Without too much noise and taking precautions to prevent “collateral damage” from arising on the judicial side, which delays investments such as seismic exploration off the coast of Mar del Plata, the energy authorities are on their way to clear the way to be able to grant environmental approval to the “Phoenix Project”which contemplates the installation of a new offshore gas platform in the southern marine basin.
Promoted by the consortium made up of the French oil company TotalEnergies (37%,5), the German Wintershall Dea (37.5%) and Pan American Energy (which participates with 25% and has as shareholders the local group Bulgheroni), the Chinese CNOOC and the British BP); the “Fenix Project” consists of the drilling of three new offshore wells, which will contribute from 2025 an additional volume of 10 million cubic meters (MMC3) per day of gas to the domestic market.
What permissions are missing from the “new Vaca Muerta” that Massa seeks to enable?
Through a “public consultation” carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development led by Juan Cabandié, the Government is preparing to comply with the instance of “citizen participation” that establish the current regulations for energy projects that generate an ecological impact.
According to official information, the consultation mechanism – which was enabled 10 days ago and ends in the middle of this week – “has the objective of collecting and assessing the concerns and observations of the public about the Fénix project in Cuenca Marina Austral (CMA -1) and its environmental impact study, in order to guarantee effective participation in decision-making and, at the same time, contribute to the improvement of the evaluation process”.
It is channeled through the platform https://consultapublica.argentina.gob.ar/ and those interested who register previously may vote in favor or against the three relevant issues put to consideration: the characteristics of the project, the environmental and social line and the mitigation programs of possible ecological impacts.
Once the consultation is closed and the final report is issued, the Cabandié portfolio will be in a position to move forward with the two relevant steps that remain to start the work and works of the project: the approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment ( EIA) and the granting of the Environmental Aptitude Certificate (CAA).
The Fénix project contemplates the drilling of three wells, to generate a volume of gas similar to the current local 8%.
Unlike what happened in Mar del Plata with the offshore seismic exploration permits that were held back for more than a year by a legal protection promoted by environmental entities and the General Pueyrredón mayor; In this case, the Secretary of Energy – piloted by the massista from Salta Flavia Royón – estimates that there will be no obstacles from the courts and that in the short term the Ministry of Environment will complete its intervention on the subject with a favorable definition.
With an estimated investment of around US$700 millionthe “Phoenix Project” includes the construction and installation of a 120 meter high offshore automated platform that will connect three natural gas production wells.
They will have a depth of 70 months and will be drilled 60 kilometers from the coast of Tierra del Fuego. The extracted gas will be transported through a new 35-kilometre gas pipeline to the Véga Pleyade platform. -which belongs to the same consortium and whose operation is in charge of TotalEnergies- to be later processed on land at the Río Cullen and Cañadón Alfa facilities.
The Phoenix Project goes live after four years
After having it on file for more than four years, the consortium of TotalEnergies, Wintershall Dea and PAE had announced the decision to carry out the “Phoenix Project” in mid-September, after obtaining two significant measures that they had been demanding from the authorities. nationals.
In April 2022, the Government proceeded to extend in advance until 2041 the concession of the Cuenca Marina Austral 1 (CMA-1), which includes the exploitation areas Argo, Aries, Carina, Orión, Orión Norte, Orión Oeste, Vega Pléyade and Fénix. Currently, the daily extraction from the CMA-1 deposits reaches around 18 MMC3 per day, which represents almost 17% of the total gas production nationwide.
Four months after obtaining more years of concession, in August 2022, the group was also favored by the Government’s decision that reintroduced oil activity to the industrial promotion and tax incentives regime of Tierra del Fuego.
The production plant awaits the corresponding environmental permits and the public consultation of citizens.
The initial production foreseen in the three new offshore wells will be 10 MMC3 per day that will be injected into the southern gas pipeline operated by TGS.
That daily volume, which will be available from the first months of 2025, equivalent to almost 8% of current domestic gas production and to the additional amount of gas from Vaca Muerta that can be added to the domestic market with the authorization of the first stage of the President Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline that the Government promised to inaugurate on June 20.
Confident that he will obtain the environmental go-ahead for the project without setbacks, the consortium has already contracted the construction of the new offshore platform, the purchase of pipes and the assembly of the gas pipeline that will be installed off the Fuegian coast.
The person in charge of manufacturing the platform is the Italian company Rosetti, in the plant that it has in Ravenna. For the maritime transfer, the chosen one was the shipping company of the Netherlands Heerema. Meanwhile, the 24-inch pipes will be provided by the Greek firm CPW, while the 4-inch pipes will come from the Tenaris factory controlled by the Techint group. And finally, the person in charge of installing and assembling the 35-kilometer gas pipeline connection with the Vega Pléyade facilities will be the Italian engineering company Saipem.
