DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Baker Hughes Dhahran Research and Technology Center opens its doors today with a focus on research and development of new technologies to unlock the potential of unconventional resources.

The newly constructed, world-class technology and research center is the result of years of planning and a partnership between Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) and Saudi Aramco that sets out to solve the challenges in world energy production, said Baker Hughes' President and Chief Executive Officer Martin Craighead.  

"Baker Hughes has made massive technological advances in unconventional resources, and as a result we have completely redefined the baseline," Craighead said. "We recognize that the key to success and performance in unconventionals lies in the decisions made in the early phases of development. At Baker Hughes, we have established a multidisciplinary, integrated approach to understanding and analyzing shale reserves that allows us to model and predict how reservoirs will perform."

Amin H. Nasser, Senior Vice President, Upstream, Saudi Aramco said: "We congratulate Baker Hughes on the opening of the unconventional resources research and technology center, which clearly demonstrates a long term commitment in meeting the world's energy challenges. For Saudi Aramco, the center is an example of our strategy to capitalize and strengthen mutually beneficial collaborative opportunities with international companies, and additionally, it will help to further leverage and develop our intellectual capital and technological capabilities."  

The new research and technology center brings together the competencies of Baker Hughes' engineers and scientists with those from the oil and gas industry of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals to develop application-specific solutions. The center is strategically located at the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Science Park at Dhahran Techno-Valley.

"The commitment of this center to offer research opportunities for students and post-graduates in different focus areas, ranging from petrophysics, drilling, geomechanics, fluids and production technology is important to the continued success of the Techno-Valley," said H.E. Dr. Khaled Al Sultan, Rector of the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. "The opportunities and cooperative experience in science and engineering studies demonstrate the spirit of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Science Park."

Offering state-of-the-art rock and fluids laboratories, the center provides the equipment required to further the understanding of the complex science and technology involved in developing unconventional resources.

"By first understanding the reservoir, we have had great success in accessing shale gas in a cost efficient manner in North America, ensuring stability and enabling further economic growth by assisting with the supply of energy to a growing world population," Craighead added. "While our new research and technology center addresses specific challenges unique to unconventional resources, it also will provide research facilities and collaboration opportunities for other applications."

The new technology center further expands Baker Hughes' infrastructure in the Kingdom. Baker Hughes also has a manufacturing plant that opened last year and a 100,000-square-meter operations center that opened in 2010. The operations center houses labs, offices, repair and maintenance facilities, as well as a remote collaboration center.

Baker Hughes is a leading supplier of oilfield services, products, technology and systems to the worldwide oil and natural gas industry. The company's 57,000-plus employees today work in more than 80 countries helping customers find, evaluate, drill, produce, transport and process hydrocarbon resources. For more information on Baker Hughes' century-long history, visit www.bakerhughes.com

SOURCE Baker Hughes