Energy technology provider Baker Hughes opened a new oilfield services chemicals manufacturing facility in Singapore, the company reported in a press release on Aug. 16.

The approximately 40,000 sq m facility will manufacture, store and distribute chemical solutions to support regional customers in the upstream, midstream, downstream and adjacent industries, boosting the company's localization efforts.

Though this is Baker Hughes' first chemical facility in the region, the company has a history of localization in Singapore with over 800 employees there.

“The opening of the Singapore chemicals manufacturing facility significantly expands our ability to serve the Asia-Pacific region’s oilfield services industry,” Baker Hughes oilfield services executive vice president Maria Claudia Borras said in the release. “The opening of this facility is aligned to our vision of supporting customers’ needs and investing for growth in the increasingly important chemicals sector."

Baker Hughes, Singapore
Baker Hughes chairman and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli and Minister of Trade and Industry Mr. Gan Kim Yong, celebrate the opening of the new Singapore chemicals facility. (Source: Baker Hughes)

Recently, the company has decided to source and produce chemicals in proximity to key demand hubs as part of its localization strategy. This includes initiating a chemicals joint venture with Saudi Arabia's Dussur in March of this year.

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The facility also builds on the company's sustainability efforts, as well as Singapore's "Green Plan 2030" – the country's movement to battle climate change – as an automated, technology-driven operation. Its ethylene oxide pipeline and the overall process design will contribute to a reduction in transportation emissions and chemical handling.

“Baker Hughes has a longstanding commitment to localization in the region," CEO and chairman Lorenzo Simonelli said in the release. "By investing in this facility, we are enabling job creation, enhancing supply chain practices, and streamlining our operations."

Previously established Baker Hughes operations in Singapore include an oilfield services and equipment manufacturing site and a joint turbomachinery and process solutions and digital solutions site, as well as a completions and well intervention manufacturing site.

Additionally, the Baker Hughes Foundation is in discussions to contribute a $100,000 grant with the Singapore Management University with the aim of helping drive positive social change in the country.

“We warmly welcome Baker Hughes’ investment in a new facility to produce oilfield services chemicals from Singapore," Singapore Economic Development board chairman Dr. Beh Swan Gin added. "It is testament to Singapore’s attractiveness to the high-value downstream specialty chemicals sector and will enable the company to address the growing demand from their customers in Asia Pacific.”