Pipe and tube
Overview
OCTG (oil country tubular goods) and Line Pipe pricing sits at the intersection of two complex markets – demand from the oil and gas industry and supply from steel markets.
Argus monitors and delivers key OCTG and line pipe price data while analysing supply and demand markets to produce detailed market reports and outlooks on pipe prices and market drivers.
Latest pipe and tube news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global pipe and tube industry.
Oil sands producers plan CCS network, hub
Oil sands producers plan CCS network, hub
Calgary, 25 March (Argus) — A group of Canadian oil sands companies are planning to build a massive C$16.5bn ($12.2bn) carbon capture and storage (CCS) project to decarbonize operations. Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL), on behalf of the Pathways Alliance consortium, filed plans for the project with the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) last week to store 10mn-12mn t/yr of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent in the oil sands region of northeast Alberta. The Pathways Alliance also includes Cenovus, Suncor, Imperial Oil, ConocoPhillips Canada and MEG Energy, which account for about 95pc of the province's roughly 3.3mn b/d of oil sands production. Construction of the project is expected to begin as early as the fourth quarter 2025 with operations starting in 2029 or 2030. The main CO2 transportation pipeline will be 24-36-inches in diameter and stretch about 400km (249 miles). It will initially tap into 13 oil sands facilities from north of Fort McMurray to the Cold Lake region, where the CO2 will be stored underground. "When you have that concentration of emission sources, technologies like carbon capture and storage become very, very technically viable," Pathways Alliance president Kendall Dilling told the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston, Texas, earlier this month. Oil sands crude producers have been criticized for being particularly carbon intensive. The Pathways Alliance is their answer to driving operations to net zero by 2050. The CCS project and "a host of other technologies" represent Phase 1 of the Pathways Alliance's efforts and will reduce oil sands emissions by about 25pc by 2030, according to Dilling. The CCS project itself accounts for about half of this reduction. Phase 2 is planned for between 2031 to 2040 and would tie in at least another eight oil sands projects, while also ramping up alternative energy initiatives related to hydrogen, electrification and small modular nuclear reactors. By Brett Holmes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US OCTG imports fell in 2023, line pipe up slightly
US OCTG imports fell in 2023, line pipe up slightly
Houston, 14 February (Argus) — US imports of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) fell in 2023 while line pipe imports rose slightly. OCTG imports fell by 8.2pc year-over-year but are still at the second-highest level in at least the last four years, according to data from the US Department of Commerce. Taiwan led the overall OCTG volume declines, down by 85,500t year over year, followed by a 70,800t drop from Mexico. Imports from Thailand more than doubled, increasing by 95,400t, while Canadian imports rose by 83,100t. Line pipe imports edged up by 0.3pc or more than 3,000 metric tonnes (t) from their 2022 levels and are up by 47pc compared with 2021 volumes. Turkey boosted its line pipe volumes into the US by 23,300t, nearly tripling its prior-year total, while Brazil more than doubled its volumes, increasing them by 22,400t. Structural pipe imports increased by 2.2pc in 2023 to 425,600t, a 9,300t increase. Mechanical pipe imports fell by 2.6pc to 613,400t, a 16,300t decline. By Rye Druzin US pipe and tube imports metric tonnes Product 2023 2022 Difference ±% OCTG 2,215,080 2,412,983 -197,903 -8.2% Line pipe 1,027,734 1,024,371 3,363 0.3% Standard 756,060 827,491 -71,431 -8.6% Heavy Structural Shapes 686,668 723,676 -37,008 -5.1% US Department of Commerce Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
DNOW to buy Whitco Supply
DNOW to buy Whitco Supply
Houston, 6 February (Argus) — Texas-based tubular distributor DNOW has agreed to buy midstream supplier Whitco Supply. DNOW agreed to purchase Louisiana-based Whitco in an all-cash transaction, the terms of which were not disclosed, DNOW said on Tuesday. Whitco has eight locations and sells B7 studs, flanges, forged steel, gaskets, pipe, structural steel and weld fittings. DNOW chief executive David Cherechinsky said the acquisition is part of the company's move to diversify its end-markets. No timeline was given for the conclusion of the deal. For now, the companies will remain independent and operate separately, DNOW said. By Rye Druzin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US prospects for permitting overhaul dwindle
US prospects for permitting overhaul dwindle
Washington, 20 November (Argus) — Oil and business groups' hopes that the US Congress could fast-track permitting this year are rapidly fading, with Republicans consumed by infighting and a key Democrat openly flirting with a presidential run. The prospect of meaningful permitting legislation passing this year was always a long shot, given deep divides on the issue and the current split in the control of Congress. But industry hoped a deal could arise, with Democrats trying to fast-track clean energy projects funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Republicans seeking to remove obstacles to new fossil fuel infrastructure. Permitting reform advocates concede a deal is unlikely to emerge any time soon, given scant progress on the issue so far, and as Congress heads into an election year where any deal would be much more difficult to pass. "I am not optimistic of anything passing this year," Republican-leaning non-profit Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions president Heather Reams says. In another headwind to a possible deal, Democratic West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, who leads the Senate's energy committee, earlier this month said he would not run for re-election in 2024 but will be "travelling the country" to mobilise moderate voters. Manchin has been a top negotiator on permitting and energy issues, including parts of the IRA that restarted oil and gas leasing on federal land and the US Gulf of Mexico. Manchin says he is "absolutely" considering a run for the White House, adding a potential complication to President Joe Biden's re-election bid. Permitting negotiations had already become stuck in early summer after Congress was able to pass modest permitting changes as part of a bipartisan debt limit law. After the enactment of those changes, the issues left outstanding are more politically thorny, such as energy sector demands for judicial reform to make it harder to bring lawsuits against permitting, or changes to the Clean Water Act sought by the gas sector and opposed by environmentalists and some states. And the signing of the debt limit law came before far-right Republicans paralysed the US House of Representatives last month by removing Kevin McCarthy as speaker. The infighting shows no sign of easing. House Republicans last week blocked votes on their party's own spending bills. The new speaker Mike Johnson had to rely on Democrats to prevent a government shutdown after 17 November, and Congress is on track to spend the next two months trying to stop a shutdown from 20 January. Far-right House Republicans have held up work as they demand spending cuts and policy changes as a condition to keep the government open. One event away Oil and gas executives are holding out hope for permitting changes they say are essential to supporting the industry's growth, including supplying gas to LNG export facilities being developed on the US Gulf coast. An energy crisis, such as a spike in prices, could create the political pressure needed to pass legislation, US gas producer EQT chief executive Toby Rice told an industry conference last month. "We're one event away from something happening. You have one event, you get to reality real quick and you start getting stuff built," Rice said, giving the example ofLNG terminal permitting in Germany after the onset of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Congress is set to finish the year having passed some modest permitting tweaks as part of the debt limit agreement. The law will allow the $7.2bn Mountain Valley Pipeline to be completed, enabling the transport of natural gas from West Virginia, and it has expanded the use of "categorical exclusions" that fast-track reviews. But the impasse over broader legislation will put pressure on the White House to pursue changes that allow faster permitting, such as federal initiatives to build out long-distance electric transmission projects to add renewables to the grid. By Chris Knight Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2023. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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