TotalEnergies begins installation of Fenix production platform
French producer TotalEnergies SE has started installation of the production platform for the Fenix offshore gas development operated by Total Austral. The arrival earlier this week of the project’s 4,800-ton jacket in Tierra del Fuego inaugurates the second phase of project development, offshore installation.
The jacket was transferred Nov. 11, 2023, from Rosetti Marino shipyard in Italy to Heerema Marine Contractors’ heavy lift vessel Aegir, which transported it to Tierra del Fuego. Chung Yang Shipping's CY Interocean I, operated by BigLift Shipping, carried the jacket to its offshore site. Jacket installation will use six dynamically positioned vessels to help counter the potentially extreme weather conditions of the South Atlantic.
The project, led by Total Austral and its partners Wintershall Dea AG and Pan American Energy LLC, is progressing as scheduled, according to its technical team. Fenix’s topsides is scheduled to enter the country January 2024.
In addition to topsides installation, final connection of the 35-km, 24-in. OD subsea gas pipeline between Fenix and TotalEnergies’ Vega Pléyade platform (OGJ Online, July 3, 2023) is planned for first-half 2024. This will be followed by the drilling of the three horizontal wells that will enter production sequentially from November 2024.
The $700-million Fenix project will supply as much as 10 million cu m/day of natural gas to local markets, reducing LNG and pipeline imports accordingly. Its developers say Fenix will save 10 LNG shipments during the Argentine winter, 25% of the country’s LNG imports.
Camilo Ciruzzi | South America Correspondent
Ciruzzi is a journalist based in the Argentine province of Río Negro. He has over 30 years of experience in radio and print media. Ciruzzi studied Communication Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires and specialized in energy, political economy, and finance.
