Baker Hughes to locate 800 employees at new regional facility at Dubai

The 25-acre site at Jebel Ali Free Zone will have a manufacturing unit and an operations building together housing 800 full-time employees. “The new Baker Hughes campus in Dubai demonstrates our commitment to serving customers in the Middle East developing a highly qualified, diverse employee base in the Eastern Hemisphere,” said Chad C Deaton, Baker Hughes Chairman and CEO, from Houston.

“The campus represents an investment of more than $80 million and provides a focal point for our company’s growth in the region.”

Baker Hughes reported $10 billion in revenues from its overall operations where $2bn came from its Eastern Hemisphere operations in the Middle East, Asia and Pacific operations for the year 2007, including $1bn from the Middle East alone, said Baker Hughes Director of Communications Roland Bitto.

“The idea to build such a centre came two years ago and since then we have been working in that direction,” said Bitto.

The new facility will be an important resource for the company’s growing business in the region. The facility already has 700 employees who were hired locally and from overseas, while more than 100 more staff members are expected to join in the third quarter of this year, added Bitto.

Baker Hughes provides drilling, formation evaluation, completion and production products and services for the oil and gas industry.