Norway’s energy minister officially opens Eni’s Goliat (Gallery)

Eni’s Goliat field, located in the Barents Sea offshore Norway, was officially inaugurated by Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Tord Lien, on Monday, April 18, 2016.

Although first oil was initially planned for 2013, the Italian oil company, Eni, started production from the Goliat field in March 2016, making it the first oil field to come on stream in the Barents Sea.

The Goliat field is operated by Eni’s Norwegian subsidiary, Eni Norge, and located 85 kilometers northwest of Hammerfest. It is being developed using a floating cylindrical production and storage and offloading unit built in South Korea.

“This is a proud moment for everyone in Eni Norge. It is the culmination of years of hard work by many dedicated people. We are now entering into a new phase as operator on the Norwegian continental shelf. The start-up of production from Goliat is an important milestone in Eni’s growth strategy,” says Andreas Wulff, External Communication Manager.

According to Eni, the production start-up in the evening of March 12, 2016, was followed by a rapid production ramp-up of all wells. Full re-injection of associated gas into the reservoir has started and re-injection of produced water in order to minimise environmental impact will soon start, the company stated.

The operator added that the Goliat cylindrical FPSO was fully winterised and was specially designed for operations in the Barents Sea. It is powered from shore through a subsea electrical cable, which, at the time of construction, was the longest of its kind ever made, the company said. Power from shore reduces CO₂ emissions from Goliat by up to 50 per cent. This equals the emissions from 50 000 cars annually, said Eni.

The platform has a production capacity of 100,000 barrels of oil per day and storage capacity of 950.000 barrels. Its estimated recoverable reserves are ca 180 million barrels of oil. Field life is currently estimated to 20 years, with significant upside already identified.

Images: Eni Norge