Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- GE Oil & Gas, a subsidiary of General Electric Co., expects to boost sales this year and next as oil producers develop new fields in China, Africa and Australia, unit Chief Executive Officer Claudi Santiago said. The maker of turbines and generators for the oil and natural-gas industry may boost sales this year to between $7.5 billion and $8 billion, Santiago said, without providing 2008 sales figures. “We expect growth in the single digits this year that will come fundamentally from active markets like China and Africa,” he said yesterday in an interview in Buenos Aires. The unit expects a “renaissance in LNG next year, especially in Australia.” The unit recently signed a service contract with Chevron Corp. for the Gorgon field, a $37 billion gas project off northwest Australia, Santiago said. GE will also try to win contracts for turbines and generators from Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the Brazilian state-controlled company prepares to tap deepwater deposits, he said. Oil service companies such as Schlumberger Ltd. and Halliburton Co. have seen a drop in sales as Chevron, Exxon Mobil Corp. and other producers slash capital-expenditure budgets after oil prices plunged by more than half since reaching a record $147.27 a barrel in July 2008. GE’s clients haven’t asked to renegotiate or cancel contracts, Santiago said. “In a moment of downturn, we are defending our position well,” Santiago said. The unit will end 2009 with a backlog of an extra $150 million to $200 million, he said. Sales may rise in the “high single digits” next year, he said, declining to give a specific forecast. Oil prices will average about $70 to $80 a barrel for the rest of this year, Santiago said. Oil for November delivery rose $2.12, or 3.1 percent, to $71.69 a barrel yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. To contact the reporter on this story: Andres R. Martinez in Mexico City at amartinez28@bloomberg.net.

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