GE Oil & Gas has signed an agreement with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil to boost the country's energy sector.
As per the deal, GE will provide advanced equipment, technology upgrades and maintenance of the ministry’s fleet to help support the country’s energy sector. It will also ensure knowledge transfer, skills development and local jobs.
Iraq Deputy Minister of Oil, Fayadh Hassan Nima, said: "The oil and gas sector serves as the backbone of the national economy and we are committed to strengthening it by leveraging the latest technologies.
"The framework agreement with GE Oil & Gas is planned to bring transformational growth to the industry by enhancing the operational efficiency of all our assets and boosting productivity.
"The recommendations of the agreement will have long-run benefits for the economy and increase the competitiveness of the oil and gas sector."
Besides improving the operational efficiency of Ministry’s assets, the agreement involves developing the country’s first monitoring & diagnostics center based on GE’s Digital solutions.
By taking large data from sensors embedded in the ministry’s equipment and using advanced software analytics, the centre will offer web-based solutions to enable predictive maintenance and reduce downtime while improving efficiency of Iraq Ministry of Oil’s fleet.
Additionally, GE will partner with Iraqi Ministry of Oil on an end-to-end solution to reduce gas flaring in the country’s oil fields. The company plans to use it for power generation.
The solution is expected to produce more than 200MW per site and recover liquefied petroleum gas.
GE and Iraq will also jointly develop financing structures for its projects.
GE Oil & Gas Middle East, North Africa & Turkey president and CEO Rami Qasem said: "In addition to scaling up the efficiency and productivity of the existing assets of the Ministry, the agreement also marks the first application of our advanced Digital solutions, flare gas solutions and financing."
GE also expects to introduce its new technologies and solutions to upgrade the ministry’s assets.
Image: GE Oil & Gas, Middle East, North Africa and Turkey CEO Rami Qasem and Iraq Deputy Minister of Gas affairs Hamid Younis. Photo: courtesy of GE Oil & Gas.