Bentec Names New Marketing & Sales VP

Bentec Drilling and Oilfield Systems has appointed Wilfried Buchholz as Vice President Marketing & Sales. He replaces Bernd Albrecht who left Bentec in the last quarter of 2006.

Mr. Buchholz has more than 30 years experience in the utilities and oil and gas downstream and upstream sectors respectively, including 17 years with Weatherford where he fulfilled various management roles in areas such as purchasing, materials, manufacturing, sales, project management and marketing.

Commenting on his new position, Mr. Buchholz said: "I am joining Bentec at a time when the business is experiencing a rate of growth unprecedented in its 13 year history, with a three-fold increase in turnover in the last three years and an anticipated turnover of US$215 million this year.

"The demand for drilling rigs worldwide is unrelenting and it is my job to ensure that Bentec has a marketing strategy in place to enable us to maximize our share of this lucrative market, particularly in key markets for us, such as Russia and central Europe.

"We are also looking to increase sales of our rigs into North Africa and to Middle Eastern clients who are winning drilling contracts all over the world."

Over the next few months Mr. Buchholz will be restructuring the marketing team within Bentec and making further appointments in that area. Plans are also in the pipeline to raise the company's profile in the industry through participation in a number of exhibitions and conferences worldwide during 2008, as well as a new website.

Bentec already has a well-established sales team headed up by Senior Sales Manager, Andreas Fischer, with salesmen in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, CIS countries and Russia.

Norbert Gebbeken, Bentec Managing Director, Commercial, said: "With our multi-million dollar investment in our Tyumen fabrication facility in Russia scheduled to become operational next summer, doubling our rig building capacity, it was vital that we put in place a robust marketing strategy to ensure that prospective clients are aware of the edge we have over our competitors in terms of quality and on-time, on-budget delivery.

"Wilfried Buchholz has the experience and drive to create and implement such a strategy and we are very pleased to have him on board at this crucial time in the development of the business."