General Electric (GE) was recently awarded a sales contract with an initial duration of two years to supply 200 overland pumps for a system known as the "Christmas Tree" to Badr El Din Petroleum Company (BAPTECO), according to GE Northeast Africa CEO Sofian Bin Tunis. This is widely considered an important achievement in the field of pressure control techniques in North Africa, Bin Tunis said, confirming a close partnership with GE as one of the largest operators in the Egyptian oil and gas market. BAPTECO hastaken over work in the "Abusnan" concession area in Egypt's Western Desert, according to Bin Tunis. GE cooperates with PETROBEL, an affiliate of the Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC) jointly owned by EGPC and Italy's Eni, with the goal of developing various projects in the engineering, procurement, and construction fields, as well as helping enhance oil and gas production in its concession areas. GE is also working with Burullus Gas Company to change under-water control systems by using new software and hardware for fields set to be re-developed as well as new sites. This development process is based on the use of a high protection system for the safety of "HIPPS" pipelines which allows high pressure wells to be linked with the existing pipeline network, according to Bin Tunis. Bin Tunis explained that GE plans to complete the installation of eight sophisticated F model gas turbines for the North Giza and Banha power plants while simultaneously providing many other services to support expansion. It is expected that expansion operations add an additional 3,000 MW to Egypt's national electricity grid, representing 10% of the energy provided by the grid overall. GE also offers a comprehensive range of services and advanced technologies for power generation, including maintenance, repair and operation services, as well as providing spare parts and contractual service agreements, according to Bin Tunis. GE launched several major projects to generate power including power stations in North Cairo as well as the Shabab and El Kureimat stations west of Damietta. Over 85 advanced gas turbines have been installed by GE in Egypt to generate more than 9.5 GW of power, enough to supply about 7m homes with electricity across the nation. GE and Petrojet have celebrated the local manufacturing of 1,000 gas-pumping units, Bin Tunis added. Petrojet's main manufacturing facility is located in Katameya and is considered to be GE's best Servicing Unit partner outside the United States. The company manufactures surface pumps that are used in many of Egypt's oil fields and as well as those of Arab and European countries. According to Bin Tunis, GE's total revenues from the MENA and Turkey region reached $10bn in 2013.
