DAMMAM, Saudi Arabia (April 1, 2014)—GE has broken ground on the GE Oil & Gas Manufacturing Facility, located in Second Industrial City in Dammam. The expansion is part of the $1 billion investment commitment announced by GE in the kingdom, and follows the signing of an agreement with the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (MODON) last year.

The first phase of the new facility will be the construction of a 9,500 square-meter building, scheduled for completion by December. The focus will be on expanding the manufacturing capability and operations of the nearby existing Pressure Control facility, which is certified to API and ISO quality management system. The expansion is intended to create more than 100 new career opportunities for skilled Saudi engineers and accelerate customer deliveries on key equipment such as wellheads and valves for the upstream oil and gas sector.

The groundbreaking follows GE’s recently announced plans to expand the manufacturing capabilities of the GE Manufacturing Technology Center in Dammam. With three offices and seven facilities, Saudi Arabia accounts for the largest GE workforce in the Middle East with more than 1,000 employees in the health care, transportation, power, oil and gas, water, and aviation businesses.