Uchenna Izundu
International Editor
LONDON, Feb. 9 -- Eni Norge AS has chosen to develop its deepwater Goliat oil and gas field in the Barents Sea using Sevan Marine ASA's circular floating production, storage, and offloading vessel.
Sevan Marine's proprietary technology to be used on its 1000 FPSO will include an oil production capacity of 100,000 b/d, gas production of 3.9 MM cu m/day, and oil storage capacity of 1 million bbl. It will grant Eni a license to use the FPSO in the field, which is to start production in 2013 and produce for 15-20 years.
It is estimated that the engineering phase, following the front-end engineering and design phase, will be completed during 2009. The estimated value for the contract is 150 million kroner. The plan was for Eni to submit its final plan to the Norwegian authorities by yearend 2008, followed by a Parliament review in the spring session of 2009.
Subsea wells will be linked to the FPSO, with flowlines and risers scheduled to be installed in June-July 2010 and May-August 2011.
Potential bidders, including Sevan Marine's main competitor Aker Kvaerner AS, will have the opportunity to bid on the engineering, procurement, and construction contract for the Goliat FPSO, an Eni Norge spokesman told OGJ.
The company will issue a new tender for the EPC, but it has not yet decided the timetable. "Originally we were going to choose the concept and award the EPC at the same time, but now there is a change in the market as costs are coming down and we could benefit from waiting [to] select the contractor," he explained.
Aker Kvaerner said it would present a competitive delivery model and tender for the EPC contract and will aim to construct the topside and processing modules, as well as the hook up, in Norway.
Eni said it chose the FPSO production concept because it was cheaper, could tie-in future discoveries, and had better environmental advantages than landfall solutions.
Goliat is controversial with environmentalists, who have raised concerns about potential oil spillage and discharges to the sea as the first project in the area, but Eni said it focused on addressing these issues in the design phase.
Electricity will be supplied from shore, which will reduce carbon emissions, and the oil containment system will lower the risk for oil pollution. "The oil containment system will be protected by ballast tanks in the sides and bottom area. There will be no contact between the oil and the ballast water, preventing the emission of polluted ballast water," Sevan said.
Eni operates Goliat with a 65% stake, and its partner StatoilHydro holds 35%.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].