Wintershall Dea has announced the start of development drilling at Fénix, the largest natural gas field under development located around 60 kilometers off the coast of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.

Noble’s jack-up drilling rig Regina Allen has been deployed to start the Fénix development drilling program valued at about $700 million, said Wintershall Dea.

The plan includes the drilling, completion, and production of three development wells over the coming months. The natural gas produced is then transported via a 24-inch subsea multiphase line to the existing Vega Pléyade platform located 35 kilometers from Fénix, and from there to the Rio Cullen facilities at shore.

“After the successful installation of the production platform in February and extensive and detailed preparation work for the drilling campaign over recent months, we are delighted to commence the next stage in the development of Fénix. We are well on track to bring this key energy project into production in Q4 this year,” said Manfred Boeckmann, Managing Director of Wintershall Dea Argentina.

Fénix is poised to contribute more than 15 years to Argentina’s long term energy supply and offset imports with estimated peak production of around 10 million cubic meters per day (mmcm/d) of gas.

Fénix is considered as the next gas field to be brought on stream as part of the world’s southernmost gas production concession Cuenca Marina Austral 1 (CMA-1) concession. Currently, the four main gas fields Cañadón Alfa, Aries, Carina and Vega Pléyade in CMA-1 are producing and already supply 15% of Argentina’s natural gas production.

In Fénix gas field, Wintershall Dea and TotaEnergies’ subsidiary Total Austral (operator) each hold a 37.5% share while Pan American Energy holds the remaining 25%.