GE Gains Us$94 Million Contract to Supply Equipment for Oman LNG Plant Expansion.

Business Editors

FLORENCE, Italy--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 16, 2003

GE Oil & Gas has received a contract of more than US$94 million to supply two gas turbine-driven compression units and two additional gas turbines for power generation, to be used for the expansion of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Oman.

The equipment will be used to add a third LNG train for the plant, which is owned by the government of the Sultanate of Oman and is located at Qalhat. The main contractor for the project is CME Engineering FZCO of Dubai, UAE.

"GE already has a strong presence in Oman," said Claudi Santiago, President and CEO of GE Oil & Gas, a unit of GE Power Systems. "We supplied the first two LNG trains for this plant and also have provided equipment and services for other customers in Oman. This latest project reinforces our strong position in the LNG industry both in the Gulf region and around the world."

GE will supply a mixed refrigerant compression train composed of axial/centrifugal compressors driven by a GE MS7121EA (Frame 7) gas turbine; a propane refrigerant compression train composed of centrifugal compressors driven by a GE MS6581B (Frame 6) gas turbine; and two additional Frame 6 gas turbine-generators which will feed power to the starter/helper motors of the main refrigerant turbo compressor trains and to the plant auxiliary equipment. The new turbo compressor train #3 will increase plant output by 3.3 million tons of LNG per year.

Most of the equipment will be manufactured and packaged at GE Oil & Gas facilities in Florence, Italy although the Frame 7 gas turbine (flange to flange) will be built in GE's Greenville, SC plant and rotors for the Frame 6 gas turbines will be supplied from GE's facility in Belfort, France.

Two of the Frame 6 gas turbines are scheduled to be shipped by the end of April 2004, while the propane and mixed refrigerant trains will be shipped by the end of June and July 2004, respectively. Commercial operation is expected by the end of 2005.

GE Oil & Gas is headquartered in Florence, the home of Nuovo Pignone, a long-time global leader in gas compression and turbo generation products. GE acquired ownership of Nuovo Pignone in 1994 and since then has continued to expand its oil and gas business by acquiring or developing partnerships with other technology and experience leaders in the industry. Other companies that are part of GE Oil & Gas include Gemini, GE Packaged Power Odessa, Rotoflow, AC Compressor and Conmec, all of the U.S.; Thermodyn of France; and PII Pipeline Solutions of the U.K.

About GE Power Systems

GE Power Systems (www.gepower.com) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation technology, energy services and management systems with 2002 revenues of nearly $23 billion. Based in Atlanta, GA, GE Power Systems provides equipment, service and management solutions across the power generation, oil and gas, distributed power and energy rental industries.