September 08, 2008

New tube plant to contribute 700,000 tonnes to Venezuelan market

BNamericas reported that the seamless tube plant that the Venezuelan government is building in Bolívar state will contribute 700,000 tonnes per year to the local oil sector.

An executive at the Venezuelan ministry of basic industries and mining told BNamericas because of new exploration projects being carried out by the government, several major pipelines under development require a large amount of seamless tubes. He added that "And the goal is to supply them as soon as possible without providing a timeline.”

Mr José Khan head of Venezuelan ministry of basic industries and mining met with delegates from the Russian Federation in Caracas to review joint investment projects including the tube plant.

In September, the government announced the start of construction of the USD 830 million plants. It will produce seamless tubes and have an initial production capacity of 280,000 tonnes per year, which will be increased since state oil company PDVSA alone will need an average of 480,000 tonnes per year over the next two years.