Investments are one the solutions "Upetrom" used to overcome the crisis

• Interview with Radu Petrescu, Communications Manager of "Upetrom Group"

Reporter: How did the operations of "Upetrom" go last year, compared to 2010?

Radu Petrescu: "Upetrom" has continued its operations following the same rising trend which it had immediately after its creation. In 2011, the companies which are part of the "Upetrom Group" have met some of their strategic goals, such as bringing new products and services to new markets and the creation of new branches, intended to support the operations which those companies are conducting all over the world. If we were to discuss just one of the companies which belong to the "Upetrom Group" - GSP - we could easily prove what has been said above: since 2011, GSP has been conducting operations in the Mexic Gulf with two sea drilling platforms, "GSP Orizont" and "GSP Atlas", it has provided services in the Northern Pacific, as part of the Sakhalin III project, has expanded its area of operation in the Mediterranean Sea basin, by entering the Tunisian market and has set-up branches in Great Britain, Holland, Mexico and Tunisia.

Reporter: What was your strategy for overcoming the period of economic crisis?

Radu Petrescu: The crisis contributed to a rearrangement of the values on the global market, and has validated the efforts made by "Upetrom" and our development policy. Given the great variety of products and services of the offer which "Upetrom Group" brings to the market, as well as the fact that we are targeting the global market, the crisis period has been overcome by boosting our activity in the areas where demand was the heaviest. The diversification of services is another card which proved to be beneficial in this period: "Upetrom Group" entered the market for the development of wind farms, on sea as well as on land. The group's member companies have drawn up an offer which includes manufacturing, as well as transport, installation and maintenance of the wind turbines.

Reporter: What areas are you developing wind farms in?

Radu Petrescu: At the moment, we are participating in the wind farm development works of Dobrogea. This period was also a good opportunity for us to reassess the performance level, by comparing ourselves to new sets of standards, either the ones imposed by the new partners in the operation zone, or the standards imposed by the evaluators towards which our companies turned to for the first time, as First Point Assessment (FPAL).

Reporter: What are the investments which you performed in 2011?

Radu Petrescu: The investments are one of the tools we used to overcome the crisis. I may seem counterintuitive, but it is definitely not, because on a shrinking market, the demand for services is accompanied by more exacting requirements from the potential customers. In the two platforms operating in the Gulf of Mexico alone, we have invested in over 20 million dollars, in order to meet the demands of PEMEX, our customer. In 2011, GSP continued to make acquisitions, to develop and to diversify its fleet in order to support the services it provides. The fact that some of the customers and beneficiaries of "Upetrom" include giants such as "Gazprom", The National Oil Company of Turkey, "Petroleos Mexicanos" (PEMEX), "Wintershall" both honors us as well as demonstrates the confidence which they have in our company.

As for what concerns the Oil Services Group (Grup Servicii Petroliere), the main projects have pursued several objectives. Among them, I would mention the investments intended to keep the fleet at top technological, labor safety and security levels, which would qualify the ships and the GSP platforms in the global competition - and I am referring here, among other things, to the projects for the modernization of the drilling platforms "GSP Orizont" and "GSP Atlas", of the multifunctional ship "GSP Bigfoot 1" for the installation of the undersea pipelines and for heavy tonnage lifting operations, an investment which was aimed to improve the performance of the ship, and implicitly, the increase of its productivity, the installation of a four-point anchoring system on the diver assistance ship, "GSP Perseu".

Other investments were those in the operating bases of the ports of Agigea and Midia. Together with the operating base of the pier 34 of the port of Constanţa, which provide the full package of the necessary services - from metallic constructions and production of marine constructions, to inspection, reconditioning and certification of the oil equipment, port operations and storage services.

Reporter: What investment projects do you have for this year and what is the budget you have allocated for them?

Radu Petrescu: The project to build the marine drilling platform "GSP Saturn" which would operate in the Northern Sea is worth approximately 100 million dollars and will take place over the course of three months. In 2012, GSP will also conduct other investments, by continuing with a new stage of the operating base of "GSP Nord Midia", the beginning of the works at the new facility intended for the practical training of the personnel of the drilling installation, the continuation of the modernization and reclassification works on the "GSP Britannia" marine drilling platform.

Reporter: How many employees does "Upetrom" have?

Radu Petrescu: The "Upetrom" group currently employs approximately 3,000 people. The technical staff benefits from training and improvement both at the "GSP Training Center", as well as in cooperation with international training providers, in Croatia, Italy and Great Britain, if I were to only mention some of the destinations of our employees who get international skill certifications.

Reporter: How much has "Upetrom" invested in Romania, so far?

Radu Petrescu: The amount invested so far amounts to approximately 1 billion dollars. This money was spent on acquisitions (marine construction ships, ships for providing assistance and services in the exploration and/or exploitation of hydrocarbons, diving gear and undersea robots, training simulators, sea drilling platforms and modular drilling installations, latest generation rescue and protection equipment, automatic drilling systems, an extended fleet of transportation and lifting equipment for the activities and services from the land), the development of the three bases of operations in Constanţa, Agigea and Midia and the creation of its first own training center.

Reporter: How would you describe the market which you operate on?

Radu Petrescu: It is a dynamic market, which is growing, on which competition is extremely tight, the technology is evolving quickly, and the regulations are extremely strict. Our benefit is that we understood from the beginning the added value which the assimilation of technological progress and multilingualism bring to the table. We have implemented an integrated management system which we can currently document in three languages - Romanian, English and Spanish. Also, the designing departments and the companies belonging to the "Upetrom Group" which provide design services give us a great advantage, because the process for the implementation of new technologies gets the support it needs from within the company.

Reporter: How do you think this market will evolve?

Radu Petrescu: The energy market is one that constantly throws new challenges at us. It is a market which will continue to grow and diversify. We are looking towards the deep-sea exploitation of hydrocarbons, towards the development of farms which generate energy using renewable sources, therefore we look at how technologies and regulations are shifting right under our eyes. The market will also see growth on the well closing and dismantling of maritime structures, and we are also willing to provide solutions in this regard. At "Upetrom" we have adjusted to the rhythm of the market, we are moving in sync with it.

Reporter: Thank you!