Wintershall submits development plan for Maria field

German oil company Wintershall has today submitted a plan for development and operation of the Maria field in the Norwegian Sea. According to the plan, the field will be developed using two subsea installations tied back to the existing infrastructure nearby.

According to information on the Norwegian energy ministry’s website, this is the first time Wintershall is submitting a development plan for a field in Norway. Wintershall has 50 licences on the Norwegian continental shelf.

The investment for the field located on Halten Terrace in blocks 6407/1 and 6406/3 is estimated at around 15.3 billion NOK including development drilling.

Recoverable reserves on the field are estimated around 180 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), of which the majority is oil. The planned production startup for Maria is end 2018, and the estimated production period is 23 years.

The development concept implies that the well stream is sent to the Kristin platform for processing and that the stabilized oil will be shipped from Kristin to Åsgard for storage and export by shuttle tankers. Gas for gas lift will come from Åsgard B via existing gas pipeline to Tyrihans field and water injection will come from Heidrun.

The Maria field is located approximately 20 kilometres east of the Kristin field and about 45 kilometres south of the Heidrun field in the Halten Terrace in the Norwegian Sea. Wintershall Norge is the operator of the license with a 50% share. Petoro has a 30% share and Centrica Resources (Norge) owns the remaining 20%.

“Maria field is a good example of the importance of exploration near existing infrastructure, and how we can get the cost-effective development by utilizing available capacity in existing infrastructure,” said energy minister Tord Lien.

Maria field is located in production license 475BS and 475CS. The partners in both licenses are Wintershall Norway AS (50 percent), Petoro (30 percent) and Centrica Resources (Norway) AS (20 percent).