Located nearly 60km off the Tierra del Fuego coast, the Fenix platform has been designed to be operated remotely from shore, thereby removing the necessity for a permanent crew
The unmanned platform for the Fenix gas project has been installed by Wintershall Dea and its partners. (Credit: TotalAustral)
Wintershall Dea has announced the installation of a new unmanned production platform for the Fenix gas project, which is being developed offshore Argentina with an investment of about $706m.
The Fenix platform is located nearly 60km off the Tierra del Fuego coast, in water depth of 70m. It has been engineered to be operated remotely from shore, thereby removing the necessity for a permanent crew.
Wintershall Dea holds a 37.5% stake in the CMA-1 concession which contains the offshore gas field. TotalEnergies is the operator of the block with a similar stake while the third participant is Pan American Energy with an interest of 25%.
Wintershall Dea Argentina managing director Manfred Boeckmann said: “The successful installation of the production platform marks another significant milestone for the Fénix field development, which keeps the project on track for the planned first gas in Q4 2024.
“Fénix represents a material pillar for the growing domestic gas production and will support Argentina to meet the increasing demand and to offset imports, by contributing significant natural gas volumes for more than 15 years to the country’s long-term energy supply.”
As per Wintershall Dea, the logistics and installation of the 4,800-tonnes platform were carried out in two phases. The first phase involved installing the jacket with four piles last month, followed by the successful lift and placement of the 1,500-tonnes deck topside.
The deck of the Fenix platform spans an area of 2,500m and comprises five levels, which are the helipad, upper deck, main deck housing wellheads and instrument rooms, and the lower deck.
Drilling operations for the three horizontal wells that make up the Fenix gas project will be conducted using a jack-up drilling rig temporarily stationed adjacent to the unmanned platform. First gas from the offshore Argentine field is anticipated to be drawn in November 2024.
The gas produced from the Fenix field will be transported through a 35km long pipeline to the TotalEnergies-operated Véga Pleyade platform, which has been in production since 2016.
Fenix is estimated to produce 10 million cubic meters per day of natural gas, which is 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.