Seeing more than the tip of an iceberg

GE Oil & Gas

Gabriele Peri, of GE Oil & Gas, says a smarter approach to petroleum production is needed if we are to meet the energy demands of future generations.

By 2030 an estimated 65 million more barrels per day will be needed to outpace demand growth and reservoir depletion. It's no news that significant challenges lie ahead, but what is relatively new is a more holistic view of oil and gas development. Globally, there is a greater intertwining of industrial, environmental, social and broader economic growth interests. So when the people at GE Oil & Gas talk about sustainability, we are considering all of these aspects together for the long term.

Local commitment

There has been a key shift in resource location combined with a shift of control away from private corporations to host nations. Shareholders have been joined by a much wider range of stakeholders as national oil companies strive to extend the economic benefits of oil and gas to their overall populations.

GE Oil & Gas has always recruited local employees and invested in local facilities. But in recognition of recent industry shifts, we have significantly increased local training initiatives and decentralised more manufacturing and service resources so that decision-making authority and technological prowess are heightened in every region. Our newest facilities are in Qatar (4000 m2 including metallurgy lab, five welding stations, DEA and X-ray) and Algiers (at 15,000 m2 it’s our largest service center and a Center of Excellence for both GE Oil & Gas and GE Energy portfolios).

With this approach, we help increase sustainable employment, investment and educational opportunities at the community level – because oil and gas aren't the only natural resources upon which the future depends.

Environmental responsibility

This is no longer just corporate goodwill, but a firm reality for regulatory compliance and a normal cost of doing business. As a result, a standing mandate for our engineers is to find, wherever possible, more opportunities for reduced emissions and increased energy efficiencies.

Our DLN-1 upgrade for Fr5 gas turbines reduces NOx emissions by as much as 63 percent. Our worldwide fleet of BCL compressors has the capacity to prevent more than 49 million tons of CO2 emissions annually. iCenter remote monitoring and tuning services optimise plant performance and reduce emissions across a wide range of equipment and applications. Our pipeline integrity solutions reduce downtime and enable safer long-term operation in high consequence areas. Our teams even see opportunities to help outside of oil and gas – like the recent modification of robust steam turbines and centrifugal pumps to withstand the extremely high number of start-up/shut-down cycles in Concentrated Solar Power plants.

Leading technologies

Resources are now farther from markets, deeper below the surface, more challenging to extract and more difficult to refine. The future depends on imagination and innovation.
GE Oil & Gas technologies for enhanced oil recovery increase well exploitation by 30 percent. Our equipment easily operates in the highest-pressure applications of 820+ bar. Our turbocompression technologies enable the largest-capacity LNG plants and the most sour gas applications. We recently extended ethylene train capacity beyond 1.2 MTPY. Most recently, our VetcoGray and Hydril Pressure Control technologies helped set the world record for deepwater drilling.

Equally important are the ongoing efforts to make our technologies more economically viable for customers. Global Services teams inject our latest technological advances to extend the useful operating life of aging equipment. Our product structuring programme has moved design and manufacturing away from extreme customisation to reduce cycle times and increase reliability. Like our customers, we have invested considerably in this industry and we have a great deal riding on its future. Our goals are realistic and our outlook optimistic. Sustainability is at the core of who we are.

Gabriele Peri has more than 10 years of GE experience, all in the Oil and Gas business. He started his GE career as a marketing specialist within the Aftermarket Services division and progressed to a Marketing Communications Co-ordinator role. In 2000 he moved into HQ Marketing in the Oil & Gas business where he heads up Global Marketing Communications for GE Oil & Gas.