GE Oil & Gas opens new facility for the INPEX Ichthys LNG project

In the beautiful town of Broome, Western Australia, they are expecting some incredible technologies to come visit.  Not the usual tourists, these massive subsea machines will check their bags in at the newly opened GE Oil & Gas subsea facility, before heading 220 km offshore to the INPEX operated Ichthys LNG project.

The Ichthys LNG project is the largest discovery of hydrocarbon liquids in Australia in 40 years, and GE subsea machines will be part of producing an incredible 8.4 million tonnes of LNG and 1.6 million tonnes of LPG every year.

Before their duties begin at one of the most significant oil and gas projects in the world, the subsea technologies will spend time at the facility where they will be commissioned, and receive minor repairs and undergo routine maintenance.

At the official opening of the facility, Regional Director for Oil & Gas at GE A&NZ and PNG, Mary Hackett said “We are proud to be able to provide customers a solution that will mean better and more efficient operational and maintenance support for crucial offshore LNG development. It is great to deliver that excellence as part of the Broome community,”

GE has employed a team of seven to work at the Broome facility, in conjunction with GE’s existing operations Jandakot, outside Perth.

The facility was specifically designed to service subsea projects and was built by locally based H &M Tracey Constructions Pty Ltd,  a partly Indigenous owned business. Construction of the facility was completed in December, with the first equipment to support the commencement of the well dispatched in the Ichthys field in late January.

“The facility has been built by locals, it is supported by local businesses and services and the GE team members live in Broome. As part of the community, we look forward to providing year-round support to our customers during project development and ongoing operations.” Mary said.

One of the christmas trees being placed on a workshop floor in Jandakot, Perth. Christmas trees are a vital component of the subsea equipment necessary to complete the project’s development wells. Find out more about their journey from Aberdeen, Scotland.