BOSTON, Oct 21 - General Electric Co (GE.N) has received a $400 million order to supply equipment to the world's biggest new liquefied natural gas development, being built by Chevron Corp (CVX.N) in Australia.
The biggest U.S. conglomerate said on Wednesday that it had been tapped to provide compressors to compress the gas and sequester carbon dioxide released during its production.
The gas project, called Gorgon, is expected to produce some 8 percent of the world's liquefied natural gas when it begins production in 2014 and will make Australia the world's No. 2 gas exporter behind Qatar.
Chevron and partners Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) expect the project to cost some $37 billion to build.
"The contract consolidates our global LNG technology leadership position and our competitive edge in pioneering CO2 sequestration applications," said Claudi Santiago, president and chief executive of GE's Florence, Italy-based oil and gas unit.
The GE compressors will be used both to cool the gas into a liquid form -- which makes it possible to transport by boat -- and to pump carbon dioxide removed prior to liquefying the gas back into the wells the gas is removed from.
Gorgon will be the world's first LNG facility to pump the CO2 released in the production process back into the ground, rather than releasing it into the atmosphere, according to GE.
CO2 is a greenhouse gas associated with climate change. It is a byproduct of burning all fossil fuels for heat and energy, and is the primary emission that global negotiators are focused on scaling back in climate talks.
GE, also the world's biggest maker of jet engines and electricity-producing turbines, expects to ship a total of nine compressors for the project in 2011 and 2012.
GE's oil and gas business is one of the company's few units that posted profit growth during the third quarter. It reported an 11 percent rise in earnings, to $338 million, on $1.95 billion in revenue, a 3 percent increase.
GE shares closed at $15.53, down 0.3 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
The biggest U.S. conglomerate said on Wednesday that it had been tapped to provide compressors to compress the gas and sequester carbon dioxide released during its production.
The gas project, called Gorgon, is expected to produce some 8 percent of the world's liquefied natural gas when it begins production in 2014 and will make Australia the world's No. 2 gas exporter behind Qatar.
Chevron and partners Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) expect the project to cost some $37 billion to build.
"The contract consolidates our global LNG technology leadership position and our competitive edge in pioneering CO2 sequestration applications," said Claudi Santiago, president and chief executive of GE's Florence, Italy-based oil and gas unit.
The GE compressors will be used both to cool the gas into a liquid form -- which makes it possible to transport by boat -- and to pump carbon dioxide removed prior to liquefying the gas back into the wells the gas is removed from.
Gorgon will be the world's first LNG facility to pump the CO2 released in the production process back into the ground, rather than releasing it into the atmosphere, according to GE.
CO2 is a greenhouse gas associated with climate change. It is a byproduct of burning all fossil fuels for heat and energy, and is the primary emission that global negotiators are focused on scaling back in climate talks.
GE, also the world's biggest maker of jet engines and electricity-producing turbines, expects to ship a total of nine compressors for the project in 2011 and 2012.
GE's oil and gas business is one of the company's few units that posted profit growth during the third quarter. It reported an 11 percent rise in earnings, to $338 million, on $1.95 billion in revenue, a 3 percent increase.
GE shares closed at $15.53, down 0.3 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
