Wintershall Dea installs Maria Phase 2 manifold and spools

Wintershall Dea has safely installed vital pieces of subsea hardware for the second phase of the operated Maria field, on the seabed in the Haltenbanken area of the Norwegian Sea.

In an extensive installation campaign, that began in April and was finalised early July, a six-slot production and water injection manifold, pipeline spools, control lines and flexible lines for water injection and gas lift were installed at 300 meters water depth.

“With these key pieces of subsea infrastructure in place, we are an important step closer to the expected production start in 2025. Maria Phase 2 will help to extend the lifetime and increase reserves of the Maria field, contributing to Norway’s stable delivery of energy to Europe. As a tie back to several fields in the area, it also has the potential to extend the lifetime of surrounding infrastructure,” said Vedad Hadziavdic, Maria Phase 2 Project Manager at Wintershall Dea. 

Different vessels were used to install and connect the subsea infrastructure. TechnipFMC is responsible for the campaign, after being awarded the integrated Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation (iEPCI™) contract for Maria Phase 2 in April 2022. 

“The close collaboration between the Wintershall Dea project team, our main contractor TechnipFMC, and Equinor, operator of host platform Kristin, has been a key contributor to the safe and efficient execution of the installation campaign. A big thank you to all involved!”, said Bård Owe Bakken, Maria Phase 2 Manager Facilities Engineering at Wintershall Dea. 

Later this year the first of four Xmas trees is planned to be installed on the field. The other three will be installed in 2025 when the Transocean Norge rig is expected to carry out the remaining reservoir drilling and completion of the Maria Phase 2 wells. The first phase of drilling was completed in April this year.

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 is 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 AS has 30% and Sval Energi AS owns 20%.