General view of Russia's first pipeline to Asia near Nerungri in Eastern Siberia, July 12, 2007
Photo: Reuters
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TMK Overturned from the U.S. Thread
Russia’s largest manufacturer and exporter of steel pipes TMK has dropped plans of creating a venture with U.S. Hydril, which it planned to use to enter the promising market of pipes with premium threaded joints. The analysts view the divorce quite logical. Hydril was sold to TMK’s competitor Tenaris, while Russia’s company independently elaborated the required technology past year.
TMK announced yesterday the plans to double the output of premium threaded joints pipes to 24,000 tons in 2008 and to attain production of 130,000 tons by 2010. A special vehicle, TMK-Premium Service, was set up for this purpose. It will consolidate production facilities of Taganrog Metallurgical Plant and Research Center that works on its basis. Some contracts for casing pipe supplies have been made with Rosneft and Gazprom, sources in TMK said.
The pipes with premium joints are designated to explore fields of complex geological structure and to carry out probing and drilling in deep-water off-shore fields. The conditions for oil and gas production are getting more difficult worldwide, and this sector of pipe joints widens by 10 percent each year.
The analysts forecast the number of offshore projects to go up several times in three to five years. TMK has been long attempting to approach this market, starting with establishing a venture with the world leader of such joints production, U.S. Hydril.
But that venture has never set to the actual operation. Yesterday, TMK announced it winded up that company, giving the sale of Hydril to TMK’s competitor Tenaris as one of the key reasons. The failure won’t stop TMK, people in the company specified, adding they have independently designed new threads of the premium class.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 08, 2008
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