GE Oil & Gas Invests in Montrose Facilities

GE Oil & Gas has invested more than £13.5 million across its subsea manufacturing facilities in Montrose, Scotland, enhancing the business’s test and assembly (T&A) and manufacturing capabilities.

The company has completed construction of a 1,000m2 heat treat and cladding workshop at its Brent Avenue facility, with structural work beginning on a new 600m2 administration block, scheduled for completion in June 2015. GE has also finished the new high bay facility at its Charleton Road site, the result of a £2.6million ($4million) investment.

Scot Kelly, plant leader at Charleton Road, said: “The oil & gas sector is going through a period of adjustment, but we have been through many cycles of this nature before, both as an organisation and as an industry. What is most important is that we mustn’t lose sight of our customers’ needs and the long term viability of our industry. We are consistently advancing to offer the very best to our customers, and these latest upgrades are no exception.

“Investments like this position us well, enabling us to improve our speed to market and enhance our ability to respond so that we can successfully fulfil the present and future needs of oil and gas customers and developments around the world.”

Charleton Road’s high bay, which measures in at 40m (w) x 23m (h), has been equipped with a 75-tonne capacity crane to accommodate the larger subsea production systems common of the industry today. Six new pressure test bays have also been added along with a larger gas test pit, improving the site’s inspection capabilities, GE said in a press release.

Further to the ongoing work at Brent Avenue, the business has also purchased six new machine tools and doubled the number of cladding stations on-site, a move designed to improve delivery times for customers and drive greater cost efficiencies. These latest investments are valued at £11m ($16.5m).

Brent Avenue plant leader, William McCurdie, said: “Cladding is a critical step in the manufacturing process and this new equipment will ensure we are able to undertake the more complex cladding operations required for technologies destined for deep water projects around the world.

“The time savings that this improved facility will provide are critical and will allow us to work towards delivering a higher volume in less time, a key focus area for both GE and our customers.”

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