GE Batam Subsea to start production in November
Thursday, May 16 2013 - 01:47 AM WIB
General Electric (GE) Indonesia will start the commercial operation of its subsea equipment manufacturing facilities in Batam, Riau Islands, in November this year, catering for the rising need of offshore explorations in Asia.
?The construction will be completed in June this year and production will start in November. Initially, it?ll be ready to produce the subsea trees. Later next year we?ll start producing the wellheads. These are for drilling activities offshore,? said Visal Leng, GE Oil and Gas Regional General Manager for Asia Pacific on the sidelines of the three day annual convention and exhibition of the Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) in Jakarta on Wednesday.
According to him, the subsea facilities will be the first in Asia Pacific region, where the demand for such products are seen increasing as offshore drillings are on the rise in the region, especially Indonesia which is now accelerating its drilling activities to find new discoveries of oil and gas reserves.
He said that his company has spent about US$12 million since 2011 to develop the facilities and has planned to double the investments in the next few years to further develop the facilities, and improve technlogy and human resources.
Leng said that the subsea manufacturing products will be produced based on the specific needs of each location of the offshore exploration activities. ?We?ll tailor the products to the specific needs of companies doing explorations in certain offshore areas,? he told Petromindo.com and OGE Asia.
Asked whether his company has obtained any order from companies operating in Indonesia, he said, ?Several contracts are now under discussions.? But he refused to identify the companies and offshore locations they will be exploring in Indonesia.
He noted that his company would need around seven months to produce the subsea trees, while to produce the wellheads will take about a year.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak