German operator Wintershall has been given the green light to start up its Maria field in the Norwegian Sea almost a year ahead of plan.
The project has also been brought in on reduced costs and with increased oil reserves.
Production will start in December, around 10 months before first oil was scheduled.
A well-executed project and quick, efficient drilling operations have contributed to this, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said in an update today.
The development has been cheaper than anticipated. The investment costs are just over NOK12billion, whereas the estimate in the plan for development and operations was NOK 15.7 billion.
“The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate is very satisfied with the development of the Maria project,” says Kalmar Ildstad, assistant director for development and operations in the Norwegian Sea.
“With a total of four host facilities, the project is also a good example of the value creation generated from good collaboration with the licensees in surrounding infrastructure.”
The consent to start up the oil field is issued to the licensees in production licences 475 BS and 475 CS.
The field is located about 240 kilometres northwest of Trondheim, about 20 kilometres east of the Kristin field and approx. 45 kilometres southwest of the Heidrun field.
Maria has been developed with two seabed templates with four slots each, where according to current plans, four oil production wells and two water injection wells will be drilled.
The NPD said there had been good collaboration on utilisation of various host facilities has made the Maria development possible in such a short amount of time. The wellstream from Maria will be transported via pipeline on the seabed to Kristin for processing and metering.
The stabilised oil will then be routed to the Åsgard C – FSU for storage and offloading, whereas the rich gas will be routed through the Åsgard Transport System (ÅTS) to Kårstø, where NGL and condensate will be extracted.
Gas for gas lift will arrive at Maria from Åsgard B via the Tyrihans D template and pressure support for Maria will be obtained from injection of sulfate-reduced water from Heidrun TLP.
Wintershall estimates that the anticipated recoverable reserves in Maria total 28.9 million standard cubic meters (Sm3) of oil, 1.32 million tonnes of NGL and 2.31 billion Sm3 of gas. Maria is expected to produce for 22 years.