TotalEnergies drilling activities began, for later connection, of the three natural gas producing wells of the Fénix Projectthe offshore gas development operated by the company and promoted together with its partners, Wintershall Dea Argentina and Pan American Energy.
The unit started drilling the first of three horizontal wells on May 24, beginning the last stage before the project goes into production. Drilling and completion activities will last approximately seven monthsaccording to the schedule.
“The jackup rig – the technical name given to the Noble Regina Allen drilling platform – arrived in the country, successfully completing a transoceanic transfer of more than 14,000 kilometers from the North Sea in just 35 days, aboard a heavy cargo ship. Upon arrival, it was unloaded in the project operation area,” the firm that operates the project highlighted.
Faced with this scenario, Manfred Boeckmannmanaging director of Wintershall Dea Argentina, stated that “following the successful installation of the production platform in February and the extensive and detailed preparation work for the drilling campaign in recent months, we are excited to begin the next phase in the development.” of Phoenix. We are making promising progress towards putting into production”.
The team
According to TotalEnergies, the equipment chosen for drilling “is an industry leader and is especially prepared to operate in complex climatic conditions.”
It has a large deck of 8,570 square meters, a load capacity of 3,500 tons and a drilling depth of 35,000 feet, which ensures autonomy under the challenging climatic conditions of the South Atlantic.
The assembly action of the Noble Regina Allen was executed using a special system that positioned the unit above the Fénix production structure, which was installed last February.
The team in charge of drilling the three horizontal wells is made up of 120 people. The team in charge of operations is made up of 50% professionals of Argentine origin and belonging to various companies specialized in drilling and completing wells.
With an investment of 700 million dollars, Fénix is the main conventional gas project underway in the country, and is projected to generate 10 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, which would imply increasing the total production of the project by 8%. country. It represents a fundamental pillar for increasing domestic gas production, with volumes of natural gas that are expected to contribute to Argentina’s long-term energy supply for more than 15 years.
All of the project’s offshore activities are carried out simultaneously with the production operations already underway that Total Austral, the Argentine subsidiary of TotalEnergies, has been carrying out for decades in the Austral Marine Basin, the southernmost offshore field in the world.
