US$620 million, 22-year, Contractual Service Agreement for LNG Plant on Curtis Island
World's First Facility to Turn Coal Seam Gas into LNG
Advanced technology services key to long-term plant reliability
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA --March 19, 2013 --GE Oil & Gas has received a $620 million, 22-year Contractual Service Agreement (CSA) to provide advanced technology services for Queensland Gas Company's (QGC) LNG plant on Curtis Island off the east coast of Australia, near Gladstone.
The agreement was announced today by Queensland Gas Company (QGC) during a meeting in Brisbane with GE executives, including GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt.
As one of Australia's largest infrastructure projects, the Queensland Curtis LNG project will be the world's first facility to turn coal seam gas into LNG. Coal seam gas is plentiful in Australia and will form the basis for the growing Australian LNG sector. QCLNG is the first of four LNG projects scheduled for Curtis Island and is expected to begin production in 2014, with the LNG primarily targeted for the Asian export market.
In welcoming the contract, Immelt said, "The QGC project on Curtis Island is a glimpse of the future. As the world's first facility toturn coal seam gas into LNG, it validates Australia's commitment to innovative solutions and its position as a leader in LNG."
"It is also a great example of how industrial internet-based services --where we connect advanced machines, data and experts -can deliver better outcomes for our customers and society. GE is proud to be QGC's partner in providing advanced technologies and services that enable reliable production of LNG and help meet the growing global demand for energy,"Mr Immelt said.
The GE scope of work will include planned and unplanned maintenance of the GE equipment being installed at the QCLNG plant, including 15 PGT25+G4 aeroderivative gas turbines, 28 centrifugal compressors, gearboxes, generators and all auxiliaries. The agreement also includes monitoring and diagnostic services, as well as reliability guarantees on the equipment.
In announcing the contract BG Group Chief Executive Chris Finlayson said, "As construction of the QCLNG Project passes the half-way mark we are increasing our focus on how we are going to operate the facilities safely and efficiently in the decades ahead. BG Group is committed to reducing emissions through advanced, proven technologies and design.
"Using GE's technology will contribute to the QCLNG plant being one of the most emissions-efficient facilities of its kind in the world. Liquefied natural gas has an important role to play in the management of global greenhouse gas emissions.When used as a substitute for coal, particularly in developing economies, liquefied natural gas from the QCLNG Project could reduce greenhousegas emissions by more than 35%,"Mr Finlayson said.
The QGC LNG project will be supported by GE resources in Australia and around the world. Maintenance activities on the power turbines and compressors will take place at GE Oil & Gas facilities at Jandakot in Western Australia and in Italy. GE's monitoring and diagnostics technology will enable GE Oil & Gas to optimize the plant's availability and life cycle of parts utilizing remote monitoring services. This ability to 'predict-and-prevent' service and maintenance issues through the industrial internet -a connected network of technology, data and experts -is a core part of GE's strategy to deliver the most advanced service solutions to its customers.
The Curtis Island LNG project draws upon QGC's extensive coal seam expertise and British Gas Group's international experience in LNG, at a time of rising global demand for cleaner, more efficient energy. LNG also helps to address climate change by allowing natural gas, which has the lowest carbon emissions of all fossil fuels, to be transported economically around the world.
QGC's project supports the country's efforts to leverage its coal seam gas resources to become the world's leading exporter of LNG. Australia now has under construction 70 percent of the world's LNG capacity, capable of supporting 40-50 years of production, according to Australia's Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics. With this high level of activity, the LNG industry is playing a key role in Australia's long-term energy security, economic growth and job creation.
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GE Oil & Gas is a world leader in advanced technologies and services with 35,000 employees in more than 100 countries supporting customers across the industry---from extraction to transportation to end use. Making the environment, health and safety, quality and integrity our highest priorities is The Way We Work. Our technologies and services include: surface and subsea drilling and production, monitoring and diagnostics, measurement and controls, large-scale LNG, pipeline compressionand inspection, well site and industrial power generation, technologies for the refining and petrochemical industries,and modular CNG and LNG units for transportation sectors. Through our customized service solutions, training programs and technologies, GE Oil & Gas partners with customers to maximize their efficiency, productivity and equipment reliability; develop their next generation workforce; and fully benefit from the megatrends of natural gas, the growth of subsea and hard-to-reach reserves and the revolution in asset health management.
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