Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy approved plans for Wintershall’s US$1.8 billion (NOK 15.3 billion) Maria development, offshore Norway.
 |
|
Maria development plan. Image from Wintershall. |
The Maria field, about 20km east of the Kristin field and about 45km south of the Heidrun field in the Halten Terrace in the Norwegian Sea, is estimated to contain 180 MMboe recoverable resources, with a majority of that being oil.
According to Wintershall, the development for Maria includes two subsea templates located on the ocean floor tied back to several host installations in the area. Under the approved development solution, the Maria reservoir will be linked via a subsea tieback to the Kristin, Heidrun and Åsgard B production platforms. The Maria well stream will go to the Kristin platform for processing while supply of water for injection into the reservoir will come from the Heidrun platform and lift gas will be provided from Åsgard B via the Tyrihans D field subsea template. Processed oil will be shipped to the Åsgard field for storage and offloading to shuttle tankers. Gas will be exported via the Åsgard Transport System to Kårstø.
Total investments for Maria are estimated to be $1.8 billion, including development drilling. Planned production startup for Maria is in 2018.
“By developing this innovative solution that utilizes existing infrastructure in the Norwegian Sea, we are strengthening our position as a subsea operator and generating substantial value for the partnership and the whole supply chain,” said Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall Maria project director.
In December, Wintershall announced that through lab tests, studies, and calculations, Maria’s recoverable resources jumped almost 28.6%. Initally, Maria was thought to have 130 MMboe of oil and 10 MMboe of associated gas. Maria’s new technical production profile is now estimated to be made up of about 150 MMbbl, 10 MMboe of gas, and 20 MMboe of natural gas liquids.
Wintershall and its Maria partners have awarded several contracts for the project.
In July, DNV GL won a $1.2 million, five-year frame agreement for global inspection services for Wintershall’s developments offshore Norway, which will initially be used for the Maria development.
In May, Subsea 7 was awarded the $300 million pipeline and subsea contract, consisting of engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of 95km of rigid flowlines and associated structures to develop the Maria field.
Aibel was also awarded a $114.3 million EPCI contract for work related to planned water injection from the Heidrun platform to the Wintershall Norge-operated Maria field.
In October 2014, FMC Technologies’ Norwegian subsidiary FMC Kongsberg Subsea inked a deal to supply subsea equipment on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, starting with a US$280 million project on the Maria development.
Wintershall Norge is the operator of the license with a 50% share, which may change to 35% should a deal from June with Tellus be approved by authorities that will see Tellus gain 15% in Maria. Other partners include Petoro (30%) and Centrica Resources (Norge) (20%).
Read more:
Subscribe
