Harbour Energy Brings Online Subsea Tie-Back in Norwegian Sea

London-listed oil and gas company Harbour Energy has successfully launched a subsea tie-back to its existing infrastructure off the coast of Norway, marking a significant milestone in the revitalization of an oil field in the Norwegian Sea.

TechnipFMC secured an integrated engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (iEPCI) contract for the Maria Phase 2 project in April 2022. The company’s heavy subsea construction vessel, North Sea Atlantic, transported a 330-ton template in 2023 from Vestbase in Kristiansund, Norway, to the Maria field in the Norwegian Sea, where it was installed 300 meters below the sea surface.

The original plan for the Maria Phase 2 project included the installation of a new six-slot template and four new wells in the southern part of the Maria field, which initially came on stream in 2017 with two templates. An amended plan for development and production (PDO) for Maria Phase 2 was approved in June 2023, aiming to add approximately 22 million barrels of oil equivalent to the total field reserves.

Formerly operated by Germany’s Wintershall Dea, the Maria field is now under Harbour Energy’s ownership following the acquisition of all upstream business assets from the German firm, excluding those in Russia. Harbour Energy announced the start-up of oil production on May 23, 2025, from the first of four wells in the subsea tie-back project to existing infrastructure at the Maria field.

Michael Zechner, Managing Director of Harbour’s Norway Business Unit, stated, “Maria Phase 2 builds on Harbour’s track record of developing high return, short cycle projects using existing infrastructure. This marks the first of the next wave of subsea developments we are bringing on-stream to support production from our Norway business.”

The remaining three wells are expected to commence production over the next few months, with hydrocarbon production at the field projected to continue until 2040. The partners in Maria Phase 2 are Harbour (50%, operator), Petoro (30%), and Sval Energi (20%), with the Maria well stream directed to the Kristin platform.

Water injection comes from Heidrun, while lift gas is provided from Åsgard B via the Tyrihans subsea field. Processed oil is sent to the Åsgard field for storage and export, while gas is exported via the Åsgard Transport System to Kårstø.

Harbour Energy, actively expanding its global oil and gas portfolio, recently discovered hydrocarbons at a prospect in the Central North Sea on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) and made a new gas discovery in the Norwegian Sea.