Goliat resumes production

Norway’s only operative oil-field north of mainland Finnmark has been shut-down since early September after the Petroleum Safety Authority ordered ENI Norge fix the electrical safety on board the platform that first started production in March 2016.

Now, the oil safety watchdog seems satisfied.

«Following an overall assessment, the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) has determined that the order which required a shutdown at Goliat has now been coplied with. This means that operator Eni Norge can bring the field back on stream,» a statement issued on Friday reads.

The watchdog, however, underlines that «it is important to emphasize in this context that the PSA’s verification does not involve any approval of the equipment or safety on the field.» That, according to PSA, is a responsibility of ENI and Statoil, the two license holders of Goliat.

The scandal-ridden Goliat project has been on-and-off with production since the start button was pushed nearly two years ago.

Both environmentalists and members of parliament have been critical to ENI as an operator. Additionally, a debate whether Goliat ever will make money for Norway has framed media in Norway this autumn.

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More drilling next summer

Despite troubles at Goliat, Norway’s partly state-owned oil company Statoil earlier this week announced giga-investment in another Barents Sea oil field, the Johan Castberg. Statoil has also said it will launch another major drilling-campaign looking for more Barents Sea oil next summer.

But not all are eager to drill for Arctic offshore oil. Yesterday, the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy released its list of bidders for the country’s next 24th license round, revealing that only 11 companies want to take part, down from the 26 companies that submitted bids for the 23rd round two years ago.