Baker Hughes, an energy technology company, has won a fresh contract from Aramco to expand its integrated underbalanced coiled tubing drilling (UBCTD) operations across Saudi Arabia’s natural gas fields. The order was booked in the third quarter of 2025.
Under the multi-year agreement, Baker Hughes will expand its current UBCTD fleet from four to 10 units for re-entry and greenfield drilling projects across oilfields in the Kingdom. The company will provide integrated solutions to manage all aspects of the UBCTD operations, including coiled tubing drilling units, underbalanced drilling services, operational management, well construction, and geosciences, to scale and accelerate their access to gas from new and established fields.
“This project is the result of nearly two decades of successful collaboration between Baker Hughes and Aramco, which has set the standard for UBCTD,” said Amerino Gatti, executive vice president of Oilfield Services & Equipment at Baker Hughes.
“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.”
Baker Hughes’ integrated approach to UBCTD since 2008 includes the industry-leading CoilTrak™ bottomhole assembly (BHA) system and enhanced reservoir analysis driven by GaffneyCline™ energy advisory. This unique pairing of technology and insight allows operators to more effectively navigate the subsurface environment during horizontal drilling and re-entry operations. Work under the expanded agreement is scheduled to commence in 2026.
