Petroleum watchdog concerned about Eni’s Goliat platform

Oil production at Goliat — the world’s northernmost operational offshore field — has been closed down since Dec. 26 last year after the discovery of a technical error with the pipe connection the platform with loading oil tankers.

On Thursday, Petroleum Safety Authority Norway issued a notice of order to End Norge to reassess current plans, priorities and use of resources to ensure acceptable completion an operation at the platform.

“We’re concerned about Eni’s management of operation on the Goliat field, and have now given it notice of an order,” says director general Anne Myhrvold.

She says the notice is built on both individual findings and an overall assessment of the position.

An audit reveals several serious breaches of the regulations.

[Eni’s Arctic platform Goliat halts production]

Myrvold says there’s been a good progress in dialogue between the employees onboard the platform and management.

“At the same time, we see that End has revealed a limited ability to implement existing plans. At the same time, constant new findings are being made and weaknesses identified on the facility, in the management system and in the organization,” Anne Myhrvold says.

The director general of the Petroleum Safety Authority expressed concern that a great deal of work related to completion, modifications and simultaneous production remains to be done on Goliat.

“Our order therefore requires Eni to assess its plans and to ensure the necessary capacity and competence for the total volume of work on the field,” she says.

After huge cost overruns and long delays, production at Goliat started in March last year, almost three years beyond schedule.

Located in the Barents Sea north of Hammerfest in Norway, Goliat is the world’s northernmost oilfield in production and the only one in the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea. The field holds about 180 million barrels of oil.