Wintershall’s flagship development in Norway has reached a new milestone as the two giant subsea templates for the Maria field were installed offshore last week.
The 285-tonne templates, each the size of a basketball court, sailed from Kristiansund in mid-Norway before being lowered onto the seabed on the Halten Terrace in the Norwegian Sea.
The templates were lifted onto the vessel Normand Oceanic, and traveled approximately 210km north, and installed on the Halten Terrace in the Norwegian Sea at 300m water depth. The planned production startup for Maria is in 2018.
The concept for the Maria-field is to connect the reservoir to the already existing, closely located infrastructure via a subsea tieback - making the project smart and efficient in challenging times. Under the approved development solution, the reservoir will be linked via a subsea tieback to the Kristin, Heidrun and Åsgard B production platforms.
Maria is the first development that Wintershall will bring from exploration to production in Norway.