GE to buy Lufkin Industries for $3.3bn

US-based GE has decided to acquire Lufkin Industries, which provides artificial lift technologies for the oil and gas industry, for about $3.3bn.

Artificial lifts designed and developed by Lufkin help to lift hydrocarbons to the surface in reservoirs with low pressure, as well as improve the efficiency of naturally flowing wells.

The acquisition will allow GE to include rod lift, gas lift, plunger lift, hydraulic lift, progressive cavity pumps, automation and production optimisation controls and software to strengthen its turbomachinery supply chain.

GE Oil & Gas president and CEO, Daniel C Heintzelman, said advanced technologies, combined with new drilling practices, will revolutionise the oil and gas industry.

"The artificial lift segment is at the heart of critical changes that are helping producers maximise well potential, which translates into increased output at lower operational cost," Heintzelman added.

Lufkin Industries president and CEO, John F Jay Glick, said that GE’s service offerings and network of research labs will create new opportunities for the company’s customers and employees around the world.

GE’s turbomachinery equipment will be used in applications such as liquefying natural gas, moving hydrocarbons by pipelines or to generate power through gas turbines at a production or industrial site.

Lufkin’s suite of gears and bearings are currently used on GE’s compressor and gas turbines.

According to Spears & Associates, the global artificial lift sector is expected to reach about $13bn in 2013.

---

Image: Lufkin Reverse Mark II pumping unit. Photo: Courtesy of Lufkin Industries.