WHEN: August 22-25, 2006
WHERE: Stavanger, Norway

GE’s Oil & Gas business is proud to have been a part of this exciting event, themed Bridging The Energy Gap.

A major highlight was the announcement of a ground-breaking offshore project – ground-breaking at 900 m below sea level. Aker Kvaerner was awarded a contract by Norsk Hydro for a pilot project to test a revolutionary subsea compression module in a natural gas field on the Norwegian continental shelf. The equipment is the first of its kind in the world and features a 12-MW subsea compressor designed by GE – and the largest ever developed for such an application.

In the past, it has not been profitable to exploit many natural gas subsea fields, particularly those in depths of 500 m or more, largely due to the cost of conventional offshore platforms. This project will for the first time evaluate subsea as a viable alternative to traditional platforms. GE’s new compression technology is a result of more than a decade of research and development ranging from the first 850-kW subsea compressor in 1992, to the 2.5-MW conceptual design unveiled at ONS 2002, through to today’s generation of advanced high-speed, oil-free subsea compressors. Click here for more information on the new technology.

Our PII Pipeline Solutions business also attracted much attention with its exhibit of advanced inspection technologies, data analysis and integrity management systems. In keeping with the deep-water theme, many visitors were curious to hear more about the new SmartScan Deep Sea in-line inspection tool.
 
As offshore fields move into increasingly deeper waters, traditional in-line tools are not capable of inspecting the pipelines. Deepwater pipelines typically have significantly heavier walls, are subjected to extremely high pressures and include multi-diameter segments throughout. SmartScan DS employs a number of novel components and subsystems including pressure-proof electronics and magnetic circuits, all of which underwent rigorous testing during development. The tool makes commissioning and on-going integrity inspections feasible. Knowing that SmartScan DS is available, operators can now design their deep-sea pipelines using low-cost features such as wye splits, vertical wyes and varying WT – to save millions of dollars during construction.

ONS managing director Kjell Ursin-Smith said the exhibition, conference and festival exceeded all expectations. A record number of delegates attended – more than 1,100 – while 34,000 people visited the 1,251 exhibitors. A record 330 journalists also attended from 20 countries.

Congratulations on a job well done – we’re all looking forward to ONS 2008.