oil price for the fiscal year increasing by 64.2% to $70.95 per barrel year-on-year, in addition, to the fact that our projects continue to produce at a steady rate. Now I'll outline the changes by individual items. Net sales increased by JPY 473.7 billion or by 61.4% year-on-year to JPY 1,244.3 billion. Operating income increased by JPY 342.1 billion or by 137% year-on-year to JPY 590.6 billion. Ordinary income increased by JPY 400.2 billion or by 155.6% year-on-year to JPY 657.6 billion. All items have increased significantly.
For your information, the profit contribution from the Ichthys LNG project was about JPY 150 billion. Next, I would like to explain net sales in terms of crude oil and natural gas. Sales volume of crude oil increased by about 2% or by about three million barrels year-on-year to 120 million barrels. The average unit price of overseas sales increased by 70% or by $28 year-on-year to $68, in line with the increase in the Brent oil price. As a result, net sales of crude oil increased by 79% or by JPY 399.6 billion to JPY 905.1 billion. The main reason for this increase was the stronger oil prices.
Natural gas sales volume decreased by about 0.6% or by about 2.7 billion cubic feet year-on-year to 464.8 billion cubic feet. The average unit price of overseas sales increased by 37% or by $1.35 year-on-year to $4.96. The average unit price of domestic sales decreased by 2.6% or by JPY 1.2 year-on-year to JPY 45.73. As a result, net sales of natural gas increased by 27% or by JPY 65.8 billion to JPY 313.6 billion. The main reason for this increase was the increase in the average unit price of overseas sales as a result of stronger oil prices.
There is a delay in oil price changes affecting the average unit price of natural gas sales. Therefore, in comparison to net sales of crude oil, the rate of increase in net sales of natural gas is lower. This is the statement of income. I will explain the flow of net income or loss attributable to owners of parent using the waterfall chart in the next few slides. Please refer back to this slide if needed. I would like to explain the movements in consolidated net income compared to the last fiscal year in terms of income before one-off profits and losses and one-off factors. Net income of JPY 223 billion can be broken down into income before one-off profit and losses of JPY 240.6 billion and a one-off loss of JPY 17.6 billion.
I'd first like to analyze the change from the JPY 54.6 billion of income before one-off profits and losses recorded a year ago to the JPY 240.6 billion of income before one-off profit or losses generated this year. Increases in net sales came to JPY 473.3 billion, mainly as a result of the increase in unit sales prices of crude oil resulting from higher Brent oil prices. Increases in cost of sales came to JPY 109.5 billion due to the sales royalties of crude oil increasing in tandem with the higher net sales of Abu Dhabi crude oil. Exploration expenses, SG&A, and allowance for exploration remained more or less flat.
Other income and expenses such as foreign exchange gain and equity in earnings of affiliates had a positive impact of JPY 41.9 billion, and income tax expenses increased by JPY 234.7 billion due to stronger earnings. When all these factors are netted together, the income before one-off profits and losses for fiscal 2021 came to JPY 240.6 billion, increasing by JPY 185.9 billion on a year-on-year basis. Next, I would like to explain the impact of one-off profits and losses. Please look at the waterfall chart on the bottom for fiscal 2021. Income before one-off profits and losses for fiscal 2021 came to JPY 240.6 billion.
Against this amount, one-off loss for the period came to JPY 17.6 billion, which is made up of JPY 14.1 billion loss from impairment, JPY 11.6 billion loss from equity in losses of affiliates, JPY 8.5 billion gain from reversal of allowance, JPY 6.2 billion gain on sale of investment securities, and JPY 6.6 billion loss from others. After deducting JPY 17.6 billion of one-off loss from JPY 240.6 billion of income before one-off profit and losses, net profit attributable to owners of parent for fiscal 2021 came to JPY 223 billion. Next, I would like to explain our consolidated balance sheet.
