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Government approves Wintershall’s oilfield development in offshore Norway

The Norwegian government has approved an application from Wintershall, Petoro and Centrica Resources (Norge) to develop and operate the Maria offshore oilfield in the Halten Terrace region of the Norwegian Sea, around 600km northwest of Trondheim.

The partners will invest total of around NOK 15.3bn ($1.86bn)  in the Maria development, including development drilling. The field’s recoverable reserves are estimated around 180m bbl of oil equivalent, of which the majority is oil. The planned production startup for Maria is in 2018.

In the development plan, the Maria reservoir will be linked via a subsea tieback to the Kristin, Heidrun and Åsgard B production platforms.

Processed oil will be shipped to the Åsgard field for storage and offloading to shuttle tankers, and gas will be exported via the Åsgard Transport System to Kårstø.

“This is another important landmark for Wintershall in Norway. In a challenging oil price environment, we are moving ahead with the execution of this key development project. Through Maria we are investing in one of our core international regions which demonstrates our commitment on the Norwegian continental shelf,” said Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall Maria’s project director.

Wintershall Norge is the operator of the oilfield license with a 50% share; its partners Petoro and Centrica Resources (Norge) own the remaining 30% and 20% respectively.

Holly Birkett

Holly is Splash's Online Editor and correspondent for the UK and Mediterranean. She has been a maritime journalist since 2010, and has written for and edited several trade publications. She is currently studying for membership of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. In 2013, Holly won the Seahorse Club's Social Media Journalist of the Year award. She is currently based in London.
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