Total energy company proceeds with offshore natural gas plans PARIS, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Production in Argentina's Vega Pleyade gas field will help French company Total produce at its peak rate of 635 million cubic feet per day, Total said. Total serves as the operator at the offshore field, with a 37.5 percent stake. The company said it made a decision to go ahead with three wells in the area. "Together with production from the other Total-operated fields in the area, it will allow optimization of supply to the existing treatment plants and continuation of the plateau production of 635 million cubic feet per day," the company said in a statement Thursday. The field is in an area that Total has operated since the 1970s. Ladislas Paszkiewicz, a vice president in charge of regional exploration and production, said development from Vega Pleyade would help ensure Argentina has a long-term supply of natural gas reserves. Total said its operations account for 30 percent of the country's total natural gas production. The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration says Argentina has proven natural gas reserves of 13.4 trillion cubic feet.