Baker Hughes Opens Saudi Arabia Drill Bit Manufacturing Plant

Plant moves supply chain closer to Eastern Hemisphere client-base.

Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) announced today that its new drill bit manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia is fully operational and delivering industry-leading polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits to the Saudi Arabian and Middle East markets. This modern drill bit plant consolidates all the manufacturing processes for PDC bits in Saudi Arabia. At full capacity, the facility, an integral part of the Baker Hughes super base in Dhahran, will employ approximately 80 people.

“Proximity to markets and customers is critical to ensuring client alignment and fit-for-purpose products,” says Art Soucy, vice president of supply chain for Baker Hughes. “Saudi Arabia and the Middle East are key markets for Baker Hughes and, after several years of successfully assembling drill bits in Saudi Arabia, we took the next logical step of manufacturing bits from raw materials. The investment underscores our commitment to diversify our manufacturing footprint to better serve our global client base.”