OREANDA-NEWS. January 29, 2013. Marking its debut in India’s high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) drilling and production sector, GE Oil & Gas (NYSE: GE) will supply HPHT technology to Cairn India for the further development of the Ravva oil and gas field off the coast of Andhra Pradesh in eastern India. The milestone equipment and services contract was announced today at the GE Oil & Gas 2013 Annual Meeting in Florence.

GE will provide HPHT exploration wellheads, mudline systems, spare units and services for the project, which supports Cairn India’s continuing exploration and development of the prolific Ravva field, which has produced more than 251 million barrels of crude and sold 314 billion cubic feet of gas. Cairn is the operator of the field, which has been developed in partnership with ONGC, Videocon and Ravva oil.

“The success of the Ravva oil field demonstrates how technology can play a central role in accessing new reserves and help reduce oil imports in the country,” said Dr. Sunil Bharati, head corporate affairs and spokesperson, Cairn India Ltd. “We see HPHT technology as a key for the next stage of development, and reliable, proven HTHP technology is of paramount importance to the success of the project and to the safety of drilling the well.”

“This is an important milestone for our business in India, where we see significant opportunities in the rapidly expanding oil and gas sector, which is vital to India’s continuing economic growth,” said Mrinal Vohra, CEO, GE Oil & Gas in India. With our proven technology and our global experience and expertise in the HPHT sector as well as the overall oil and gas industry, we are well positioned to help our customers meet India’s growing energy requirements.”

GE previously has supplied similar HPHT solutions for drilling projects offshore Vietnam and Malaysia. “Because of these experiences, we are able to offer a field-proven, technologically advanced system for the Ravva project,” said Ian Milne, general manager of GE Oil & Gas’ pressure control business. “We were able to replicate the lessons learned from our earlier projects from a delivery and sourcing standpoint while meeting Cairn India’s stringent technical requirements.”

The scope of GE’s supply includes field-proven and API 6A-qualified HPHT wellheads capable of operating at 15,000 psi and 350oF temperature with metal sealing technology, coupled with a mudline system. This allows metal sealing pack-off and cementing the casing before proceeding to the next stage of drilling, a major advantage from a well control perspective.