Germany's Wintershall says it is expecting to bring forward first oil from its Maria field development in the Norwegian Sea.
Production from the subsea tieback, containing about 180 MMboe recoverable and set to cost about US1.78 billion (NOK15.3 billion), was expected in 2018, but could now come onstream in the first half of the year.
The update was made following a visit to the Deepsea Stavanger semisubmersible drilling rig in the Norwegian Sea by Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Terje Søviknes, and Wintershall’s CEO Mario Mehren, yesterday.
Maria is a subsea tieback using existing infrastructure. Drilling of the six wells on the field started in March and the top holes are now complete. Drilling towards the reservoir section is underway.
“The Maria project has so far had very good progress. If this continues, a startup in the first half of 2018 could be possible. With the drilling of the reservoir, we will be passing another critical milestone that moves us a step closer to first oil,” said Mehren.
Located in the Haltenbanken area of the Norwegian Sea, the Maria reservoir will be linked via subsea tieback to three existing platforms in the area. 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 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.
Some 68km of pipelines and two subsea templates have already been installed with the remaining installations due in 2017. Platform modifications to Kristin and Heidrun, and other offshore marine work is ongoing.
Maria is about 20km east of the Kristin field and about 45km 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%.
Read more: Ave Maria