GE awarded US$ 620m services contract in Australia

GE Oil & Gas, a leading supplier of equipment and services for liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects worldwide, has received a US$620 million, 22-year contractual service agreement (CSA) to provide a broad range of advanced technology services for QGC’s Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) plant, off the east coast of Australia.

One of Australia’s largest infrastructure projects, the QCLNG plant 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 industry. The QGC plant is the first of four LNG projects scheduled for Curtis Island and is expected to begin production in 2014, with the LNG produced primarily targeted for export including to China, Japan and Singapore.

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.

The QCLNG project will be supported by GE resources in the Asia Pacific region and worldwide. Maintenance activities on the power turbines and compressors will take place at GE Oil & Gas facilities in Jandakot, Western Australia and in Florence, Italy. Monitoring and diagnostics will be provided from GE Oil & Gas’ global iCenters, located in Florence, Houston and Kuala Lumpur. These centers house teams that constantly track and advise on the performance of installed equipment, enabling customers to optimize plant availability and life cycle of parts.

BG Group Chief Executive Chris Finlayson said, “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 greenhouse gas emissions by more than 35 percent.”