Pump & Turbo 2014: GE buoyed by LNG equipment, despite project excess

By Adrienne Blume
Managing Editor

HOUSTON -- At the 43^rd annual Turbomachinery and 30^th International Pump Users Symposia in Houston, Texas, Gas Processing spoke with GE Oil & Gas' Luca Maria Rossi, general manager of GE's turbomachinery product line, about LNG equipment and market trends.

Mr. Rossi spoke about GE's main offerings, including refrigeration processes for LNG, in which GE has a "very long history," starting in the 1970s. According to Mr. Rossi, GE was the first company to introduce LNG gas turbines to the market.

GE equipped to meet LNG needs. GE's LNG product portfolio includes compressors, turbines, and drivers for LNG applications. One recent major order for GE, announced last week, is for compressor drivers for the Freeport LNG project in Freeport, Texas. The company is also providing a wide range of LNG and subsea technology for Chevron's Gorgon LNG project in Australia.

Mr. Rossi attributes GE Oil & Gas' success in the marketplace and with its customers to three aspects of its business:

1. The quality and reliability of its centrifugal compressors
2. Access to a complete driver family from the larger GE network
3. The configuration capabilities of the compressor drivers.

GE Oil & Gas operates a testing station where it is able to test its products on a full-scale LNG train. The company is also venturing into the small-scale LNG territory with its small-scale liquefaction technology offerings. It has several small-scale LNG projects in the pipeline, including one for Shell in Russia.

Reliability, efficiency are key. GE's main business advantages include increased efficiency of centrifugal compressors, which delivers greater return on investment for customers. A company trend, Mr. Rossi said, is to offer cleaner solutions through larger equipment.

Although larger machines often equal less free space in a plant, footprint issues are few and remain site-specific, such as in Canada, where the structures of fields sometimes limit plant footprints.

Of more concern to customers than equipment footprint, however, are time to production and the reliability of the machines, Mr. Rossi explained. GE Oil & Gas' service-oriented performance model yields greater production and greater flexibility.

LNG project trends—less is more. Mr. Rossi also spoke about the direction of the global LNG market, which has seen a myriad of project proposals pop up over the last several years. Most large-scale LNG projects were introduced in the Middle East, but the popularity of LNG has now shifted to North America, where the shale gas production boom has allowed the US to focus on exporting, rather than importing, natural gas.

A number of new proposals are also under development in Australia and West Africa. These projects are spearheaded by major and supermajor oil and gas companies, whereas the fledgling LNG export projects in the US are being headed by new players.

The newcomers to the US LNG market are entrepreneurial and must rely on large infusions of outside capital to finance export projects, which makes them more vulnerable to failure, Mr. Rossi said. Also, the climbing number of entrants to the US LNG sector will pose greater competition for success in a market that is just beginning to take off.

GE Oil & Gas is exhibiting at the Pump & Turbo show through Thursday, in Booth #1218.

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