In November 2021, TotalEnergies celebrated the conclusion of the Incahuasi 5 Well Connection Project (ICS-5). The well’s production will add up to 2 million cubic meters per day of gas to the Incahuasi field’s total production and allows it to maintain a production plateau of 11 million cubic meters per day.
The connection project required 500,000 man-hours during construction, thus meeting the goal of “zero” incidents and an investment of $25 million, plus the $74 million invested in drilling the ICS-5 Well.
Basic engineering work began in September 2019, and in April 2021 the construction phase began with the opening of the right-of-way. In September the hydrostatic test was successfully carried out on the collection line pipe, and in November the well was linked to the existing facilities in the ICS-3 well, prior to start-up.
The project´s scope
The project included the construction of facilities at the outlet of ICS-5 – which has a depth of 5,040 meters – up to its connection with the collection line, with a length of 7.4 km and 10” in diameter, which reaches the ICS-3 well pad, whose facilities were expanded to receive this added production. Additionally, an optical fiber was installed that allows the equipment installed in ICS-5 to be connected to the plant's control system, allowing it to be operated remotely.
Around 500 people were involved in the project, with up to 250 people housed on-site during construction. At the same time, it should be noted that through contractors, employment opportunities were provided to neighboring communities located in the municipality of Lagunillas.
Gas production from the ICS-5 Well will join gas production from the ICS-3 Well. The production of both wells will be transported from ICS-3 to the Incahuasi Gas Processing Plant.
The facilities in the ICS-5 Well have their own electricity generation – including the control and instrumentation systems – through a photovoltaic system with solar panels and batteries installed for this purpose. With this technology, TotalEnergies EP Bolivie contributes to the use of renewable energy, reducing fuel gas consumption and CO2 emissions, replicating the successful design that was installed in the ICS-3 Well.
This project had an additional challenge: carrying out construction activities amid COVID-19. To minimize risks, TotalEnergies EP Bolivie applied strict protocols, thanks to which there were no cases of Covid in the operation. Health and safety are fundamental values that guide the actions of the Company.
The ICS-5 Well connection project is part of a series of projects developed by TotalEnergies EP Bolivie, with its partners Gazprom, Tecpetrol and YPFB Chaco under an operation contract with YPFB to carry out hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation activities in the Incahuasi and Aquio fields.
Incahuasi Gas Processing Plant
The Incahuasi Gas Processing Plant, located 250 km south of the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, began Ipati and Aquio blocks´ commercial production in August 2016, with hydrocarbon provided from the Aquio-X1001, ICS -X1 and ICS-2 wells, and an initial gas processing capacity of 6.5 million cubic meters per day. Later on the ICS-3 well was connected.
In 2019, additional investments were made to increase the capacity of the Plant to 11 million cubic meters per day by carrying out Debottlenecking (capacity expansion and elimination of bottlenecks) and Bypass processes.
The initial investment for the processing plant was $1.3 billion and the total investment in the project was $1.6 billion.
The processed gas is delivered through a lateral line to the GASYRG national transportation system, while the condensate is delivered through another pipeline to the OCSZ-2 Pipeline for further commercialization by YPFB.
