FLORENCE, ITALY - March 9, 2006 : -- GE's Oil & Gas' Pipeline Solutions group is providing Belgium's independent natural gas network operator, Fluxys SA, with a pipeline integrity management tool based on GE's PipeView Integrity software. The new system is designed to help Fluxys improve the monitoring of its vast pipeline network.

Fluxys is the first European operator to install GE's advanced PipeView Integrity package. The Brussels-based company operates Belgium's natural gas network and the Zeebrugge Hub, Europe's leading international, short-term ("spot") natural gas market.

Fluxys ordered the PipeView Integrity software to help the company better assess and manage the integrity of its 3,730-kilometer, high-pressure gas pipeline network. The software allows customers to streamline integrity data management, risk and integrity assessments and integrity planning.

GE's software, which will be integrated with Fluxys' pipeline integrity management system, is part of the operator's efforts to achieve and maintain the highest levels of performance for its network.

The Fluxys network is connected to all major natural gas sources for western Europe: the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, the Russian Federation, and various LNG producing nations. In addition to its pipeline network, Fluxys operates associated facilities, including a peak shaving plant, an underground natural gas storage facility and an LNG terminal.

"Fluxys plays a crucial role in the management of the European gas market, and GE is pleased its technology has been selected to ensure this important natural gas network operates at the highest level of capacity," said Claudi Santiago, president of GE's Oil & Gas business. "As the first European installation of PipeView Integrity, this represents a critical commercial milestone for GE's pipeline integrity division. Having an important operator such as Fluxys put its trust in GE's pipeline technology also sends a powerful message to other operators, especially with the world becoming increasingly concerned about protecting its existing energy supplies."

PipeView Integrity is designed to be adapted to existing pipeline management systems. Also, as an operator's pipeline network demands evolve, PipeView Integrity can be customized to fit those changes. These were two essential product features for Fluxys as the operator seeks to expand its cross-border, European gas transit activities.

"We were looking for a dynamic, scalable solution, and not just a 'black box,'" said Gérard de Hemptinne, Director of Asset Management for Fluxys. "We chose GE's PipeView Integrity software not only for its advanced functionality, but also because it will grow and develop as our business needs change."

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