Eni Norge, a Norwegian entity of the Italian oil major Eni, has received consent to perform manned underwater operations on the Goliat field off Norway.
Goliat is an oil field in the Barents Sea, around 85 kilometers northwest 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.
The consent regarding underwater operations was granted by the Norwegian offshore safety regulator, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA).
The PSA said that the consent was in connection with repairs and improvements at Goliat. It was granted on June 23 with a planned start-up during the same month. According to information provided by the safety regulator, the activities will last at least 21 days.
The underwater operations will be performed by Eni’s contractor Deep Ocean and their subcontractor SubseaPartner.
Diving will take place from the surface down to a maximum depth of 25 meters.
In related news, the PSA in late May gave Eni consent to use the Scarabeo 8 drilling rig for the drilling of two production wells at the Goliat field.
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.