Ras Laffan - H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry, yesterday officially inaugurated the Qatar Service Centre of GE Oil & Gas at the Ras Laffan Support Services Zone.
The spanking new facility has the latest in equipment and facilities and is GE Oil & Gas' third service centre in the region, the others being located in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. The plant took one year to set up and cost approximately $20m.
Companies can save a great deal of time by sending machinery like turbines for maintenance at the service centre, Ayman Khattab, GE Oil & Gas General Manager-Global Services (Middle East) told media persons while leading them on a tour of the facility. While repairs and routine maintenance may have taken as much as 30 days when done on-site, bringing the turbines to the facility could mean a saving of up to 10 days. "Time is critical and time is money," said Khattab.
The service centre will have from 40 to 50 employees, mainly working on the technical side. The facility will start operations next month although two Qatargas turbines were already parked at the service centre ready for work to begin.
The Qatar Service Center allows for repairs, overhauls and inspections. Khattab said: "If need be, we can also deal with situations in case there is any overflow in either Abu Dhabi or Saudi Arabia. As part of our master-plan, we have made provisions for expansion at this facility."
Hamad Al Khayyat, Sales Account Manager, Global Service (Qatar), said a robotic arm is also on hand to carry out automatic coating work. The machinery is fully computerised and employees do not have to be in the vicinity of the equipment. The robotic arm allows for cleaning and coating hard-to-reach points in any machinery sent to the service centre.
Nabil Hebayeb, GE Middle East and Africa President and CEO, said: "The opening of the new service centre here in Ras Laffan further strengthens our position as a global company committed to Qatar and the region. The new facility represents a significant step in the overall GE infrastructure strategy for the region, including investments in other countries."
By Rabin Gupta
© The Peninsula 2008
