Italy's ENI got a conditional consent to start using its floating oil production and storage facility (FPSO) at the world's northernmost oil field in the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea, Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority said on Tuesday.
"The consent means that ENI can start using Goliat FPSO, but it still has to complete the verification process of some equipment and to report back to us," Oeyvind Midttun, a spokesman for the authority said.
Both ENI, which operates the field and has 65 percent stake, and Norway's Statoil, which holds the rest, have to carry out a planned verification and to confirm that the facility is ready before starting to pump oil, he added.
It was not clear immediately how long the verification process can take.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis)