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General Electricals (GE), worlds Digital Industrial Company has ventured into the Oil and Gas sector with the opening of a new Oil and Gas service center facility at the Takoradi Port, expanding its global footprint and supporting local investment.

The facility, which will be the primary service center for deep-water offshore projects in Ghana, covers a 1600 square meters indoor test area with capability for testing three subsea trees simultaneously and 400 square meters of indoor and outdoor storage.

The new infrastructure is expected to play a critical role in supporting the installation for ENI’s offshore Cape Three Points project -for which GE Oil and Gas is supplying subsea and turbo machinery equipment.Takoradi story

Commissioning the facility, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GE Oil and Gas, Mr. Lorenzo Simonelli pointed out that ‘the opening of the GE Takoradi facility demonstrated his outfit commitment to developing local partnership and capacity building to deliver effective and efficient solutions for its clients.

He pointed out that as a global company; GE was uniquely placed to have awell-rounded economic impact on the regions where it operates.

“We are committed to partnering with Ghana to help support building critical skills and developing infrastructure for the country’s future growth”, he said.

The GE CEO and president continued that along with committing to delivering a comprehensive training programme for the local workforce, GE Oil and Gas has recruited more than 30 Ghanaians to work at the new facility including two fully-trained field service engineers, who are now working offshore to support the installation phase for the OCTP project.

GE Oil and Gas has partnered with Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Ashesi University College in a two-phased approach to local capacity building including education and skills development and a small to medium enterprise (SME) development programme.

The partnership, he announced was helping to develop the next and future generations for the oil and gas workforce, providing them with practical learning opportunities and access to technical expertise locally.

Mr. Ado Oseragbaje, president and CEO of GE Sub Sahara Africa recalled that Ghana had decades of development potential and ‘we are excited to provide support to a project that will act as an important energy source for the country for many years with minimal environmental impact while also driving the development of local infrastructure and capacity building’.

The U.S Ambassador to Ghana, Ambassador Robert Jackson, who was present at the inauguration commended GE for making what he described as a sizable investment and setting a great example for American companies in the region.

‘GE is known for its leadership in technology and innovation adding that in Ghana, GE has partnered with USAID funded supply chain Development Project to build the capacity of local Small and Medium businesses.

“That is not only a commitment to Ghana, it’s a commitment to transitioning from donor funding towards private sector led growth. GE was awarded an $850 million order for the supply of equipment to the OCTP block in 2015. GE Information and Technology (ICT) Chief in charge of Sub Sahara Africa, Mr. Abubakar Suleman disclosed that the Oil and Gas facility which is a 10,000 square facility was a solution delivery infrastructure development in Africa.

He said at the time of deep decline I oil prices, GE decided to invest in the Takoradi Facility for business.