GE forms Angola subsea JV

GE and GLS create Angolan manufacturing pact

GE Oil & Gas CEO Dan Heintzelman speaks at the 2013 Annual Meeting in Florence, Italy.

GE Oil & Gas has formed a new joint venture with Angola's GLS Holdings SA that will supply subsea equipment to the country's oil and gas industry, GE announced at its GE Oil & Gas 2013 Annual Meeting in Florence, Italy, on 28 January 2013.

The newly formed JV, GE-GLS Oil & Gas Angola Ltd., which has already received approval from Angola's National Agency for Private Investment (ANIP), announced it will investment of US$175 million to build a manufacturing facility in Soyo, Zaire province, located on Angola's northwest coast.

The new manufacturing facility is slated to open by 2015.

The investment opportunity attracted GE because Angola has emerged as one of the largest crude oil producers in Africa due to its offshore energy resources. Despite some difficulty, the company remains optimistic regarding its ability to find skilled local labor.

"The dynamics of our growth also are consistent with the perspectives offered by the market. Angola today is producing about two million barrels of oil per day," said Armindo Costa, president of GE Oil & Gas Angola and the new joint venture. "An investment of this size will require a large workforce. While there are difficulties in finding staff locally, we are committed to recruiting and training Angolans for the project.”