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Our Arctic Neighbors: Norwegian government approves Goliat plan Operator Eni, partner StatoilHydro must wait for outcome of debate in parliament before developing first Barents Sea oil field Sarah Hurst For Petroleum News
The Norwegian government has approved the plan for development and operation for the Goliat oil field, which would be the first oil field to be developed in the Barents Sea. Norway’s parliament will now consider the plan, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy announced in a release May 8. Italy’s Eni is the operator of Goliat, with a 65 percent stake in the field, and Norway’s StatoilHydro owns the remaining share.
“Goliat represents one of the largest industrial projects ever undertaken in the High North,” said Norway’s minister of petroleum and energy, Terje Riis-Johansen. “The development of Goliat will provide revenues to Norwegian society, result in local spinoff effects, and will directly and indirectly create approximately 500 jobs in the county of Finnmark for a period of 15 years.”
Eni’s regional office will be based in the city of Hammerfest — which is already the base for StatoilHydro’s offshore Snohvit gas field — and the helicopter terminal and supply base will be located in the area around Hammerfest. The company has agreed to adapt its contract strategy for modification and maintenance contracts so that local suppliers will be more able to compete for those contracts. Investments related to Goliat are estimated to be about NOK 28 billion ($4.3 billion).
From startup the majority of the electricity for Goliat will be provided by the onshore power grid, and the plan is to reduce the use of the gas turbine at Goliat whenever possible.
“It has been important to me that Goliat shall be able to be provided with energy from land. This is accomplished,” said Riis-Johansen. “The power situation in Finnmark does not allow Goliat to be run exclusively on electricity from land from the time of production startup. However, I have started a process so that this will be feasible in 2017.”
Electric cable link planned Eni Norge has submitted an application for a permit to build an electric cable link between mainland Norway and Goliat’s offshore floating production facility, with associated new electrical substation and distribution grid upgrades on land, the company said in a release May 14. The subsea cable will be 62 miles long and will be combined with a gas turbine-driven generator incorporating thermal recycling.
Eni aims to complete processing of the permit application by spring 2010, and the company has signed a letter of intent with Hammerfest Energi Nett concerning work on the mainland.
Due to the specific challenges in the area, oil spill preparedness is a high priority, the government said. Eni will take measures to reinforce oil spill preparedness in affected municipalities such as Masoy, Hasvik and Nordkapp.
The Goliat field is also subject to a greenhouse gas quota and will have to pay a CO2 tax. The Norwegian parliament is expected to debate the Goliat project during the second quarter of 2009, with production scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2013.
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