Executive Outlook: Baker Hughes

 

 

What has changed over the past couple of years in the energy industry?

 Sustainability remains a vital element of our energy future, and now affordability and energy security have grown in importance as the world strives to balance the energy equation. Together, we can lower our carbon footprint while helping to ensure energy remains affordable and that nations maintain energy security.

What do you mean by “balancing the energy equation?”

 The energy equation is the interdependence of the industrial outcomes and energy sources that drive human progress and keep the world in balance. Think of it within the context of a relentless supply-and-demand cycle. As the world aspires to better things, it demands more of industry to make those things possible. In turn, [the] industry responds with innovative breakthroughs, scalable processes, and continuous improvements — all in the service of meeting the world’s [sustainability] ambitions.

Energy, from traditional sources to those yet to be discovered, makes industrial outcomes possible. We must sustainably supply industry with the molecules and electrons it needs while responding to steeply rising energy demand across the world. Instead of favoring one source of energy or another, all energy sources must be expanded. The energy industry must adapt to this reality. That is why we believe that it is imperative for us to rewrite the equation.

How should it be rewritten?

It demands two fundamental shifts.

One is delivering radical new industrial outcomes through integrated value chains and bold partnerships.

The second is rethinking how the world brings energy to market by engaging every source of energy to meet the massive demands being placed on energy sources. That includes geothermal, nuclear, wind, solar, and natural gas fueling prosperity together.

Technology and capital alone cannot meet the scale of this challenge. A supportive ecosystem — anchored in policy certainty, efficient permitting, and expanded public-private financing — will be essential to channel investment toward the regions and sectors where demand is accelerating. These enabling factors will determine not only the pace of deployment, but also whether the world can build the resilient, lower-carbon energy systems required for the decades ahead.

What is needed today is a long-term view — the willingness to look decades ahead and act with the interests of future generations in mind. That means scaling what already works, accelerating collaboration across borders and sectors, and committing to partnerships and projects that meaningfully advance energy security, affordability, and sustainability. By combining practical ambition with disciplined execution, the global community has the opportunity to build energy systems that endure — systems designed not only for today’s pressures, but also for the world we want to leave behind. Now is the time to look ahead and commit to concrete partnerships and projects that strengthen security, affordability, and sustainability.

How is Baker Hughes responding to these changes?

There has been severe underinvestment in our industry for several years. Yet now we face unprecedented demand. Whether it is from population growth, countries growing more developed, AI [artificial intelligence], data centers, power plants, oil and gas exploration, LNG [liquefied natural gas], or industrial production, the world is going to need a whole lot more energy rapidly. It is likely that energy and electricity demand is going to rise sharply between now and 2040 and beyond.

Therefore, Baker Hughes is rethinking how we can bring more energy to the world, maximize our recovery rates, and bring lower-carbon energy to industrial customers and data centers. We are placing more emphasis on the value of natural gas within the energy equation and the role it plays in decarbonization. Natural gas and LNG are not transition fuels — they are destination fuels and are being prioritized for investment as we take energy forward into the future.

What are some of the ways that Baker Hughes can bring more energy sources to the world?

 There are a few examples.

Our iCenter solution has provided actionable insights across thousands of critical assets around the world that improved performance, avoided risk, and mitigated trips.

Our AI-led energy production tools helped ENI to make a 37% improvement in well delivery and a double-digit rise in production.

We are working with Fervo Energy on five organic Rankine cycle power plants that will generate about 300 MW of clean, reliable, and affordable geothermal power to the grid, enough for 180,000 homes.

Controlled Thermal Resources brings eight years of technical validation, subsurface analysis, engineering, drilling programs, and execution planning in an innovative 24/7 geothermal energy project. Its performance profile is intended to meet the continuous, high-load electricity demands of hyperscale data centers for 30 years while significantly reducing carbon emissions.

We helped Petrobras to reduce energy use by 4% on an FPSO [floating production, storage, and offloading] vessel by applying our Cordant AI-enabled software. With Qatar Fertilizer Company, our optimization tools brought about a 0.8% uplift in daily ammonia output and saved 566 hours of lost production in two years.

We deepened our relationship with Hydrostor, integrating our power generation and compression equipment as part of its Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) project.

We are also working with Dubai Petroleum on energy storage to enable energy resilience.

The pending acquisition of Chart Industries will enable us to expand our portfolio of industrial-scale compression and expansion solutions. This includes heat transfer and cryogenics technology that will maximize industrial outcomes.

How was 2025 for Baker Hughes?

 The company had a very good year. Our most recent earnings report — fourth quarter 2025 — noted US$7.9 billion in orders, including US$4 billion for Industrial & Energy Technology [IET], the division that includes turbines and compressors. For the year, we recorded orders of US$29.6 billion, including a record US$14.9 billion for IET.

What is interesting is the diversity in our order volume. For the second consecutive year, non-LNG equipment orders represented approximately 85% of total IET orders. We expect IET orders to remain at robust levels, supported by continued momentum in LNG, a stronger year of FPSO and gas infrastructure awards, and sustained strength for power systems. Against this favorable backdrop, we project similar levels of organic IET orders in 2026.

Can you highlight a few key orders in IET over the past year?

One order was for gas turbine and refrigerant compressor technology for Train 5 of NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG facility. Baker Hughes will also deliver six LM9000 gas turbines to drive centrifugal compressors for the liquefaction process at Commonwealth LNG’s export facility. Additionally, Baker Hughes was selected by Glenfarne as its supplier for main refrigerant compressors for the LNG terminal and power generation equipment for Alaska LNG’s North Slope gas treatment plant. And IET was awarded two significant contracts from Tecnimont, which is part of MAIRE group, to provide electric motor-driven compression and power generation solutions for the Tengiz onshore Gas Separation Complex in Kazakhstan, one of the country’s most critical energy infrastructure projects, owned and operated by KMG PetroChem, a subsidiary of the National Company KazMunayGas.

How about your IET services business?

We were awarded several aftermarket services contracts in 2025. Cheniere extended its long-term service agreement to cover Trains 8 and 9 of its Corpus Christi liquefaction facility in Texas. This comprehensive multi-year agreement covers spare parts, repair services, and field service engineering support for critical turbomachinery. Also in the US, Baker Hughes secured an agreement with NextDecade for iCenter remote monitoring and diagnostics to support the performance of critical equipment for Trains 1, 2, and 3 of the Rio Grande LNG project.

How is Baker Hughes dealing with the ongoing AI boom?

AI is truly a disruptive force. But it holds the promise of revolutionizing modern society in ways we can hardly imagine. It is driving data center expansion everywhere. Each region confronts the same situation: If the potential of AI is to be fully realized, it needs a massive infrastructure buildout in terms of energy production, grid and pipeline capacity, and reliability. Hence, we are meeting with hyperscalers, data center developers, power producers, utilities, representatives from up and down the oil and gas value chain, and a wide range of industries to innovate together and make our technologies and services more available than ever.