“The contract will be awarded for a period of four to five years and entails the delivery of 1,599 pumping units,” Volintiru told Mediafax. “Should we win, if only a part of the contract, then we’ll need to increase our production capabilities and our staff number.”
US companies Lufkin and Weatherford will be Vulcan’s main rivals at the auction, which is scheduled for December.
Vulcan currently produces around 400 oil pumping units a year. To ramp up production, the company would require around EUR15 million in investments, Volintiru said.
“We need a powerful stakeholder and the Romanian state could be it. We will try to obtain state aid to expand our production capabilities,” he said.
This would be Vulcan’s second commercial agreement with Kuwait Oil, after the Romanian company won a $54 million deal in March for the delivery of 210 pumping units.
Vulcan is 74.8% owned by Grupul Energetic Tender SA Bucuresti, a company controlled by local businessman Ovidiu Tender.
The company swung to a net profit of 9.7 million lei (EUR2.14 million) in the first nine months, from losses a year earlier, according to Volintiru. He said sales rose 52% on the year to RON81 million.
For the full-year, Vulcan forecasts a 30% increase in its sales to RON120 million. (EUR1=RON4.5318)