Norwegian subsidiary of Italian oil company Eni has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) for manned underwater operations on the Goliat field.
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 FPSO. Production at the field began in March 2016.
The PSA said on Monday that Eni Norge received consent to perform manned underwater operations on the field in connection with repairs and improvements at Goliat.
According to the safety regulator, the planned start-up of operations is in May 2018 and the activities will last around 80 days.
The underwater operations will be performed by Eni’s contractor DeepOcean and its subcontractor SubseaPartner.
The PSA added that the diving operations would take place from the surface down to a maximum depth of 30 meters.
It is worth reminding that a fire broke out onboard the Goliat FPSO last month , forcing the Italian oil company to halt production from the Barents Sea field off Norway.
Fortunately, the situation was put under control quickly without any injuries to the crew.