Chevron, GE form alliance to develop technologies for industry
Chevron Energy Technology Co and GE Oil & Gas have created the Chevron GE Technology Alliance, which will develop and commercialize technologies to solve critical issues for the oil and gas industry.
The alliance builds upon a current collaboration on flow analysis technology for oil and gas wells and will leverage research and development from GE’s newest Global Research Center, the first dedicated to oil and gas technology.
“GE brings its leading manufacturing capabilities, worldwide marketing, distribution, and extensive R&D capabilities not only for oil and gas, but also other business sectors to this alliance,” said Paul Siegele, president of Chevron Energy Technology Co and chief technology officer. “Together, we hope to bring impactful new technologies to the industry.”
“Chevron’s deep understanding of the oil and gas industry, combined with GE’s long tradition of technology development and close collaboration with strategic partners, will uniquely position this new alliance to address the industry’s technology needs,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, president and CEO, GE Oil & Gas. “The solutions developed by this alliance will take on even more industry significance given Chevron’s proven leadership in being first to field-test and deploy new technology breakthroughs.”
This partnership builds upon an ongoing collaboration between Chevron and GE developing the GE Safire flow meter, now being tested and deployed on Chevron land-based well production lines in the western US. In addition to the flow metering collaboration, which is being conducted with the Measurement & Control business within GE Oil & Gas, the alliance also is managing a coatings project and will be taking on additional high-value projects in the near future.
The alliance provides a mechanism for commercializing early stage technologies from Chevron, GE or other technology partnerships. For example, GE flow meter products will be developed incorporating the Swept Frequency Acoustic Interferometry (SFAI) metering technology incubated in an alliance between Chevron and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). SFAI technology was originally developed by LANL for defense applications.
“Los Alamos develops unique technologies for our national security missions and these can have powerful applications for US industry,” said Duncan McBranch, chief technology officer for LANL. “Strategic partnerships with industry allow us to accelerate breakthrough innovation in these areas. As the Chevron GE technology alliance demonstrates, national laboratories can serve an important role in connecting different industry partners to strengthen the US innovation landscape.”
