Baker Hughes aims for 19% growth in Middle East

Dubai: US oilfield services firm Baker Hughes said it is looking for annual revenue growth of 15 to 19 per cent in the Middle East, the region that accounts for one-fifth of its turn-over.

Chad Deaton, chairman and chief executive officer, said revenues from the region in 2007 were $2 billion.

"We see a mid-teen to high-teen growth rate. Growth in the Middle East will be better than other regions," Deaton told Gulf News on Thursday on the sidelines of the launch of the company's $85 million regional centre in Dubai's Techno Park industrial zone.

The Baker Hughes base in Dubai will look after the company's interests in 31 countries in the Eastern Hemisphere, which includes the Middle East and Asia Pacific. West African and Caspian regions are also among the key regions the company is targeting for new business. Deaton said the new regional headquarters "provides a focal point for our company's growth in the region."

The 25-acre complex will employ 800 people when fully ready. A drilling screen manufacturing plant is scheduled to open in mid-July.

Baker Hughes plans to hire 3,500 staff in 2008 but Deaton could not say how many will be recruited for the Middle East centre, which also houses an education and training facility.

The education centre has the capacity to train up to 300 engineers simultaneously. Deaton said it will be used to train not only the company's own staff but also to offer education to Baker Hughes customers.

He said Baker Hughes is currently chasing contracts between $10 billion to $11 billion across the world, but did not provide a figure for the Middle East.

Hughes' Dubai base

The Baker Hughes base in Dubai will look after the company's interests in 31 countries in the Eastern Hemisphere, which includes the Middle East and Asia Pacific. West African and Caspian regions are also among the key regions the company is targeting for new business.

The 25-acre complex will employ 800 people when fully ready. A drilling screen manufacturing plant is scheduled to open in mid-July. Baker Hughes plans to hire 3,500 staff in 2008 but it's not finalised how many will be recruited for the Middle East centre.