Best yet and more to come
Region accounts for $1 billion of GE’s global oil and gas business
Posted: 10 September 2007
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General Electric (GE) Oil and Gas is benefiting from a surge in deals in the Arabian Gulf hydrocarbon sector picking up more than $1 billion in contracts this year and predicting business doubling within five years.
 The US Company has been a big gainer from big projects in Qatar, home to the world’s third largest resources of natural gas. And as Qatar pushes ahead with major LNG ventures, GE believes the upward trend will be maintained.
“Our expectations are that our business in the region will double in the next five years,” said Jeff Nagel, vice president for global services, GE Oil and Gas.
“Last year was one of our best years as business exceeded $5 billion. We expect this year to be even better. My expectations are that there will be at least 20% growth in our business,” Nagel told Pipeline in an interview in Doha. “The GCC alone accounted for more than $1 billion. Our business is steadily growing in this region.”
GE Oil and Gas is one of the largest providers of products and services to the oil and gas sector and was among the first international companies to come to the Gulf. It established a presence in Bahrain in 1930, the first Middle East country to produce oil.
But it was only recently that GE started to enjoy an upsurge in operations as oil producers launched major projects to expand crude output capacity, boost refining production and establish new petrochemical and LNG projects.
The surge prompted GE to set up a major service centre to provide maintenance and repair services for clients across the region. The centre is being constructed in Ras Laffan industrial city, which serves the Qatar LNG industry that has turned the country into the largest LNG exporter in the world and overtaking Indonesia.
 The facility, one of the biggest energy service centres in the Middle East, will be completed in the second quarter of 2008 and will provide services to all GE’s clients, including Qatar Petroleum, Saudi Aramco, Sabic, Adnoc, Kuwait Oil Company, Petroleum Development Oman and others.
“We expect double digit growth in our business in the region in the next five years,” said Mohammad Ayoub, operations leader and regional general manager.
“Growth will be in most GCC countries. We have largely boosted our presence in the region over the past five years and we expect further expansion in the next five years. The service centre is part of our expansion, investment and commitment to this region, which will continue to grow.”
Nagel said several factors enabled GE to boost operations in the region, including advanced technology; commitment of resources; long-term investment; and a surge in oil and gas projects, mainly in the GCC.
“You can say the service centre in Ras Laffan is part of our investment and commitment to this region. Besides maintenance and repair, it will provide training to our clients in this field,” he said. “We have to invest in this region to support our expanding operations and demonstrate our commitment to our clients.”
Site construction has started and an inauguration ceremony is planned for April 2008.
GE has provided gas turbines, compressors and other equipment to support Qatar’s natural gas and LNG industries for more than 35 years. In addition, GE holds several contractual service agreements in Qatar and provides integrity management services for existing gas pipelines as well as remote monitoring and diagnostic services.
"GE's new Qatar service centre will help our customers in the region address their pressing needs to boost production and implement greater operational efficiencies, chiefly by keeping their equipment working at full capacity for as long as possible while reducing the length of any maintenance outages," Ayoub said .
The complex will include a repair shop, offices and auxiliary facilities. Total plant area will encompass more than 36,000 square metres with the covered area including more than 3,000 square metres
GE Oil and Gas has been picking up a number of significant contracts in the region of late.
● The company’s pipeline solutions group has been awarded a long-term, multi-million dollar contract to provide Dolphin Energy of the UAE with integrity management services to ensure the uninterrupted operation of Dolphin's critical sea and export pipelines in Qatar.
GE’s package includes integrity engineering, inspection and data management technology to support the Dolphin project which involves the production and processing of natural gas from Qatar's North Field, and transportation by pipeline to the UAE.
Claudi Santiago, CEO and president of GE Oil and Gas, said: "By applying experience gained from similar projects in the region, we are in a unique position to ensure the best support possible for the challenging operating environment that sour service, wet gas pipelines presents. It's our job to make sure that Dolphin minimises the risk of lost income through an unplanned shutdown or pipeline failure.
"By providing the systems, engineering and technologies to identify, understand and mitigate any potential threats, we will help Dolphin have continuous availability of its pipelines at minimum cost.”
● GE Oil and Gas technology played a significant role in the successful start-up of RasGas’ LNG train 5 at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar - a project that will help make Qatar the world's largest LNG producer.
The Train 5 project was completed ahead of time and under budget and has a production capacity of 4.7 million tons of LNG per year, bringing Qatar's total LNG production capacity to approximately 31 million tons per year.
LNG is one of the fastest growing segments of the global energy industry, and is expected to provide a major source of natural gas as part of the world's energy mix moving forward in the 21st century.
GE Oil and Gas was among project vendors to receive an appreciation award, the first time RasGas had presented awards of this type.
All of the gas turbines supplied by GE are equipped with combustion systems to meet stringent NOx emissions levels. "This is the first installation of this technology in Qatar and makes Train 5 one of the most environmentally friendly LNG plants in the country,” said Santiago
● GE Oil and Gas turbo-expander compressor technology has also been selected for the gas treatment plant of the Pearl GTL project in Qatar. Pearl GTL is the largest energy project ever launched in Qatar.
GE's contract calls for the supply of two FR60 turbo-expander compressors and spare parts. Currently being developed by Qatar Petroleum and Shell the Pearl GTL project comprises the development of upstream gas production facilities and an onshore GTL plant that will produce 140,000 barrels per day of GTL products and approximately 120,000 barrels per day of condensate, liquefied petroleum gas and ethane.
● GE has signed a six-year pipeline services agreement with RasGas in Qatar. GE’s expertise in inspecting and maintaining LNG pipelines is being utilised to monitor the 100-kilometre natural gas pipeline from RasGas’ offshore producing facilities to the company’s Train 3 facilities.
During the contract period, GE Energy will also guarantee the performance of additional pipelines used in RasGas facilities.
● GE Oil and Gas is to supply three Frame 6B gas turbines to provide about 120 megawatts of power for Qatar Liquefied Gas Company’s LNG production facilities 2, 3 and 4 in Ras Laffan, Qatar. The new machines will expand GE’s fleet of gas turbines in Qatar that includes Frame 5, 6 and 7 gas turbines as well as the Frame 9 gas turbines being used for RasGas Train 5.
● In the United Arab Emirates, GE’s Oil and Gas is to supply eight compressors and a steam turbine for the expansion of Emirates National Oil Company’s condensate refinery at Jebel Ali, near Dubai. As a result of this project, the output of the existing units at the refinery will be sustained at 120,000 barrels per day of distillates.
● Saudi Aramco selected GE technology for its Southern Area seawater capacity expansion project in Ghawar, the world’s largest oil field, and the Khurais oil field. GE will supply 12 mechanical drive packages for the project, which will help to increase oil field production.
● In Oman, GE Oil and Gas will supply centrifugal compressors and other equipment for two Petroleum Development Oman projects, one in the Saih Rawl gas field of Central Oman and the other in the Harweel oil field of South Oman. Both projects have strategic importance for Oman’s economy, as they will help secure an uninterrupted gas supply and also will help to sustain oil production for the country.
● GE recently acquired VetcoGray which has been supplying large bore and high volume gas production trees for the world’s second largest unconsolidated gas field, the North Field, in Qatar.
VetcoGray also supplied the first wellhead and Christmas tree for the Adco sour gas project onshore in Abu Dhabi.
In addition, VetcoGray is the sole supplier to Saudi Aramco of critical completion components, metal-to-metal production casing seals, tubing spool, tubing hanger and block lower master valves for all Khuff gas wells. |
