Wintershall Dea completes first phase of drilling on Maria field

Wintershall Dea and partners Petoro and Sval Energi have successfully completed the first of two drilling campaigns for the Maria Phase 2 project with the Transocean Norge rig. 

Over the course of the two campaigns, the rig will drill three production wells and one water injection well. The first campaign – beginning at the end of February and finalised this month – included drilling of the ­­­­­top holes of the four wells and one well down to the reservoir. The remaining reservoir drilling and completion of the wells are planned to be carried out in 2025.

The drilling campaign is one of several milestones this year in the development of the second phase of the Maria field. At the end of April, an extensive marine campaign will commence, installing and commissioning several new pieces of subsea hardware, including the manifold and spools on the seabed. The subsea Xmas trees are planned for installation later this year. The new subsea template was installed in September last year.

“This year is a busy year for the Maria Phase 2 development. The project is progressing well and on track to deliver additional volumes to the Maria field from 2025 on,” said Vedad Hadziavdic, Wintershall Dea Maria Phase 2 Project Manager.

Reducing emissions has also been a focus throughout the project. Together with Wintershall Dea and OMV, Transocean has carried out several upgrades to lower the rig’s greenhouse emissions. As a subsea tie-back, Maria Phase 2 supports the broader strategy of producing hydrocarbons using existing infrastructure, thus ensuring the delivery of energy to Europe while contributing to reaching Wintershall Dea’s climate goals.

About Maria Phase 2

The Maria Phase 2 project involves the installation of a new six-slot template and four new wells in the southern part of the Maria field, located approximately 200 kilometres off the coast of Norway. Maria, which is a subsea field originally developed with two templates, came on stream in 2017. This next phase of the Maria project is expected to add around 27 million barrels of oil equivalent to the total field reserves. The expected lifetime of the Maria field is until the year 2040.

The new template will be connected to the existing infrastructure on the Maria field. The Maria wellstream goes to the Kristin platform. Water injection comes from Heidrun, while lift gas is provided from Åsgard B via the Tyrihans subsea field. Processed oil is sent to the Åsgard field for storage and export. Gas is exported via the Åsgard Transport System to Kårstø.

Maria Phase 2 is expected to come on stream in 2025.

Wintershall Dea Norge AS is operator of the Maria field with a 50% share. Petoro owns 30% and Sval Energi 20%.