Eni starts production from Goliat field

After years of delays, Eni, an Italian oil company, has started production from the Goliat field in the Barents Sea. The field, dubbed the world’s northernmost offshore development, was originally planned for first oil in 2013.

Goliat, located 85 kilometers northwest of Hammerfest, offshore northern Norway, is the first oil field to come on stream in the Barents Sea and is being developed using a floating cylindrical production and storage and offloading unit built in South Korea.

The FPSO has a storage capacity of almost one million barrels and was built in order to meet the technical and environmental challenges linked to Arctic offshore operations.

The field will produce 100,000 barrels of oil per day (65,000 boed net to Eni). The field is estimated to contain about 180 million barrels of oil.

Production will be facilitated using a subsea system consisting of 22 wells (17 of which are already completed). There are twelve production wells, seven water injectors and three gas injectors.

The field is supplied with hydro-generated electricity from the mainland by means of a subsea cable.

Eni holds a 65% stake (as operator) in Production Licence 229. The Norwegian company Statoil holds the remaining 35%.