Var has a 65 percent operating stake in the Goliat license (PL229), and Equinor holds 35 percent.
According to a statement by Var on Wednesday, the partners submitted an amended plan for development and operation (PDO) for the Goliat gas export (GGE) project to the Ministry of Energy.
Var said the project is expected to increase oil production from the Goliat field in the Barents Sea through optimized reservoir management following the production of the gas reserves, currently being re-injected into the reservoir.
The incremental oil will be sold from the start, while the gas will be exported to the Hammerfest LNG plant under a gas bank arrangement, agreed with Snohvit, and sold when processing capacity is available, it said.
The project is developing proved plus probable (2P) reserves of 112 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) gross (73 mmboe net Vår Energi), of which approximately 15% is oil.
$360 million
Var expects the project to come online in the third quarter of 2029.
The project comprises new subsea infrastructure connecting the Goliat FPSO to the Snohvit pipeline, including a gas riser, umbilical, and a 12 km gas export pipeline.
Also, modifications to the Goliat FPSO enable the new infrastructure to be connected to existing facilities on the FPSO.
Var said the GGE project also facilitates “efficient” gas solutions for future projects to be connected to the Goliat FPSO, with the first being the Goliat Ridge development.
Total investments for the GGE project amounts to around $360 million gross pre-tax ($233 million net Var pre-tax).
Var noted that the project has “robust economics with a breakeven in line with the company’s target and provides significant upside potential from optimisation of Goliat operations.”
Goliat is fully electrified with power from shore and the GGE project represents no additional CO2 emissions, the firm said.
Hammerfest LNG
Hammerfest LNG liquefies natural gas coming from the Snohvit field in the Barents Sea.
Gas reaches Hammerfest LNG via a 160-kilometer gas pipeline which became operational in the autumn of 2007.
Equinor is the operator of both the Snohvit field and Hammerfest LNG with a 36.8 percent stake.
Other license owners of Snohvit are Petoro (30 percent), TotalEnergies EP Norge (18.4 percent), Var (12 percent), and Harbour Energy Norge (2.81 percent).
In December 2025, Equinor announced that the Snohvit Future project, which involves upgrading the Hammerfest LNG export facility, had been delayed by one year and its costs had increased approximately 4 billion Norwegian krone ($396.6 million) since 2024.
The project includes onshore compression and electrification of the Hammerfest LNG terminal.
