OREANDA-NEWS. GE Oil & Gas (NYSE: GE) today announced five new initiatives to accelerate cutting-edge technology development and testing across the energy value chain. Developed through customer partnerships, the new technologies and solutions demonstrate the effectiveness of GE’s proactive approach to customer collaboration to “co-create” tailor-made solutions that meet specific industry needs.

Partnerships that drive advanced and faster product development are key to GE Oil & Gas’ Fastworks approach of integrating customer feedback into the product development process, and these themes resonated once again at the company’s 2016 Annual Meeting, which hosted more than 800 global customers this week. These initiatives build on a legacy of successful Fastworks projects including the creation of the NovaL16 gas turbine, which launched in just 30 months versus 5-6 years from concept to commercialization.

“Collaboration and technology have always underpinned our commitment to quality and delivery, and they continue to do so,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, GE Oil & Gas President and Chief Executive Officer. “We believe that by working closely with customers to understand and respond to their needs, we can deliver faster, better solutions that support them through these challenging times, while helping to build a more productive, cost-effective and resilient future oil and gas industry.”

  • GE Oil & Gas has launched a Joint Industry Project (JIP) with a group of leading international oil companies to develop a new and simplified subsea boosting system that has the potential to reduce lifecycle costs by up to 30% and improve operational flexibility for operators. The initial phase of the JIP includes Statoil, Total and 2 other operators. The new system is named the Modular Contra-rotating Pump (MCP) and draws on technology from the GE Aviation business. The MCP provides the potential to unlock and enable access to more oil in both new and mature wells in a simpler way by reducing the topside and subsea footprint by up to 50% and eliminating equipment such as the barrier fluid system needed in conventional subsea boosting systems.
  • Working closely with operators throughout the development and testing process, GE Oil & Gas has introduced its SFX wellhead system, a standardised, full-system solution providing up to 16 times fatigue resistance improvement over the company’s existing systems, for ultra-reliability in fatigue-critical zones. The wellhead is designed to meet priority operator challenges around the need to improve efficiencies, eliminate non-productive time and reduce costs.
  • Responding to industry needs to optimize products and maximize endurance on severe service applications, GE Oil & Gas is introducing a range extension of its proven LNG Cryogenic Antisurge Valve product line, developed and manufactured at the Bari plant in Italy.  These large size valves have been tested to guarantee seat tightness, now extended to class V with temperature down to -196 °C. By reducing the recirculated flow rate when the valve is closed, GE Oil & Gas is setting new standards for this type of valve.
  • Building on a relationship of more than 40 years, Qatar Fertiliser Company (QAFCO) has awarded GE Oil & Gas a long-term technical development partnership agreement. In this strategic agreement, Downstream Technology Solutions will bring GE Oil & Gas competencies to mark the first regional installation of its advanced 32 K Extendor Combustion System that will enable QAFCO to strengthen the operational efficiency of its gas turbines. GE Oil & Gas will supply the parts for the project with the first installation set for 2017, while modification, repair and field services will be provided through Qatar-based experts. This reflects GE Oil & Gas’ commitment to long term partnerships which drive localization, supported by its best-in-class technology offer.
  • In response to rapidly growing industry interest in GE Oil & Gas’s world-leading testing capabilities, the company is expanding its Massa testing site, with a focus on supporting testing of the aeroderivative LM2500 gas turbine and becoming the global center of excellence for the testing of the LM2500 gas turbines for oil & gas applications. The Massa testing facility is already the largest such facility in the world and has seen a 300 percent increase in test cell workload in 2015 - expanding from testing 12 engines per year to 35 engines per year.  This is expected to grow by another 50 percent in 2016.
About GE:

GE (NYSE: GE) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the "GE Store," through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry.

About GE Oil & Gas:

GE Oil & Gas works on the things that matter in the oil and gas industry.  In collaboration with our customers, we push the boundaries of technology to bring energy to the world. From extraction to transportation to end use, we address today's toughest challenges in order to fuel the future.