The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

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February 23, 2010

Russian pipemaker confirms reports of new local jobs

Plans $10 million plant expansion

It’s a done deal. Pipe maker Ultra Premium Oilfield Services’ owner said Tuesday it will settle in Brookfield and create up to 120 jobs.

TMK IPSCO, owner of Ultra Premium, made the announcement less than 24 hours after Ohio granted the company tax credits valued at $872,000 if it located in a closed pipe plant in Brookfield. The plant had operated under Sharon Tube Co. but it was closed shortly after Wheatland Tube Co. bought Sharon Tube.

TMK said it plans to produce up to 100,000 tons of threaded pipe annually. Production is expected to begin in the coming months, the company said.

TMK will spend $10 million to expand the plant. Vicki Avril, TMK president and CEO, said the new plant is in direct response to the growing demand for natural gas exploration at Marcellus Shale well sites.

The geological formation is believed to contain an enormous supply of natural gas covering a wide swath of Appalachia in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

TMK IPSCO is a division of Russian parent company TMK. The company touts itself as one of the world’s largest oil and gas pipe producers and the market leader of the Russian pipe industry.

In a Monday story about the plant, The Herald incorrectly indicated Wheatland Tube Co. President Bill Kerins said that Wheatland Tube does not produce products for Marcellus Shale wells. The company does produce products for the natural gas exploration industry but he expects the TMK venture will have product types, sizes and special chemistries outside of Wheatland Tube’s range.

Bill Strimbu, president of Strimbu Trucking which is a neighbor to the plant was excited about the prospects of a new industrial customer.

“This is the best news Brookfield has had for years,’’ Strimbu said.

Last week V&M; Star Steel sealed a deal to build a $650 million pipe plant expansion in Youngstown.

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