Wintershall, the largest German crude oil and natural gas producer and subsidiary of BASF, and its partners have submitted a Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) for the Maria field in the Norwegian Sea to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. This is the first time Wintershall, as operator of the field, has submitted a PDO for a Norwegian development.
The planned development solution for the Maria field involves two subsea templates located on the ocean floor tied back to several host platforms in the area. Investments in the Maria development are estimated at around NOK15.3bn (€1.8bn), including development drilling. Recoverable reserves on the field are estimated around 180 mboe, of which the majority is oil. The planned production startup for Maria is end 2018, and the estimated production period is 23 years. Under the selected development solution, the Maria reservoir will be linked via a subsea tieback to the Kristin, Heidrun and Åsgard B production platforms.
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%.
Source: Wintershall