Total assets at the end of the year came to JPY 5.1581 trillion, increasing by JPY 523.6 billion in comparison to the end of the previous fiscal year. This was mainly due to an increase in the fixed assets of overseas subsidiaries caused by the weaker yen. For your information, total assets of the Ichthys Downstream Incorporated joint venture, which is not included in our consolidated balance sheet, came to JPY 3.8376 trillion. As for liabilities, the weaker yen caused the total at the year-end, including both current and long-term, to increase by JPY 178.6 billion in comparison to the end of the previous fiscal year to JPY 1.81117 trillion.
Net assets came to JPY 3.3464 trillion, increasing by JPY 345 billion in comparison to the end of the previous fiscal year. This was mainly due to the increase in translation adjustment caused by the weaker yen. For your information, INPEX's total net loans, including net loans of Ichthys Downstream JV, is now at approximately JPY 2 trillion. Next is the statement of cash flows. The net cash flow provided by operating activities was JPY 445.4 billion, up JPY 152.5 billion from the previous fiscal year due to reasons including increase in income before income taxes due to the rise in oil prices and other factors. Net cash from investing activities was JPY 130.7 billion, down JPY 286.4 billion compared to the previous fiscal year due to the absence of payments for debt transfers, which we had in the previous fiscal year, among other factors.
The net cash used by financing activities was JPY 315.2 billion compared to the net cash provided in financing activities of JPY 126.7 billion in the previous fiscal year, mainly due to the balance of borrowing turning negative. Next is fiscal 2021 cash flow that includes cash flow from Ichthys LNG Pty Ltd. This is in one sense our intrinsic or comprehensive cash flow. Cash flow from operations before exploration expenditure was JPY 586.8 billion due to factors such as high oil prices. Cash flow from investment was JPY 176.5 billion as a result of the development investment, et c., trending at around the same level as last year. Based on these, free cash flow of JPY 410.3 billion was generated in the fiscal year ended December 2021. Cash flow from financing activities was JPY 373.9 billion due to expenditures such as repayment of debt.
Next is the financial forecast for the fiscal year ending December 2022, this fiscal year. As for the oil price and exchange rate assumptions, considering the average Brent oil price of around $70 in 2021 and $74.8 in December 2021, we have set a conservative oil price assumption of $75 per barrel on average for the full year on the basis of an assumption that the oil price will trend down towards the year-end. Regarding the exchange rate, we have assumed JPY 110 to a U.S. dollar, which is a conservative assumption compared to the market today. In comparison to the previous fiscal year, we have assumed an increase in the crude oil price by $4.05, or by 5.7%, and for the exchange rate, we have assumed about the same level as the previous fiscal year. The full year forecast is as shown on the slide.
Consolidated net sales is JPY 1.541 trillion, up 300 billion or less compared to the results of the previous fiscal year of JPY 1.2443 trillion. Consolidated ordinary income is JPY 824 billion, up JPY 166.4 billion compared to the results of the previous fiscal year of JPY 657.6 billion. Net income is JPY 250 billion, up 12.1% or more compared to the results of the previous fiscal year of JPY 223 billion, mainly due to the $4 increase in oil price assumption compared to the previous fiscal year. This is a historical level of profit since the merger. The profit contribution from the Ichthys project is expected to be around mid JPY 180 billion on a full year basis versus the results of the previous fiscal year of JPY 150 billion, an increase of around JPY 30 billion.
As our president, Mr. Ueda, mentioned earlier, the year-end dividend will be JPY 28 per share. Adding the interim dividend of JPY 20 per share, the full year dividend will be JPY 48 per share. As for the dividend forecast for fiscal 2022, the assumption is JPY 54 per share, an increase of JPY 6 per share versus the previous fiscal year. The differences between the fiscal 2021 results and the fiscal 2022 forecasts are shown in the waterfall chart based on the impact to the net income attributable to owners of parent. I would like to explain the differences between the fiscal year 2021 net profit of JPY 223 billion versus the fiscal year 2022 forecast of JPY 250 billion using the chart.
We expect a positive impact of JPY 69.1 billion from the positive difference in the oil price assumption and the fiscal 2021 actual prices, a negative impact of JPY 3.3 billion from the exchange rate, a negative impact of JPY 10.2 billion due to an increase in exploration expenditure, a negative impact of JPY 30 billion coming from project-related changes, mainly due to a decrease of sales volume in certain projects, while there are negative and positive impacts in each of the individual projects, and other one-off negative impacts of JPY 2.2 billion in this fiscal year.
