OREANDA-NEWS. On 15 July 2009 was announced, that Vyksa Steel Works (VSW, Nizhni Novgorod Region), part of United Metallurgical Company (OMK) had started manufacturing its first ever batch of large-diameter pipes with a wall thickness of 41 mm for the Nord Stream project. It is planned to produce a total of 5.45 thousand tonnes of such pipes.

VSW started to produce and supply pipes for the first line of the gas pipeline Nord Stream in late May 2008. Until November 2009, VSW is supposed to supply a total of 262.6 thousand tonnes of 1,219 mm pipes having external three-layer corrosion-resistant coating and internal friction-reducing coating. At present, VSW has already shipped about 170 thousand tonnes of pipes (more than 178 km) with wall thickness of 30.9 mm and 34.6 mm, made of high-quality steel X70 (K60).

The pipes having a 41-mm wall thickness, which is unique for pipes of such diameter and grade, will be produced for the lead-in sections of both lines of Nord Stream. They should withstand a pressure 220 atmospheres at the gas outlet of the Portovaya compressor station, near Vyborg. The pipes, manufactured according to DNV standard for subsea gas pipelines, undergo certification and thorough quality control in the presence of Nord Stream specialists and independent experts.

The subsea gas pipeline Nord Stream (1,220 km) will run from Vyborg, Russia, to Greifswald, Germany, and connect Russian gas fields with the EU countries. The capacity of Nord Stream's first line, whose construction will be launched in 2010, will be 27.5 billion cu m a year, while the second line will increase the capacity up to 55 billion cu m a year.

The agreement for delivery of pipes for the construction of the first line of the subsea gas pipeline was signed between the operator of the Nord Stream project, Nord Stream AG, and OMK on November 6, 2007. Prior to that, OMK had been selected as a preferred bidder in an international bidding, whose other participants included leading German and Japanese LDP manufacturers. Based on the bidding results, OMK secured 25% of the entire order volume and became Russia's first pipe supplier for a major international project.

During 2006-2007, VSW produced LDP designed for subsea pipeline systems in accordance with the standard of Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Norway, and was granted certificates of compliance with the requirements of DNV-OS-F101 and the Nord Stream project specification. The Company became Russia's and CIS's first qualified producer of pipes according to DNV-OS-F101, which is the world's reference standard applied for the installation of oil and gas pipelines of enhanced quality, wear-resisting properties, and endurance on continental shelves throughout the world.

United Metallurgical Company (OMK) is one of Russia's largest producers of pipes, railroad wheels, and other metal products for energy, transport, and industrial companies. OMK comprises six largest enterprises in the metallurgical sector. The OMK Pipe-Rolling Division comprises Vyksa Steel Works (Nizhni Novgorod Region), Almetyevsk Pipe Plant (Republic of Tatarstan), and Trubodetal (Chelyabinsk Region); the OMK Steel Works Division comprises Chusovoy Metallurgical Works and Gubakha Coke (Perm Territory), and Shchelkovo Steel Works (Moscow Region).

In 2007, OMK products accounted for 18% of pipes consumed in Russia, including 34% of large diameter pipes, 62% of railroad wheels, and 75% of automobile springs. In 2007, the OMK enterprises produced 1.8 million tonnes of pipes of various sizes and 820 thousand railroad wheels. The main consumers of OMK products include such leading Russian and foreign companies as Gazprom, Russian Railways, LUKOIL, Transneft, Surgutneftegas, Rosneft, TNK-BP, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch/Shell, General Electric, and Samsung. OMK supplies its products to 20 countries.