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Baker Hughes Doubles Data Center Goals Amid AI Power Surge
Shift Toward Data Centers and LNG Helps Counter Oilfield Services Declines
Key Takeaways:
- Baker Hughes said it plans to double its data center equipment order target to $3 billion from 2025 to 2027 amid rising AI power demand.
- CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said power consumption could double by 2040 and noted soft oil demand in 2026 as the company shifts toward data centers and LNG.
- Baker Hughes is working with the Trump administration on expanding operations in Venezuela and expects to double its NovaLT turbine capacity by early 2027.
Baker Hughes Co., one of the world’s biggest oilfield contractors, said it plans to double its data center equipment order target to $3 billion over a three-year period, driven by surging demand for power to run artificial intelligence.
The company expects to book about $3 billion of data center-related orders between 2025 and 2027 and is also on track to double its NovaLT natural gas turbine capacity by the first half of 2027, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said on a call Jan. 26 discussing fourth-quarter results.
“We feel very good about the overall outlook for power generation and electricity consumption and it doubling over the course of now to 2040,” Simonelli said during an interview on Bloomberg Television on Jan. 26. Simonelli sees relatively soft oil demand in 2026, he added.
The company ranks among the largest private petroleum/chemical carriers in North America, operating 194 tractors.
Shifting its offerings toward data centers and liquefied natural gas alongside oil and gas production has helped Baker Hughes offset declines in its oilfield services and equipment business and outperform peers, he said. “We are benefiting from a portfolio that allows us to play in both,” Simonelli said in the interview.
Baker Hughes is also working closely with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on plans to broaden its business in Venezuela, with employee safety as its top priority, Simonelli said. Baker Hughes shares rose as much as 4.3% to $56.25, the highest intraday price in more than eight years, at 11:58 a.m. in New York.
Emma Sanchez, Dani Burger and Jonathan Ferro contributed to this report.
