Our Arctic Neighbors: Norwegian parliament says yes to Goliat

First Barents Sea oil field, partnership between Eni and StatoilHydro, will use floating facility to reduce CO2 emissions

Sarah Hurst

For Petroleum News

The Norwegian Storting (parliament) has approved the plan for development and operation for the Eni-operated Goliat oil field in the Barents Sea, just more than a month after Norway’s government gave the plan the go-ahead. Goliat’s reserves are estimated to be approximately 180 million barrels of oil equivalent, and the project’s startup is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2013.

“The approval is a key milestone for the Goliat license and a further step in the realization of the first ever oil field development in the Barents Sea,” Eni Norge said in a release June 19. “Goliat is a strategic project for Eni and will be developed with state-of-the-art technology in order to minimize emissions in an environmentally important area.”

Norway’s StatoilHydro is Eni’s partner in Goliat, with Eni holding a 65 percent interest in the project and StatoilHydro the remainder.

“The Goliat field will be developed using subsea wells linked to a circular floating production, storage and offloading facility (FPSO),” Eni said. “Use of the circular FPSO makes it possible to utilize electricity supplied from shore combined with a gas turbine for power and heat on the offshore facility. This will result in significantly lower levels of CO2 emissions.”

Italy’s Eni established Eni Norge in 1965, and the Norwegian subsidiary has a daily production of approximately 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent. Eni Norge is the operator of 15 licenses and has ownership interest in 52 licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf.