Maria discovery one of the largest findings in 2010
Wintershall Holding GmbH announces a discovery at the Maria prospect in production licence 475BS in the Norwegian Sea about 200 kilometers off the coast of Trondheim. The well proved light oil and was drilled on the Halten terrace, near the Tyrihans and Åsgard fields. The size of the discovery is estimated between 60 and 120 million barrels of recoverable resources, placing it among the largest oil discoveries in Norway in this year. With Wintershall Norge's success in its first operated well Grosbeak last July, the Maria discovery is the company's second hit in a row on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in the last twelve months. Wintershall also holds a stake in the Catcher discovery which was made in late June in the UK North Sea. The Catcher discovery is considered as one of the biggest North Sea oil discoveries of recent years. Harald Vabø, General Manager of Wintershall Norge ASA comments: "We are extremely satisfied with our exploration performance in Norway, mak-ing two excellent discoveries in our two first operated wells Grosbeak and Maria. Our challenge now will be to move these discoveries rapidly from the exploration to the development phase." Martin Bachmann, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, responsible for Exploration and Produc-tion, states: "The Maria discovery is another important milestone for Win-tershall and it adds a further piece of growth potential to our portfolio on the Norwegian Continental Shelf."
About the Maria discovery
After its spud in May, the Maria well (6406/3-8T2) was drilled in a water depth of 303 meters by the Songa Delta drilling rig. The well reached a vertical depth of 4216 meters below sea level. It proved light oil in the Mid-dle Jurassic Garn Formation. The gross size of the discovery is estimated between 60 and 120 million barrels of recoverable oil and between 2 and 5 billion standard cubic meters (Sm3) of recoverable gas. Extensive data acquisition and sampling has been carried out in the reservoir. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.
The Maria discovery in the Garn formation lies in a large northeast-southwest trending Jurassic horst block. The Garn Formation forms the reservoir of several producing fields and discoveries in Mid Norway, includ-ing the Trestakk, Smørbukk Sør, Tyrihans, and Tyrihans North structures, all adjacent to the Maria discovery. As the Maria field is therefore located in an area with an advanced infrastructure, a rapid development of the field is planned.
Production Licence 475 BS is in block 6406/3 and 6407/1 and is located between the Tyrihans Nord and Smørbukk Sør fields and next to the Trestakk discovery. It is situated about 200 kilometers off the coast of Nor-way. Wintershall was awarded licence 475 BS in the APA 2008.