General Electric (NYSE:GE) today announced the opening of the $500
million Brazil Technology Center that will focus on developing advanced
subsea oil and gas technology. The center, GE’s first in Latin America,
will be a hub for engagement and collaboration with GE’s customers in
the region and is expected to employ 400 researchers in the future.
In the twentieth century, one of mankind’s greatest feats was
successfully landing on the moon more than 235,000 miles from earth. In
the 21st century, mankind’s greatest feat may well be securing the
world’s energy future for the next few centuries.
Subsea engineers often say that it is actually more difficult to
put a machine 10,000 feet under the sea than send a rocket to the moon.
Developing extreme machines to survive the extreme pressures and highly
corrosive subsea environment is a challenge that teams across GE’s
Global Research network have been working on for more than a decade.
Currently, offshore oil and gas processing happens on platforms on the
surface of the sea, these are often located miles from a wellhead not to
mention the fact that these wellheads are at the bottom of the ocean.
However, by placing power and processing equipment next to the wellhead
on the sea floor, it makes the job of extracting the oil and pumping it
to the surface easier, safer and ensures a successful and economical
flow of oil or gas from a reservoir to the point of sale. It is also
environmentally sound and more cost efficient for the extraction company.
Through the Brazil Technology Center, GE is engaged with several of our
Oil & Gas customer partners to develop all the pieces that will make
this subsea oil and gas processing facility a reality. Today, GE
announced the first of these efforts, unveiling plans to work with
customers Petrobras and BG Group in the future.
“Our new research center in Brazil will allow GE to innovate locally for
our customers in Latin America and then export those innovations to the
world,” said GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. “Over the past decade, we
have doubled down on our R&D investment and expanded our global network
of Research Centers to address customer’s growing needs for breakthrough
technology that we develop with them. We see significant growth
opportunities in Latin America and having the best technology and
solutions will ensure we maintain GE’s competitive edge.”
The future of Oil and Gas on the Seabed
Today, the processing of offshore oil and gas happens at the surface on
a platform often located miles from a wellhead. This limits how much oil
and gas can be recovered and makes what can be recovered more costly to
process. Advanced subsea processing takes the floating platforms that
would usually float on the surface of the sea and bolts them to seabed.
Plus, new wellhead technologies that use subsea pumps and compressors
will increase recovery and offer more economical oil field development
with lower emissions. This reduces the capital and operating costs of
running a drilling platform and greatly reduces the risks of having a
manned platform out at sea. This is the latest in a long line of
innovations that prove sometimes machines are better suited to working
in dirty, dangerous or even dull environments.
Some of the biggest commercial opportunities in the oil industry today
are in offshore exploration and production and particularly in the so
called “pre-salt” layers that dominate the deep water off the coast of
Brazil. The pre-salt is a layer of sedimentary rocks formed by the
separation of the current American and African continents. It comprises
large accumulations of excellent quality, high commercial value light
oil.
GE is working with Petrobras and BG Group on research projects to
develop the technologies and equipment that will be required to move
production from the platform to the seabed.
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Offshore Drilling with BG Group – Offshore drilling increases
in complexity and cost as exploration and production activity goes
deeper. In Brazil’s thick pre-salt layer, extremely hard rock
formations contain hydrocarbons at high pressures and temperatures.
These conditions demand drilling equipment that is adaptable to
changing conditions and as reliable as possible. BG Group and GE are
exploring ways to make drilling systems smarter, increasing the amount
of data they provide and helping operators utilize the data in
real-time. By creating an instant view of system performance, and the
tools to put the data to work, BG Group and GE are making deepwater
offshore exploration more productive, more efficient, and most
importantly, safer.
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Separation Solutions with Petrobras – Researchers at the Brazil
Technology Solutions Center and Petrobras are discussing more
effective and efficient ways to separate oil, water and gas on the
seabed. GE’s separation solutions offer various configurations, such
as gas/liquid, oil/water (liquid/liquid) and three-phase (oil, water,
gas). The separation systems are all designed for supporting increased
oil and gas production. Benefits are space saving topside and energy
saving due to less need for moving fluids from seabed to topside.
Eliminating the water subsea frees up capacity for producing oil in
the pipeline and topside facility.
GE’s Investment in a Global Innovation Network
Over the past decade, GE has invested 5% to 6% of its industrial revenue
in R&D. GE has expanded its network of R&D centers to support its
growing global industrial base -- by next year, two-thirds of the
company’s revenues will come from outside the U.S. and 70 percent of its
overall revenues will come from its industrial businesses.
Mark Little, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, GE
Global Research said, “Expanding opportunities for oil & gas production
in ultra-deep waters requires the kind of industry and technology
know-how for extreme environments that is a part of GE’s DNA. The Brazil
Technology Center is a place where we can work closely with local
customers and universities in the region and harness the full power of
our global research network to drive innovation in ways no one else can.”
About the Brazil Technology Center
The Center is located on the Ilha do Bom Jesus peninsula in Rio de
Janeiro. GE has been in Brazil since 1919 and, today, employs more than
8,800 people in the country. The GE Brazil Technology Center is one of
nine research centers globally and one of five outside the U.S. The
company has operations throughout the country, including São Paulo,
Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. The new R&D center in Rio is
approximately 250,000 square feet, of which half is devoted to lab space.
The Center will also be home to a Global Learning facility, where GE
employees will join senior leaders from industry, academia and
government to learn and share best practices. The Rio branch of
“Crotonville,” GE’s global leadership development institute in the
United States, will focus on leadership strategy, business management,
and finance training as part of GE’s $1 billion annual investment in
employee growth worldwide.
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best
technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in
energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering,
moving and helping to cure the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE
works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.
About GE Global Research
GE Global Research is the hub of technology development for all of GE's
businesses. Our scientists and engineers redefine what’s possible, drive
growth for our businesses, and find answers to some of the world’s
toughest problems. We innovate 24 hours a day, with sites in Niskayuna,
New York; San Ramon, California; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Bangalore, India;
Shanghai, China; Munich, Germany; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma. Visit GE Global Research on the web at www.geglobalresearch.com.
Connect with our technologists at http://edisonsdesk.com
and https://twitter.com/GEResearch.
About GE Oil & Gas
GE Oil & Gas works on the things that matter in the oil and gas
industry. In collaboration with our customers, we push the boundaries of
technology to bring energy to the world. From extraction to
transportation to end use, we address today's toughest challenges in
order to fuel the future. Follow GE Oil & Gas on Twitter @GE_OilandGas.
Copyright Business Wire 2014