The massive Goliat cylindrical floating production, storage, and offloading vessel—which arrived in Hammerfest, Norway, on Apr. 17 after a 63-day voyage covering 15,608 nautical miles—has been successfully floated off from the Dockwise Vanguard heavy transport vessel (OGJ Online, Feb. 16, 2015).
The FPSO will now be temporarily moored in Ersvika, 6 km southwest of Hammerfest, where it will undergo final preparations including inspections, tests, and checks of all systems and equipment. The platform will then be towed 80 km to Goliat field in the Barents Sea where it will connected to its 14 anchor lines. The umbilicals and risers will be installed and the platform will then be connected to the electrical power cable from the mainland. Finally, the platform and subsea systems will be made ready for production.
When the field comes on stream later this summer for operator Eni Norge AS, Goliat will become the world’s northernmost producing offshore oil field.
Tow out of the FPSO to Goliat field is expected to occur in early May. The field is slated to come on stream by midyear.
The Goliat platform, which has a production capacity of 100,000 b/d of oil and a storage capacity of 1 million bbl, was designed by Norwegian firm Sevan Marine and built at the Hyundai shipyard in South Korea.
The platform weighs 64,000 tonnes (dead weight) and is 107 m in diameter and 170 m high, including its flare tower. The height from its base to the helideck is 75 m.
The estimated recoverable reserves from Goliat are 178 million boe.
