Edmonton Service Center Further Expands GE Oil & Gas Capabilities in North America
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HOUSTON, TEXAS - September 11, 2007 - Further increasing its service capabilities in North America, GE Oil & Gas is assuming operation of a GE service center in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to provide high quality, advanced technology services across the oil and gas sector.
The new focus of the Edmonton Service Center for oil and gas applications follows the recent announcement that the former Preco service center in Houston has been expanded and upgraded to become the GE Oil & Gas service hub for the Americas.
Similar to the Houston center, the Edmonton facility previously was managed by GE Energy, but now is totally dedicated to providing service support for a wide range of oil and gas industry applications, with a focus on Canada and Alaska. The center currently employs 23 people.
"These recent expansions in Houston and Edmonton signal a full-scale commitment by GE Oil & Gas to provide the highest level of service, locally and throughout North and South America," said Jeff Nagel, vice president-global services for GE Oil & Gas. "The mission of these service centers is to combine quality and industry-leading technology expertise with faster turnaround times for our customers."
A key focus of the Edmonton center will be to support GE Oil & Gas' expanding activities in Alberta's vast oil sands region. For example, GE Oil & Gas recently was selected as a supplier of choice for North West Upgrader's new heavy oil upgrader plant northeast of Edmonton. Other recent activities supported by the Edmonton center have included TransCanada Pipelines and Canadian Natural Resources Horizon projects.
A full range of gas and steam turbine and compressor services will be provided by the Edmonton center, including the inspection and repair of GE and non-GE equipment, mechanical conversions, modifications and upgrades, dedicated shop support for turnarounds and outages and in-house component repairs.
The Edmonton center will also offer field services and technical assistance including outage and project management, installation and commissioning, troubleshooting and emergency support, service contracts and technical support and training.
Key equipment in the Edmonton center includes rotor balance machines that can handle rotors up to 40,000 pounds, hot gas path component weld booths and combustion liner flow testing machines. Among new features to be installed this year are vertical and horizontal lathes, a milling center, surface grinder, coating thickness tester, a digital runout system, an impeller/shaft induction heating tool, coil wrap magnetic particle tool, CMM measure systems and a 3D imaging tool.
The recent expansion of the Houston Service Center included the addition of a new Schenck WM2 moment weight machine, an image CMM machine, a renew alloy room, a new fixture for Westinghouse D-5 baskets, a Frame 3 gas turbine K transition piece fixture, a Novoscope 5000 thickness testing unit, a pulsating Mig welding machine and a Dymas masking system, used to protect specific areas on parts during acid stripping.
The Houston and Edmonton facilities are among eight GE Oil & Gas service centers located throughout the Americas. "Our service centers are in strategic locations to be closer to our customers' plants," said Nagel. "These shops feature the latest tools and skilled technical advisors to provide world-class technical support and to reduce project cycle times." Since 2000, more than 400 repair services and more than 600 field service events have been completed for customers throughout North America.
Based in Houston, GE Oil & Gas' North American operations include more than 1,800 employees throughout the United States and Canada.
About GE's Oil & Gas business
GE's Oil & Gas business is a world leader in advanced technology equipment and services for all segments of the global oil and gas industry. Based in Florence, Italy, the company offers complete solutions for production, LNG, transportation, storage, refineries, and petrochemicals, as well as pipeline integrity solutions including pipeline inspection and pipeline asset management. Through its recent acquisition of VetcoGray, GE Oil & Gas has added products, systems and services for onshore and offshore drilling, completion and production to its portfolio.
For more information, please contact:
Gabriele Peri or Sara Hassett
GE Oil & Gas
+39 055 423 8280/3361
gabriele.peri@ge.com
sara.hassett@ge.com
Ken Darling or Howard Masto
Masto Public Relations
+1 518 786 6488
kenneth.darling@ge.com
howard.masto@ge.com
