Lufkin Industries of Texas, a specialised provider of equipment and services for the oil and gas industry, says it is set to build the biggest plant in its over 100-year history in Aricești locality of Ploiești, in the wake of 126m-dollar investments.
“We’re investors going against the tide. We build when markets
are silent, when there’s quiet. It’s more difficult to focus on new
investments when demand is very high. You must anticipate the
cycles. At the same time, building during the crisis is cheaper,”
says Jay Glick, CEO and chairman of Lufkin, a group that may reach
600m this year with around 3,000 employees worldwide.
Glick says that the oil equipment plant in Ploiești, worth 126m
dollars of which 28m euros come as aid from the part of the
Romanian state, is the biggest investment operated in one go in a
foreign country, with investments being carried out gradually in
the other cases.
The plant will be built on a 33-ha plot bought in Ploiești West
Park industrial park, developed by Belgium’s Alinso group and
businessman Petrică Ușurelu, the owner of Piritex group.