Baker Hughes and Aramco Expand Coiled Tubing Drilling Operations to Accelerate Gas Development in Saudi Arabia
Baker Hughes (NASDAQ: BKR), a global leader in energy technology, announced that it has received a major award from Aramco to significantly expand its integrated underbalanced coiled tubing drilling (UBCTD) operations across Saudi Arabia’s natural gas fields. The order, officially booked in the third quarter of 2025, marks a substantial step forward in the ongoing partnership between the two companies and highlights their joint efforts to drive greater efficiency and innovation in gas production within the Kingdom.
Under the new multi-year agreement, Baker Hughes will scale up its current UBCTD fleet from four to ten units, a significant increase that will allow the company to support both re-entry and greenfield drilling projects across multiple gas fields. This expansion aligns with Saudi Arabia’s broader energy strategy, which focuses on developing domestic gas resources to power industries, reduce reliance on oil, and support the Kingdom’s long-term energy transition goals.
The expanded scope of work will see Baker Hughes deliver a fully integrated suite of services encompassing coiled tubing drilling units, underbalanced drilling services, operational management, well construction, and geoscience solutions. This comprehensive approach will help accelerate Aramco’s access to untapped and challenging gas reservoirs while optimizing well performance and minimizing environmental impact.
Amerino Gatti, Executive Vice President of Oilfield Services & Equipment at Baker Hughes, emphasized the strategic importance of the collaboration, noting that it reflects nearly two decades of successful partnership and technological advancement.
“This project is the result of nearly two decades of successful collaboration between Baker Hughes and Aramco, which have set the standard for UBCTD,” Gatti said. “By combining advanced technologies with a holistic, integrated approach, we can support Aramco to more efficiently access bypassed and hard-to-reach hydrocarbons and produce the resources that help the Kingdom thrive. This expansion sets the stage for further innovation in UBCTD, which has the potential to shape how oil and gas are produced around the world.”
Advancing Gas Development Through Integrated Technology
Underbalanced coiled tubing drilling, or UBCTD, is a specialized technique that allows operators to drill wells while maintaining the pressure of the reservoir below formation pressure, minimizing formation damage and enhancing productivity. Baker Hughes has been at the forefront of this technology, providing integrated solutions that combine equipment, software, and subsurface expertise to improve well performance and reduce drilling risks.
At the heart of Baker Hughes’ UBCTD capabilities is its CoilTrak™ bottomhole assembly (BHA) system, a leading-edge tool that enhances real-time downhole data acquisition and improves control during complex drilling operations. The system enables operators to better navigate the subsurface environment, particularly in horizontal and re-entry wells, where precision and stability are critical.
In addition, Baker Hughes will leverage its GaffneyCline™ energy advisory services to provide advanced reservoir analysis and modeling. By combining geoscience expertise with digital analytics, this integration will enable a more accurate understanding of the subsurface, ensuring that drilling operations are not only efficient but also optimized for long-term recovery.
The company’s integrated approach — bringing together equipment, data-driven analysis, and project management — is designed to enhance safety and operational reliability while maximizing production. Compared to conventional drilling methods, UBCTD offers several benefits: it minimizes reservoir damage, reduces wellbore instability, and enables faster penetration rates, which collectively improve the economics of gas field development.
Strengthening a Longstanding Partnership
Baker Hughes’ relationship with Aramco extends back several decades, with collaboration across a range of technologies and services that have supported Saudi Arabia’s upstream oil and gas growth. Since entering the UBCTD market in the Kingdom in 2008, Baker Hughes has built a strong record of performance and reliability, operating four coiled tubing drilling units that have consistently met high standards of safety and efficiency.
This expansion to ten units underscores the trust Aramco places in Baker Hughes as a key partner in advancing its gas strategy. It also reflects the growing importance of underbalanced drilling methods in Saudi Arabia’s gas portfolio — particularly as the Kingdom seeks to unlock challenging reservoirs that require advanced technology and precise operational execution.
Over the years, the partnership between Baker Hughes and Aramco has also contributed to local content development through Saudi Aramco’s In-Kingdom Total Value Add (iktva) program. By expanding operations within the country, Baker Hughes continues to invest in local workforce training, knowledge transfer, and supply chain localization — key priorities for both companies as they work to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s energy ecosystem.
A Commitment to Safety and Sustainability
Baker Hughes has maintained an exemplary health, safety, and environment (HSE) record throughout its operations in Saudi Arabia, consistently achieving milestones for incident-free operations. The company’s focus on sustainable drilling practices aligns with Aramco’s commitment to reducing the environmental footprint of energy production.
Through the use of underbalanced drilling techniques, which minimize fluid loss and reservoir damage, the UBCTD program contributes to a more sustainable model of resource extraction. Furthermore, the integration of real-time data systems allows for optimized operations that reduce energy consumption and operational waste.
