GE Begins Wellhead Fabrication in Onne

GE has begun the fabrication of subsea wellheads at its Onne facility in River State. This achievement comes at the culmination of four years of planning, capital investment, and training of indigenous personnel to establish the first of its kind capability in Nigeria. The new investment has resulted in a 40% increase of covered work shop area at Onne facility and additional permanent staff.

With this development, surface well head systems used in drilling will now be done in GE’s facility in Onne, Rivers state. Nigerian engineers have also been trained within and outside the country to operate these facilities.

This development aligns with the Nigerian government’s local content law and allows for capacity building, skill acquisition and technology transfer. GE Oil & Gas is continuously seeking to increase the competitiveness of the solutions for the Nigerian oil sector, the domiciling of subsea wellhead fabrication will give Nigeria based operators the opportunity to buy locally and avoid delivery related delays/save on cost while supporting the growth of the of the industry in Nigeria.

Nearly all the engineers and technicians that will be involved in the fabrication are indigenous Nigerians who have been trained within and outside the country. Only recently GE announced that it had sent the first batch out of the 15 newly recruited technicians and engineers to Brazil for training in the assembly and test of subsea equipment. 

Actual manufacturing operations will begin in GE’s oil and gas facility in a couple of months in Onne, Rivers state.