Dutch logistic group Lubbers expands operations in Romania to keep up with the boom in the oil&gas sector

Lubbers Romania, the local subsidiary of Dutch Lubbers Transport Group, specialized in logistics for the oil&gas industry, will reach EUR 7 million in turnover this year and plans to keep a growth rate of about 30% next year, following the expansion of its local operations. The company will double its facility in Ploiesti in the following 3 months with an additional 5,500 sqm, to 11,500 sqm. It also opened a new 1,750 sqm base in Constanta, to meet increasing demand from international oil&gas companies which are currently exploring for oil and gas in the Black Sea. “Lubbers Romania opened its first base in Ploiesti in 2010. Since then the company grew with an average of 30% per year and will reach EUR 7 million turnover (in 2014 – e.n.),” according to Kees Cramer, the company’s sales manager for the Black Sea region. What Lubbers does is help the oil&gas companies move their drilling and oil well equipment to and from the places where they have operations and stores this equipment for them. “An example of the activity in Romania consists of onshore rig moves. This includes the complete dismantling of derricks (drilling tower), logistics planning and specialized transports of oil equipment from and to different oil& gas well locations in Romania,” Cramer explained. Lubbers serves all main service suppliers in the oil&gas industry, such as Halliburton and Weatherford, and also key offshore oil&gas operators such as Lukoil Offshore, ExxonMobile and Sterling Resources. “The Black Sea plays an important role with many new ambitious offshore drilling activities being announced in 2014. Lubbers is part of this tremendous development and serves all offshore key players located in and around the Petrochemical Midia Port area”, said Cramer. He oversees the expansion and is responsible for the business growth in Romania and Black Sea Region as a whole. “Combined with the new base opening in Constanta as part of our regional Black Sea expansion, Lubbers opens a new base in Istanbul, Turkey. The Istanbul base will function in close liaison with the Romania operations, and will be a first step towards expansion to for instance Diyarbakir oil field region.” Lubbers currently has 60 employees in Romania to which it will add another 20 next year as part of its expansion strategy. The company plans to invest some EUR 200,000 in Romania each year in the next seven years. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com