The El Tordillo field in the Gulf of San Jorge Basin, in southern Argentina, was cut off by blizzards. However, thanks to a heroic team effort between employees and contractors, the operation got back on line in record time.

Stories of terrible storms abound in the memory of El Tordillo: in 1984, a blizzard hit Chubut with temperatures that fell to historical lows, while in 2017 a record snowfall and sub-zero temperatures left hundreds of evacuees. This year has also made itself felt, with winter gales ushering in a cold snap that sent temperatures plunging throughout the entire country, bringing extreme weather conditions to the basin.

It started snowing on Tuesday, June 18, and as the days went by, the snowfall became heavier. Although the site was operating normally, contingency measures were activated on that first day, shoring up the operation against the chances of the weather taking a turn for the worse with heavier snow as from the early hours of Wednesday, June 19.

“Those of us who had to go up to the site on Wednesday left our homes really early and already found that the road was blocked,” recalls Ángel Giménez, Production & Water Flooding Manager. “We managed to get through thanks to the Safety Department, in charge of processing the permits with the police, and proceeded to the site with our snow chains on, wearing our bad weather gear and with all the appropriate safety elements, thanks to the support of our maintenance crew vehicle." They traveled behind the Road Safety team which had been out since before dawn clearing the roads as part of a task repeated in double shifts during the following days. This meant that traffic could get through “to evacuate personnel from the rigs and enable the operational units in charge of the continuity of the operation to move around safely,” says Juan De La Vía, Facilities Manager.

In the following days, the weather conditions worsened and on Friday 21, there was a general power outage. As they couldn’t produce enough gas for self-generation purposes, all oil and gas production was put on hold.

The entire basin had ground to a halt. However, despite the overall blackout, the El Tordillo team continued working on its mission to restore gas generation and get its external and internal electricity network back up. José Doria, Production Leader, waxes eloquent on the subject: “We spent the entire day, all evening and much of the night trying to supply the generator with gas to avoid having to go back.”

While Nicolás Ingentron, Electrical Maintenance Lead Supervisor remembers that, “We trudged along the power lines looking for anything that could be a problem in order to try and get supply back.”

However, this wasn’t possible and, frustrated and dejected, as José remembers, “We returned to the dark offices and saw how disappointed everybody was because we hadn’t managed to do what we set out to do.” “When we got the order to return, everything was shut down and the overarching feeling was one of great frustration,” adds Nicolás.

Given the prevailing conditions, the challenges were fairly severe, but it was also apparent that it was down to the group to sort it out. So it was that, as dictated by Tordillo DNA, the next day at six in the morning everyone pulled out in their trucks along the road that the snow ploughs had dutifully opened up for them again.

Refreshed with new ideas and after a great deal of hard work where safety was the main concern in each and every maneuver, power and gas were finally restored on Saturday June 22 at 8 p.m. As the lights turned on, one by one, just like in the movies, the site began to recover normality.

Ángel sings the praises of the catering team: “The guys in the kitchen worked their magic and came up with hot, nutritious meals for us—without using either electricity or gas!” José emphasizes the team spirit: “We all pulled together, regardless of our schedules, and did so safely. The truth is that every one of us gave it our all.” Bruno Di Tulio, Gas Plant Manager is proud to recall how everybody worked together. “We were all so committed, and in an extreme situations and extreme conditions, we did the impossible.” Juan adds: “It was so exciting to finally get power back to the site on Saturday. A real swell of pride in the group, among the operators, everyone responded and contributed wholeheartedly.”

As Nicholas says: “In my sector, the task was successful thanks to the contractors. We were all out shoveling snow, shoulder to shoulder.” Gabriel Russo, Operations Facilities Sr. Engineer, points out that, “The keys were communication, working closely with Operations Management, and the hard work and commitment of our contractors.” He knows what he’s talking about, as on the Tuesday he helped to evacuate personnel from the pulling units, and on the Wednesday, accompanied the production supervisors with heavy road machinery.

The final reflection comes from Ángel, who observes: “That's where what we’ve learned, what’s written in the manuals and what we cover in our meetings, was put into practice. It was a by-the-book contingency plan which was successfully deployed to tackle the event. And there were no heroics, everybody acted safely and in full awareness of what they were doing.”

By the end of Saturday, June 22, El Tordillo was back on line and ready to continue producing, further enhanced by a good vibe and an upbeat team spirit. The efforts and attitude earned the recognition of the Minister of Hydrocarbons, Federico Ponce, as Tecpetrol was the company that got back on line the fastest, the first to restore well operations after the weather emergency hit the province. Effort, commitment and teamwork: all reflected in their true essence in El Tordillo.