The Goliat Oil Field is the first offshore producing oil and gas field operated by Vår Energi in the Norwegian Barents Sea.
Vår Energi is a company owned by Eni (69.6%) and HitecVision (30.4%). The partners in the field are Vår Energi (65%) and Equinor (35%).
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Discovered in 2000, the Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) of Goliat was approved in 2009.
The field contains approximately 174 million barrels of oil (mb) and 8 billion standard cubic metres of gas (bSm3). In March 2016, the oil field produced its first oil.
The production has been below expectation since March 2016 but modifications and maintenance with revision stops have improved the production from the field.
Vår Energi signed an agreement in April 2023 with Odfjell Oceanwind and Source Galileo to explore opportunities for a pilot project of a floating offshore wind farm at Goliat.
In October 2023, the partners approved the concept selection (DG2) to export gas from Goliat to the Hammerfast LNG. The project will be known as the Goliat Gas Project.
Goliat Location Details
The Goliat Oil Field is located within the Production License 229 and 50km southeast of the Snøhvit Field in the northern region of the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
The project is situated at a water depth of between 360m and 420m.
Discovery and Reserves
The exploration well 7122/7-1 was drilled on the Goliat Prospect to test the hydrocarbon potential of the Kapp Toscana Group’s sandstones.
In September 2000, the well was drilled with the semi-submersible installation Transocean Arctic to a total depth of 1,524m into the Middle-Late Triassic Snadd Sandstone Formation.
Variable reservoir properties were discovered in the Kapp Toscana Group and the oil was discovered in the reservoir. The well was permanently abandoned in October 2000 as an oil discovery.
Another exploration well 7122/7-3 was drilled on the Goliat Field to appraise the hydrocarbon potential of the Early Jurassic/Late Triassic and test the potential in the Triassic and Late Permian.
The well was drilled with the semi-submersible installation Eirik Raude in October 2005 to a total depth of 2,726m in limestone/claystone of the Late Permian Røye Formation.
The reservoirs were found to be oil-bearing and in January 2006, the well was permanently abandoned as a discovery well.
An exploration well 7122/7-4 S (Klappmyss) was drilled 1.8km northeast of 7122/7-3 well on Goliat to prove oil reserves in the Kapp Toscana Group and confirm oil and gas reserves in the Kobbe Formation.
The well was drilled with the semi-submersible installation Polar Pioneer in September 2006 to a total depth of 2,550m in the Early Triassic (Griesbachian age) Havert Formation.
The reservoir bore oil and contained interbedded sandstones, claystones, and siltstones at 2,072.5m. The well was permanently abandoned in November 2006 as an oil discovery.
The well was subjected to an unconventional injection test resulting in 30.5m3 of oil.
Goliat Oil Field Details
The Goliat Oil Field was developed with the largest cylindrical Floating Production and Storage (FPSO) vessel (Sevan 1000 FPSO) in the world.
The oil field consists of 22 wells of which 12 produce oil, seven inject water, and three inject gas. The FPSO is tied back to the eight subsea templates consisting of 32 well slots.
The field produces oil through water injection as a pressure support with additional support resulting from the reinjection of the produced gas. The produced oil is loaded onto shuttle tankers for export to the market.
The field receives power supply from the shore through subsea power cables reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 50%.
The daily output from the field is 100,000 barrels of oil per day and Eni receives a net 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) from the production.
Two PDO exemptions were granted to Goliat for the Snadd Reservoir in 2017 and the Goliat West Reservoir in 2020.
The Snadd and Goliat West commenced operations in 2017 and 2021 respectively.
Goliat FPSO Details
The FPSO was designed with a total liquid processing capacity of 17,500Sm3/d, and an oil stabilisation and desalination capacity of 16,500Sm3/d.
The FPSO is equipped with UNO and Mekano support systems, SPB and SPBE cable trays, and OE cable ladders.
The FPSO has 12,000m3/d of produced water reinjection capacity, 20,000m3/d of seawater injection capacity, and a rich wet gas processing capacity of 3.9mSm3/d compression to 250 bar.
The topsides, process plant, and utilities of Sevan 1000 FPSO have a design life of 20 years and the steel hull has a design life of 30 years.
The total dry weight of the geostationary FPSO is approximately 22,500 tonnes including the topsides, process plant, and utilities.
The FPSO was constructed at the South Korean shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries.
Contractors Involved
The Engineering Procurement Construction and Installation (EPCI) contract of the Goliat Oil Field was awarded to TechnipFMC for approximately €200m in October 2009.
The scope of the contract included the delivery and installation of infield pipeline systems, flexible risers, clad production flowlines with direct heating systems, and gas and water injection flowlines.
The scope also included the installation of a subsea production system including templates, risers, and umbilical. The contract was executed in Technip’s operating centre in Oslo, Norway.
The offshore installations were conducted from 2011 to 2013 in three construction seasons.
In July 2010, Aker Solutions was selected to design and deliver on-vessel mooring systems for the FPSO. The contract was signed in Arendal and had a value of Nok 150m ($13.63m).
The contract included fairleads and windlasses for 14 mooring lines. These were manufactured in Poland, Norway, and South Korea and delivered in 2011.
In July 2011, the marine installation works contract of the FPSO was awarded to DOF Subsea Norway. The contract had a value of approximately NOK300m ($27.29m) and had a duration from July 2011 to December 2013.
The contract included the delivery of 14 suction anchors, polyester line, pre-installation of bottom chain, temporary mooring of the FPSO, buoyancy elements, towing and hook-up with the field.
The detailed engineering works of the Goliat FPSO were conducted by Hyundai Heavy Industries and McDermott.
EagleBurgmann supplied compressor seals, pump seals, and associated supply systems for the FPSO of the field. Hyundai Heavy Industries contracted EagleBurgmann for the project.
For Hyundai Heavy Industries, Oglaend System Korea fulfilled the requirements of a range of product lines for the Goliat FPSO.
Eni Norge selected IKM Testing in August 2014 for the project to deliver subsea engineering services on the platform before and after the commencement of production.
The contract had a value of more than NOK 500m ($45.43m) for three years with a one-year extension option.
Dockwise, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., loaded the FPSO and delivered it to the location of the project from Geoje, South Korea in 2015.
Oss-nor was awarded the contract to deliver valve services for the Goliat platform in July 2022. The framework agreement included engineering works for maintenance, follow-up, and testing of valves. The agreement had a time length of 5+1+1 years.
Transocean Arctic and Polar Pioneer were supplied by Transocean Offshore Europe. Eirik Raude is owned by Ocean Rig.
