Eni’s Argo and Cassiopea project offshore Italy has achieved first gas.
As of Eni’s 19 August announcement, the first of four subsea wells in the Strait of Sicily is flowing through a 60-km subsea pipeline to Eni’s Gela processing plant before being fed into the national grid. Project partner Energean plc said in a press release the remaining three wells will be brought on line, tested, and commissioned in the coming months.
In a 2019 press release, Eni said the Argo and Cassiopea gas fields would be “first gas fields capable of reaching carbon neutrality thanks to energy produced at photovoltaic plants.” In its most recent announcement, Eni said a dedicated installation of 3.6 MWp of photovoltaic panels will ensure the project achieves carbon neutrality for Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
The fields are in water depths of up to 660 m. Eni estimates the fields’ reserves are around 10 Bcm of gas. Peak annual production is expected to be 1.5 Bcm.
According to Energean, tie-in points have been included in the production system to allow a series of low-risk exploration prospects and existing discoveries like Panda and Panda West to be tied in for future production.
Eni said the subsea project went onstream 3 years after work started on it.
Eni operates the Argo Cassiopea project with 60% interest on behalf of partner Energean with 40%. Energean said the field is part of the company’s portfolio that is being sold to an entity controlled by Carlyle International Energy Partners.
