Baker Hughes Opens Research And Technology Center In Claremore

A giant in Oklahoma's energy industry officially opened a new $60 million facility Thursday. Baker Hughes is a leading supplier of services, products and technology for the oil and natural gas industry and is expanding in a big way in Claremore.

After a little more than two years of construction, Baker Hughes has opened a new research and technology center. It's a huge accomplishment for Claremore's largest employer.

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Engineers will work at the new 80,000 square-foot center to do research and testing on the company's artificial lift products. Those are products used to recover oil reserves that are hard to get to the surface.

The facility will also include five research laboratories for scientists and engineers to develop new products for the energy industry.

John Bearden with Baker Hughes, said, "This is a great start for the next generations that will be coming on that some of us older engineers are mentoring right now, so it should be an exciting time for them too."

Baker Hughes already has four facilities in Claremore, and 15 across the state of Oklahoma, including in Broken Arrow and Sand Springs.

The company has 59,000 employees in 80 countries.