Wintershall Struggles to Boost Output from Norway's Maria Field

Monday, October 15, 2018

German oil firm Wintershall's flagship project in Norway - the Maria oil and gas field - is not meeting output expectations due to water injection issues, the company said on Monday.

The field, which started nine months ahead of schedule at end-2017, was welcomed by the Norwegian government as an innovative project to squeeze more barrels from Norway's continental shelf.

But 10 months after the startup Maria's output has not lived up to expectations.

"The production performance of the Maria field does not yet fully meet our expectations," Wintershall said in an email to Reuters. The company did not give details of these expectations.

Winters said the reason for this could be a limitation in the connectivity between the water injection and oil production layers in the reservoir.

"Some testing and investigations will be performed to obtain more information and to define the way forward," Wintershall said in the email.

The company, which injects water to keep the pressure in the reservoir some 3,800 meters deep, said it was too early to say whether it would have to revise estimates for the field's recoverable reserves, which currently stand at around 180 million barrels of oil equivalents.

Spirit Energy, which has a 20 percent stake in the field, said on its website that at peak production Maria was expected to add about 8,300 barrels of oil equivalents (boed) net to Spirit Energy's output.

That would put Maria's expected gross peak production at more than 41,500 boed, according to Reuters' calculations.

The latest data from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate showed the Maria field produced 23,400 barrels of oil equivalents per day (boed) in July.

Wintershall has 50 percent stake in Maria's licence, and Norway's state-owned Petoro holds the remaining 30 percent.

Norwegian business Dagens Naeringsliv was the first to report the issues at the Maria field.

Wintershall, owned by German chemicals group BASF, is in the process of merging with oil and gas firm DEA.

Spirit Energy is 69 percent owned by Britain's Centrica.


(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Categories: Deepwater Offshore Energy Activity Subsea Well Operations Europe Production

Related Stories

Yinson, PTSC Get $600M Contract for Vietnam-Bound FSO

Pandion Energy Divests Interests in Three Norwegian Assets to Inpex

China Starts Production at Major Oil Field in Bohai Sea

Seatrium Makes First Turnkey FPSO Delivery to Petrobras

KBR-SOCAR Joint Venture Secures Work for BP in Azerbaijan

Centrica and Thailand’s PTT Ink Long-Term LNG Supply Deal

Fugro Expands Geotechnical Testing Capabilities in Indonesia

CNOOC Starts Production at Offshore Field in South China Sea

Aker Solutions, PTAS JV Hooks Brownfield Services Extension off Brunei

TPAO, SOCAR and BP to Ink Caspian Sea Oil and Gas Production Deal

Current News

Norwegian Oil Investment Will Peak in '25

Saipem Marks First Steel Cut for Tangguh UCC Project at Karimun Yard

Saipem Wins FEED Contract For Abadi LNG Project FPSO Module In Indonesia

Cheniere, JERA Ink Long-Term LNG Sale and Purchase Agreement

Shelf Drilling Lands New Jack-Up Contract in Vietnam, Extends Egypt Deal

Seatrium Engages Axess Group to Clear FPSOs for Brazil Deployment

Inpex Picks FEED Contractors for Abadi LNG Onshore Plant

Inpex Kicks Off FEED Work for Abadi LNG Scheme Offshore Indonesia

ADNOC Signs Long-Term LNG Deal with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation

Sapura Energy Rebrands to Vantris Energy

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com