In conclusion, the full-year forecast of net income attributable to owners of the parent is JPY 250 billion, up from the previous fiscal year of JPY 223 billion. For your information, regarding the positive impact of JPY 69.1 billion due to oil prices, the amount calculated using our Brent oil price sensitivity and the oil price difference of $4 between the previous fiscal year and this fiscal year's forecast does not match with the figure. This figure takes into account the delay in the reflection of oil price changes to gas sales prices. Next, I would like to compare the net sales, ordinary income, and net income attributable to owners of the parent for the past five fiscal years, together with our recent forecast for fiscal year 2022.
As for fiscal 2021, all three items recorded the highest level in comparison to the previous four fiscal years, and we have achieved a V-shaped recovery from the fiscal 2020 dip. Out of these three items, ordinary income was JPY 657.6 billion, up JPY 400.3 billion from the previous fiscal year of JPY 257.3 billion, marking a significant recovery. This was mainly due to the increase in production/sales volume and continuous cost reduction in addition to the high oil prices. Also, regarding the ordinary income forecast for fiscal 2022, we are expecting an increase to JPY 824 billion from JPY 657.6 billion in the previous fiscal year.
Let me cover the sales and investment plans for this fiscal year, which serve as the basis for the financial forecast that I've just explained. The sales volume of crude oil in fiscal 2022 is expected to increase to 133.07 billion barrels, up 12.95 million barrels, or 10.8% compared to the previous fiscal year. The sales volume of natural gas is expected to increase to 482.8 billion cubic feet, up 18 billion cubic feet or 3.9% year-on-year. The sales volume of both oil and gas is expected to increase due to the expected increase in sales from some projects. Regarding the investment plan, both the development and exploration expenditures are planned based on thorough discussions around investment effectiveness.
As a result, development expenditure and others are expected to increase to JPY 404 billion, up by about 2.2 x year-on-year. While exploration expenditure is expected to increase to JPY 43 billion, up by about 5.8 x year-on-year. Within the fiscal year 2022 forecast for development expenditure and others, JPY 120 billion is attributable to expenditures for the five net zero businesses, mainly renewable energy. As the first year of the medium-term plan, we have budgeted an accelerated investment towards five net zero businesses and renewable energy. Based on the financial conditions at the beginning of this fiscal year, we have shown the oil price and exchange rate sensitivity to our net income in the fiscal year ending December 2022.
The impact from an increase of $1 per barrel is estimated to be + JPY 6 billion at the beginning of this fiscal year. Taking into consideration that certain natural gas sales is applied to oil prices on a delayed basis, the oil price sensitivity is expected to change quarterly, with a + JPY 4.2 billion at the beginning of Q2, a + JPY 2.3 billion at the beginning of Q3, and a + JPY 1.0 billion at the beginning of Q4. The second footnote shows the quarterly breakdown of the oil price sensitivity for your reference. The exchange rate sensitivity based on a JPY 1 depreciation against the U.S. dollar is expected to be + JPY 2.8 billion. The net income sensitivity related to devaluation of assets and liabilities denominated in U.S. dollar incurred by exchange rate differences is mostly neutral.
Simply calculating using the sensitivity for this fiscal year, based on the oil price of $90 per barrel and exchange rate of JPY 115 to a dollar, we can say that the potential amount of net profit could be JPY 350 billion instead of JPY 250 billion . Finally, I will explain the outlook of cash flows, including the Ichthys downstream entity, Ichthys LNG Pty, and equity method affiliate. Cash flow from operations before exploration investment is expected to be JPY 710 billion due to factors including the rising trend of the crude oil price and increasing production volume. Cash flow from investment is expected at JPY 430 billion due to factors including increased development investments. As a result, we expect free cash flow of JPY 280 billion in this fiscal year ending December 2022. This concludes my presentation. Thank you very much.