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FLORENCE, ITALY - January 19, 2006 : -- GE's Oil & Gas business has successfully completed tests on the highest pressure sour gas re-injection train ever built, which is scheduled for installation at the Kashagan oil field of the North Caspian Sea, off the coast of Kazakhstan. Based on well-proven re-injection train architecture that incorporates a double-shaft GE Frame 5-2D gas turbine and three centrifugal compressors, the turbo-compression train reached 820 bar pressure during full density tests, topping the former record of 690 bar, also achieved by GE technology. Other highlights of the tests included:
"The tests have validated the capability of our compressors to operate at the ultra-high pressures required for today's most challenging sour gas re-injection applications," said Claudi Santiago, President of GE's Oil & Gas business. "From the perspective of our customers, this technology enables increased efficiency and high reliability for oil recovery operations." Protecting the ecology of the region is a critical requirement for the Kashagan project. "To meet the demanding environmental and safety standards, the entire re-injection train has been designed and tested for zero leakage of sour gas," Santiago noted. The train is the first of two units that will be mounted on off-shore modules and provided to Agip Kazakhstan North Caspian Operating Company N.V. (Agip KCO), which is acting as operator for and on behalf of the North Caspian PSA Partners. Each of the two re-injection trains will be designed to inject 5.4 million scm/day of sour gas. Driving each train will be a GE Frame 5-2D gas turbine, a 30-megawatt class machine that provides the high reliability and availability required for high-pressure applications. In addition to the ultra high-pressure BCL304/E, the other centrifugal compressors for each train include the BCL404/B and the BCL304/C. "GE was selected for this project because it is considered the compressor manufacturer with the most experience in the re-injection of sour gas at the pressures required by the Caspian Sea fields," Santiago said. "The test results for the first train have been outstanding and fully meet the customer's specifications." Both trains are scheduled to be shipped to the project site by the end of 2006. The Kashagan oil field is one of the largest fields discovered in the past 30 years. To recover crude oil from the field, associated sour gas will be re-injected into the reservoirs at ultra-high pressure. Basically, the sour gas injection process has three main goals: to avoid massive sulphur production as a by-product of the sweetening process; to avoid the flaring of sweetened gas and subsequent CO2 production; and to keep the oil well pressure at levels suitable for full exploitation. About GE's Oil & Gas businessGE's Oil & Gas business www.geoilandgas.com is a world leader in advanced technology turbo-machinery products and services, with engineering and manufacturing centers of excellence throughout Europe and the United States. Based in Florence, Italy, the company offers complete solutions for production, LNG, transportation, storage, refineries, petrochemicals and distribution systems, as well as pipeline integrity solutions including analysis and pipeline asset management.For more information, contact:Gabriele PeriGE Oil & Gas +39 055 423 8280 gabriele.peri@ge.com Ken Darling or Howard Masto Masto Public Relations +1 518 786 6488 kenneth.darling@ps.ge.com howard.masto@ge.com |
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