16 LM6000 machines for LNG project

GE Oil & Gas has entered into an agreement with Bechtel International, Inc. for the supply of compression technology for two customized LNG refrigeration trains for the Chevron-operated Wheatstone Project in Western Australia. A final investment decision on the Wheatstone Project is expected in the second half of 2011.

This is GE Oil & Gas’s first installation of an LM6000 mechanical drive aeroderivative gas turbine. Chevron committed for a total of 16 LM6000PFs, 12 for mechanical drive and four to drive generators. The mechanical drives will be used in the main refrigeration compression trains of the LNG facility. More than 800 LM6000 units are in operation with more than 20 million hours of service. The gas turbines will be manufactured in Evendale, Ohio, and packaged in Florence, Italy. GE Oil & Gas in Florence also will build and package the refrigeration compressors and tests will be conducted in Massa, Italy.

The Chevron-led Wheatstone Project is located at Ashburton North, 12 kilometers west of Onslow in Western Australia. The initial phase of the project will consist of two liquefied natural gas trains with a combined capacity of 8.9 million tons per annum and a domestic gas plant.