The Norwegian safety watchdog, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), has given Eni consent to use the Scarabeo 8 drilling rig at the Goliat field in the Barents Sea.
The regulator said on Tuesday that the Scarabeo 8 rig would drill two production wells. One of the two wells to be drilled will be used for oil production, while the other is for water injection.
A pilot hole will be drilled first and the production well drilled as a sidetrack from this. The production well has been designated 7122/7-C-1 AH while the water injection well has been designated 7122/7-H-2 H.
The PSA added that the drilling of the two wells is scheduled to begin on June 24, 2017.
According to a statement by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate from late March , the two wells will increase oil reserves on the Goliat field by 1.2 million standard cubic meters (7.5 million barrels).
The wells are located in the Snadd reservoir between two reservoirs from which Goliat is already producing, Realgrunnen and Kobbe.
Regarding the rig itself, the Scarabeo 8 is a 6th generation semi-submersible owned and operated by Saipem. The rig is of a Moss CS 50 MkII design, built at the Fincantieri Shipyard in Palermo, Italy, and completed at the Westcon yard in Ølensvåg in Hordaland county in 2011.
Goliat is an oil field in the Barents Sea, around 85 kilometres north-west of Hammerfest. The field has been developed using a cylindrical FPSO. The wells are drilled from subsea templates which are tied back to the facility. Production at the field began in March 2016.