Wintershall group to develop Maria offshore Norway
An appraisal well north of the 2010 Maria oil and gas discovery in the Norwegian Sea has confirmed the initial resource estimate and supported the upper end of discovery volumes, said Wintershall Norge AS.
Wintershall and partners will therefore assess development options such as a subsea tieback or stand-alone facilities for the field based on results of the 6407/1-5 S well. The appraisal well is 20 km east of Kristin field and 8 km northeast of the Maria discovery well.
Maria is estimated to contain 60-120 million bbl of recoverable oil and 2-5 bscm of recoverable gas.
The appraisal well went to 4,133 m in 297 m of water and cut a 39-m thick oil column in the Garn formation with reservoir quality as expected, a common oil-water contact, and pressure communication. A successful formation test was carried out.
License interests are Wintershall Norge operator with 50%, Petoro AS 30%, and Centrica Resources AS 20%.
Wintershall said it will invest as much as 2 billion euros in exploration and field development in Norway and the UK and is aiming for a production level of 50,000 b/d of oil equivalent by 2015. Knarr, Edvard Grieg, and Cladhan fields should contribute to meeting the target.
Alan Petzet | Chief Editor Exploration
Alan Petzet is Chief Editor-Exploration of Oil & Gas Journal in Houston. He is editor of the Weekly E&D Newsletter, emailed to OGJ subscribers, and a regular contributor to the OGJ Online subscriber website.
Petzet joined OGJ in 1981 after 13 years in the Tulsa World business-oil department. He was named OGJ Exploration Editor in 1990. A native of Tulsa, he has a BA in journalism from the University of Tulsa.
