Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) announced that it will build the first oilfield chemical manufacturing reaction plant in Saudi Arabia.

The company held a ground-breaking ceremony on Feb. 18, at the plant’s PlasChem Park location in Jubail. Upon the plant’s completion in 2020, Halliburton will begin local manufacturing of specialty chemicals to help customers achieve production and reliability goals in applications from the reservoir to the refinery.

“This is a strategic, targeted expansion to accelerate our fast-growing specialty chemicals business. We are excited to house this premiere facility in Saudi Arabia while continuing to strengthen our commitment to the In Kingdom Total Value Add program,” said Jeff Miller, Halliburton chairman, president, and CEO. “We chose Saudi Arabia for this plant because it provides an advantaged location for us to deliver our value proposition of superior service and chemical applications expertise to Eastern Hemisphere customers, and because of our strong 80-year history of success in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

The plant will have capabilities to manufacture a broad slate of chemicals for stimulation, production, midstream, and downstream engineered treatment programs. Halliburton’s global laboratory and team in Dhahran Techno Valley and local manufacturing uniquely position the Company to accelerate the production of next generation specialty chemical solutions while developing local employees and capabilities.