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

Brownfield Output Decline Accelerates, says IEA

PTTEP Hires McDermott for Deepwater Subsea Job off Malaysia

CNOOC Brings Online Another Oil and Gas Project in South China Sea

Technip Energies Gets FEED Job for Inpex’ Abadi LNG Project in Indonesia

Subsea7 Secures Work at Black Sea Field off Türkiye

CNOOC Brings New Offshore Gas Field On Stream

China Starts Production at Major Oil Field in Bohai Sea

MODEC, Carbon Clean to Advance FPSO-Mounted Carbon Capture Tech

BP Expands Oil and Gas Scope in Azerbaijan with New Projects and Exploration Rights

Fugro Lands Deepwater Gas Field Job in Southeast Asia

Current News

Yinson Production Nets DNV Approval for New FPSO Hull Design

Hanwha Ocean's Tidal Action Drillship Starts Maiden Job with Petrobras

Petronas to Leverage AI to Expedite Oil and Gas Exploration Activities

Brownfield Output Decline Accelerates, says IEA

PV Drilling Takes Ownership of Noble Corporation’s Stacked Jack-Up Rig

Hanwha Ocean Enlists ABB for Singapore’s First Floating LNG Terminal

Aquaterra Energy Nets Subsea Analysis Contracts with INPEX off Indonesia

POSH Set to Tow Nguya FLNG from China to Eni’s Congo Field

Chinese Contractor Secures Offshore Oil and Gas ‘Mega Deal’ from QatarEnergy

DOF Secures Moorings Hook-Up Job in Asia Pacific

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