By Kjetil Malkenes Hovland

Norway's government said Friday it had approved the plan for Wintershall's NOK15.3 billion ($1.85 billion) Maria oil field in the Norwegian Sea, a welcome shot in the arm for the country's struggling oil-field services sector.

"The development of the Maria field means work for many supplier companies with surplus capacity," said Tord Lien, Norway's Minister of Petroleum and Energy.

Oil companies in Norway expect to cut spending by 10% this year from an all-time high last year, and oil services companies are shedding jobs by the thousands as orders wane. Earlier this week, FMC's Norwegian arm said it would shed 550 jobs--200 more than previously announced--and Aker Solutions ASA said it was shedding 500 jobs.

The Maria field is estimated to hold 180 million barrels of oil equivalent, the majority crude oil. The field is situated in the Norwegian Sea, about 230 kilometers off the mainland and 20 kilometers from the existing Kristin field. The project has already generated several contracts to companies including FMC and Subsea 7.

"In a challenging oil price environment, we are moving ahead with the execution of this key development project," said Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall's Maria project director. German oil and gas company Wintershall is a unit of BASF (BAS.XE).

Wintershall is operator of the Maria field with a 50% ownership stake. Partners include Norway's state-owned Petoro AS with a 30% stake and Centrica with a 20% stake. Expected production start is 2018.

Write to Kjetil Malkenes Hovland at kjetilmalkenes.hovland@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 04, 2015 09:17 ET (13:17 GMT)