Schlumberger has opened its new Center for Reliability and Efficiency to support oilfield asset reliability and efficiency in Dammam.

Located in Dammam 2nd Industrial City, the Schlumberger Middle East Center for Reliability and Efficiency is dedicated to advanced maintenance and servicing of oil and gas technologies for the Middle East-Gulf region.

The ceremony was attended by Amin H. Nasser, president and CEO, Saudi Aramco, the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals enterprise.

At the opening ceremony, Nasser said: “Schlumberger’s decision to invest in this regional world-scale facility underlines the Kingdom’s key position as the epicenter of the global energy industry and also as an attractive destination for investors. In addition to supporting Saudi Aramco’s In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) program to increase local content across our supply chain, this Center creates jobs and enables development opportunities for talented Saudis in energy and related sectors.”

Mohammed Al-Qahtani, SVP of upstream, Saudi Aramco, said: “Saudi Aramco welcomes the opening of Schlumberger’s new center. The decision to locate this regional hub in Saudi Arabia means that we will significantly boost the range of the Kingdom's oilfield service facilities, providing operational benefits to our business and enhanced reliability, and creating further opportunities for Saudi technical talent.”

Sherif Foda, president, production group, Schlumberger, commented: “The Middle East Center for Reliability and Efficiency (CRE) co-locates maintenance and product center sustaining experts who engage in industry-leading maintenance processes. These experts ensure that sustaining activities are aligned with specific operational demands in the Kingdom and the extended Middle East region. The Middle East CRE is the benchmark model within the Schlumberger network.”

The Middle East CRE is the largest state-of-the-art facility in the Schlumberger network at 178,000 sqm. The center is aligned with the IKTVA program and will employ more than 450 Saudi nationals.