General Electrical (GE) has announced the booking of an $850 million order across its Oil and Gas business for the supply of equipment to the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) block in Ghana.

This order incorporates both turbo machinery and subsea elements, with the first shipment planned for the fourth quarter of 2015 and further shipments are planned in order to deliver first oil by 2017.

“This order is an example of the ‘GE Store’ at work – drawing technologies and expertise from across the company,” Osagie Ogunbor, Senior Manager Communications, GE West Africa said in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday.

The Turbo machinery Solutions scope, consisting of three LM2500+G4 Gas Turbines for Power Generation and four Centrifugal Compressors Electric Motor Driven, will be delivered solely by GE. Ogunbor said.

Engineering will utilize multiple areas of the company’s expertise, across its Italian, Florence and Massa, and French, Le Creusot, operations.

The four Electric Motors suitable for a floating, production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) together with three Electric Generators for Gas Turbines will be delivered to GE Oil and Gas by GE Power Conversion, the statement said.

The subsea production system will be delivered by a consortium between GE Oil and Gas and Oceaneering, International, and includes the Subsea Production and Control System (SPS) and umbilical’s engineering, as well as project management, fabrication, transport and testing.

The statement quoted Lorenzo Simonelli, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), GE Oil and Gas as saying: “This order draws on the full range of GE expertise.

“It shows the value of our broad technology scope, cutting across two of our business units and leveraging the GE store to deliver innovative, economic solutions for our customers.

“In addition, it shows the importance of our commitment to local partnership and capacity building in order to deliver the most effective and efficient solutions for our customers.

“We are committed to partnering with Ghana to help support and build critical skills and infrastructure development for the country’s future growth.”

The statement also quoted GE Ghana CEO Leslie Nelson as saying: “This significant award reflects both our global expertise and commitment to local delivery.

“We will be delivering engineering from the UK, manufacturing from Aberdeen and turbo machinery solutions from Florence.

“But we will also be partnering on the ground, as part of this activity, GE Oil and Gas is committing to long term capability building in the region.

“In order to deliver asset management services to the Offshore Cape Three Points development, it has also established a Joint Venture with an indigenous company.

Alongside this, it is funding the development of a local capacity and skills development programme, with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and Ashesi University.

These investments will help GE grow its employee count in Ghana by 65 per cent and support the training and development of Ghanaian oil and gas professionals over the next few years.

Ghana’s Minister of Energy, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah expressed delight over the investments in the oil and gas sector, which he said would have a positive effect on the Ghanaian economy.

According to the statement, he said the discovery of crude oil and exploration in Ghana would clearly lead to job creation, and technology and skills transfer.

He commended GE for the capacity building initiative through partnerships with Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Ashesi University.

The subsea scope of the order was booked directly with Eni Ghana and its Partners Vitol and GNPC.

The Turbo machinery scope has been awarded by Yinson Production, West Africa, Pte Ltd, which is the company selected by Eni and its Partners Vitol and GNPC for the FPSO vessel.

The OCTP block is located in offshore Ghana at a water depth of 500-1100meters, 60km from the coast.

Eni’s partners on the block are Vitol Upstream Ghana Limited (35.556%) and the GNPC (20%).