Oil sector sees mixed fortunes on steel waivers

The US has issued its first exclusions from a 25pc tariff on steel imports to the oil and gas sector, after agreeing with Shell and Chevron that the speciality steel they were importing is not manufactured domestically. The US approved Shell's request for an exemption on 2,760t of steel casing and tubing imports from Japan that it plans to use to drill wells in the US Gulf of Mexico. A tariff reprieve was also granted to Chevron for 80t of corrosion-resistant tubing from Japan. Both waivers last a year. But the US has rejected Shell's exemption request for another 1,630t of steel products and one by Chevron for 390t of steel tubing, saying the applications were incomplete. Oil and gas pipeline manufacturer Borusan Mannesmann Pipe US also had a request rejected for 135,000 t/yr of "green" steel tubing imports from Turkey. The government says the products are available in the US, with "no overriding national security concerns" to justify the exclusions.