TotalEnergies, Wintershall Dea begin development drilling at Fénix natural gas field offshore Argentina
(WO) – Wintershall Dea and its partners Total Austral, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies in Argentina (operator), and Pan American Energy have commenced development drilling at the Fénix field, around 60 km offshore Tierra del Fuego.
Noble’s jack-up drilling rig Regina Allen has been deployed to start the Fénix development drilling program. The rig is temporarily located next to the new Fénix production platform, installed at the beginning of the year.
Three development wells are planned to be drilled, completed and put on production over the next months. Production is then planned to be evacuated via a 24-inch subsea multiphase line to the existing Vega Pléyade platform 35 km from Fénix, and from there to the Rio Cullen facilities at shore.
Fénix is the largest natural gas field currently being developed offshore Argentina. Fénix represents a material pillar for the growing domestic gas production, with its natural gas volumes planned to contribute for more than 15 years to Argentina’s long-term energy supply.
The natural gas field is expected to play a significant role in the country’s energy matrix and to offset imports, with a planned peak production of around 10 MMcmgd. The total investment of the consortium in the Fénix development amounts to approximately $700 million.
Fénix is the next natural gas field to be brought on stream as part of the world’s southernmost gas production concession CMA-1, in which Wintershall Dea and Total Austral (operator) each hold a 37.5% share, while Pan American Energy holds the remaining 25%. Currently, the four main gas fields Cañadón Alfa, Aries, Carina and Vega Pléyade in CMA-1 are producing and already supply 15% of Argentina's natural gas production.
“After the successful installation of the production platform in February and extensive and detailed preparation work for the drilling campaign over recent months, we are delighted to commence the next stage in the development of Fénix. We are well on track to bring this key energy project into production in Q4 this year”, says Manfred Boeckmann, Managing Director of Wintershall Dea Argentina. “The team is looking forward to a successful drilling campaign”, he adds.
