Total has taken the final investment decision to develop the offshore Vega Pleyade gas and condensate field.
Vega Pleyade will produce through three horizontal wells. Together with production from the other Total-operated fields in the area, it will allow optimization of supply to the existing treatment plants and continuation of the plateau production of 18 million cubic meters per day (130,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day).
Total Americas exploration & production senior vice president Ladislas Paszkiewicz said, "At a time when energy demand is growing in Argentina, this latest development confirms Total’s commitment to helping to secure long-term gas supply for the country."
Vega Pleyade is located offshore Tierra del Fuego in the Cuenca Marina Austral 1 (CMA-1) concession that Total has operated since 1978.
The field development plan consists of a wellhead platform in 50 meters of water depth that will be tied in to the Total-operated onshore Rio Cullen and Cañadon Alfa treatment plants by a 77-kilometer-pipeline.
Separately, Total will also begin offshore drilling in 2014, both to boost production from the Carina field, which started up in 2005, and to appraise the CMA-1 block.
Present in Argentina since 1978, Total, through its affiliate Total Austral, operates 30% of the country’s gas production. The Group’s equity share of production averaged 83,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2012.