Eni in another Goliat shutdown

Italian oil company Eni has once again stopped production from the Goliat field in the Barents Sea off Norway, less than a week after it had been restored from the previous shutdown. 

Last Friday, the Goliat FPSO unit was restarted after being out for over a month due to repairs on the offloading hose. The field had been shut down in late December last year as the oil could not be unloaded and transported onshore due to the damaged offloading hose.

Following reports that Eni stopped the production again, Offshore Energy Today reached out to the Italian company seeking confirmation and the reason behind the latest stoppage.

A spokesperson for Eni confirmed the stoppage and said that all of the gas currently produced on Goliat is re-injected into the reservoir due to the company’s commitment to meet its targets of zero emissions in the Barents Sea.

The spokesperson further explained: “In order to avoid any unplanned flaring of gas, a controlled production shut down was performed Wednesday night, to undertake maintenance on a valve in the gas compression system. Work is expected to be completed in the next few days.”

The Goliat field is located in PL 229, 80 km north-west of Hammerfest, Northern Norway. Production from the field Eni-operated field started on March 12, 2016. Eni’s Norwegian subsidiary, Eni Norge, has 65 pct interest in the field, with Statoil as its partner with 35 pct interest.

Offshore Energy Today Staff