Growing the Market for State-Of-The-Art Pipe

Few industries rely on quality steel for piping as much as the oil and gas industry. Steel pipes are crucial for every step within an oil and gas project, and the quality and reliability of the steel used is evidently of the utmost importance. Tubería Laguna stands out for being a Mexican carbon steel manufacturing company that has already supplied kilometers of steel pipes in compliance with the API norms and PEMEX’s NRF norm. As a company that completely trusts in its procedures, it puts its processes up for review by customers. “Customers and final users have access to our procedures; they can witness our production processes, quality control tests, and all the information needed to assure the best performance of our products in the field,” says Ignacio Aguirre Rascón, Executive Director of Sales and Administration at Tubería Laguna. In this way, it seeks to capitalize on the range of opportunities expected to soon arise in Mexico’s oil and gas industry. Aguirre Rascón does not expect new projects to start up any time soon, mainly due to the restructuring of PEMEX and the preparation of contracts, but Tubería Laguna is already preparing to face tough competition in the steel pipe market. “We are aware that new competitors from all over the world will pursue the same projects as well. However, our solid foundations built throughout the years and the recognition of being a high quality Mexican pipe manufacturer will give us a real chance to access all these projects and serve this market,” expresses Aguirre Rascón.

“A few years ago, we invested in a state-of-the-art pipe mill, one of the most modern in America, to double our installed capacity. Nowadays, we have the necessary production capacity to attend the pipeline needs of this market,” Aguirre Rascón mentions. At the moment, most of the production from this new mill goes to a sister company in Houston to receive finishing processes, resulting in a pipe known as Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG). These pipes are mostly used in the US and Canada. However, by providing quality products and services, Tubería Laguna is hoping to keep on supplying PEMEX and gaining new clients as newcomers step into the oil and gas industry. Tubería Laguna has accumulated vast experience from its regular supply of products to PEMEX, and it currently has a large inventory of over 50,000 tonnes of steel piping for immediate delivery to any region within Mexico. The company is also working to open up the drilling market to electric resistance welding (ERW) and high-frequency electric resistance welding (HFW) steel pipes. The company has already supplied HFW OCTG tubing and casing to a number of wells in the US and Canada. Aguirre Rascón is now relying on what he terms the incontestable success of these products to convince the Mexican drilling market that these pipes are just as safe as seamless steel pipes. “By mixing these opportunities, the Tubería Lguna expects to quickly secure double-digit annual growth in the short term,” he adds.