Wintershall’s Maria field work goes to FMC Technologies

Wintershall, Germany’s oil and gas producer, has announced the award of its first significant subsea contract for its Norwegian activities.

Worth approximately NOK 1.8 billion ($280 million), the contract for Wintershall’s Maria development goes to FMC Technologies’ Norwegian subsidiary FMC Kongsberg Subsea AS. The company said it has been assigned after a thorough selection process and in alignment with the other license partners. Wintershall says that the award positions Wintershall as a growth operator in the subsea arena, and puts the company in a position to move forward with existing and new developments on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

“Maria is our first subsea development in Norway and we are consequently building our expertise in this field. Wintershall sees future potential for more developments of this kind on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and Norway is becoming a center of excellence for this kind of work,” says Bernd Schrimpf, Managing Director of Wintershall Norge.

“I am proud that this is our first major subsea contract. It shows how committed Wintershall is to Norway and further establishes our position as one of the country’s leading oil and gas producers.”

Similar systems for future subsea fields are under consideration for Wintershall’s Skarfjell development in the North Sea. A new extension north of the producing field Brage is also being investigated. Under the proposed development solution the Maria field would be linked to the already existing infrastructure nearby via a subsea tie-back. Based on this plan, the Maria field would be connected with the producing platform Kristin, Åsgard and Heidrun via two subsea templates.

The frame agreement with FMC Technologies will first be used to source and build a comprehensive subsea production system for Wintershall’s Maria development in the Norwegian Sea. “We see a lot of potential in this partnership with FMC Technologies,” adds Bernd Schrimpf.

There are two elements to the contract:

Maria Subsea Production System (SPS)

FMC Technologies will deliver a comprehensive SPS System for the Maria development. This includes engineering, procurement and construction (EPC). The Maria SPS consists of two integrated template manifolds with their respective trees and auxiliary equipment. It also includes the dynamic and the static umbilical, the production riser base and the subsea umbilical termination unit and the subsea control system. The contract for Maria is worth approximately NOK 1.8 billion ($280 million).

Subsea Production System (SPS) Frame Agreement

This includes a standardized SPS supply which forms the basis for future contracts for other developments.

Maria field

Approximately 200 kilometers from the Trondheim coastline, Maria is situated on the Halten Terrace in the Norwegian Sea. The field is located 20 kilometers east of the Kristin field and 45 kilometers south of the Heidrun field in the blocks 6407/1 and 6406/3. The discovery is expected to produce around 130 million barrels of oil and just over 2 billion standard cubic meters (Sm3) of gas.

Wintershall Norge is the operator, with a 50 % share. The other licensees are Petoro with 30 % and Centrica with 20 %.