GE Oil and Gas expands global footprint in Sub-Sahara

Accra, March 22, GNA - General Electric (GE) Oil and Gas on Wednesday inaugurated a new facility in Takoradi Port to expand its global footprint and support local investment.

The company, committed to delivering more than 45,000 training hours for Ghanaian personnel over the next five years, seeks to build a world-class team locally.

The facility, which would be the primary service centre for deep-water offshore projects in Ghana has a 1,600 square metre-indoor test area with capability for testing three subsea trees (XTs) simultaneously, and 4,000 square metres of indoor and outdoor storage.

Lorenzo Simonelli, President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Oil and Gas, attended the opening ceremony with customers, suppliers and local Government representatives

He said new infrastructure was already playing a critical role in supporting the installation for Eni's Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) project, for which GE Oil and Gas was supplying subsea and turbomachinery equipment.

'It will support the local community by helping to provide direct employment opportunities. It will also provide welcome support for the local supply chain, and for small and medium-size enterprises.

'The opening of the GE Takoradi facility demonstrates our commitment to developing local partnerships and capacity building to deliver effective and efficient solutions for our customers,' Mr Simonelli. Said.

He said the localisation supports growth in the communities in which they worked while increasing productivity.

He said as a global company, GE was uniquely-placed to have a well-rounded economic impact on the regions where they operate and committed to partnering with Ghana to help support building critical skills and developing infrastructure for the country's future growth.

He said as part of their commitment to delivering a comprehensive training programme for the local workforce, GE Oil and Gas had recruited more than 30 Ghanaian staff to work at the new facility, including two fully-trained field service engineers who were working offshore to support the installation phase for the OCTP project.

He said GE Oil and Gas partnered with Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and Ashesi University College in a two-phased approach to local capacity building, including education and skills development, and a small to medium enterprise (SME) development programme.

He said the partnership was helping to develop the next and future generations of the oil and gas workforce, providing them with practical learning opportunities and access to technical expertise, locally.

Mr Ado Oseragbaje, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sub-Saharan Africa, GE Oil and Gas, said: 'Ghana has decades of development potential and we are excited to provide support to a project that will act as an important energy source for the country for many years with minimal environmental impact, while also driving the development of local infrastructure and capacity-building.

He said they had the strength and scope to be able to stay close to customers and invest in the training and facilities required to reduce complexity among others.'

Robert Jackson, the United States of America. Ambassador to Ghana was present at the inauguration and commended GE for making such a sizable investment and setting a great example for American companies in the region.

'GE is known for its leadership in technology and innovation,' said Ambassador Jackson. 'Here in Ghana, GE has partnered with our USAID-funded Supply Chain Development project to build the capacity of local Small and Medium businesses. That's not only a commitment to Ghana, it's a commitment to transitioning from donor funding toward private sector-led growth.'

GE was awarded an $850 million order for the supply of equipment to the OCTP block in 2015. This order incorporates both GE Oil and Gas turbomachinery and subsea elements and GE Power Conversion electric motors, an example of the 'GE Store' at work - drawing technologies and expertise from across the company.

GE is the world's Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive.

It is organised around a global exchange of knowledge, the "GE Store," through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry.

GNA