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Middle East business is booming for Star Trek-inspired Vulcan

The Aberdeenshire company is winning contracts worth many millions of pounds in the region.

Ian "Captain" Kirk, president and chief executive of Vulcan Completion Products.
Ian "Captain" Kirk, president and chief executive of Vulcan Completion Products. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

Vulcan Completion Products (VCP), the Star Trek-inspired engineered product supplier to the global oil and gas industry, is enjoying considerable success in the Middle East.

The Aberdeenshire firm has recently won new contracts worth nearly £10 million in the region.

VCP said its new work “extends and deepens” relationships with existing clients in the area.

The projects will be delivered over the next two to three years.

Expansion at home in Aberdeenshire too

Meanwhile, VCP is also planning to expand its research and development (R&D) facilities in Westhill, near Aberdeen, in early 2024.

And it said it will be increasing its headcount to match an upturn in business and product development.

The company currently employs 21 people, which is up from nine last year.

‘We are realising our objectives’

Founder, managing director and president Ian Kirk, who named the firm in homage to Star Trek, said: “By establishing a presence in key emerging markets, consolidating our position in others and strategically placing the right talent in the right locations, we are realising our objectives.

“As a very experienced team, we have been able to fast-track VCP’s development into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has enabled us to hit the ground running in a key part of the world in just five years.”

Mr Kirk at Vulcan's global HQ in Westhill, near Aberdeen.
Mr Kirk at Vulcan’s global HQ in Westhill, near Aberdeen. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

He added: “We will also be expanding our R&D centre in Aberdeen in early 2024 and, obviously, increasing our headcount to match this upturn in our business and product development.

“We look forward to using what we have created as a springboard towards future growth, and adding to our team will ensure we have the right regional knowledge to support additional contracts in the future.”

Adipec show is no final frontier for Vulcan as it looks to further grow its business across the Middle East

VCP has been exhibiting at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference, better known as Adipec, this week.

The firm’s bosses are also celebrating the first anniversary of a key Middle East partnership.

Saudi Arabia’s Alturki Holding Company acquired an undisclosed stake in the business through its Sawafi oil and gas subsidiary late last year.

The investment was hailed by the north-east firm as a springboard for further growth.

VCP relocated its Middle East office to new, larger offices in Dubai. From there, a growing team is working hard to grow the company’s business across the Middle East.

This growth momentum is underpinned by a manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia which opened last year through a partnership with local company Saja Energy.

VCP Middle East manager Mike Fraser said: “By combining Saja Energy’s world-class facility with our products, expertise, and knowledge, we have positioned Vulcan Completion Products at the heart of the region”

Mr Kirk, who in 1994 teamed up with Bill Barron and Alistair Clark to launch Portlethen firm Downhole Products, selling it 14 years later, founded VCP in 2017.


Read more: Find out more about why Ian Kirk named his company Vulcan

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