OREANDA-NEWS. January 18, 2011. Interpipe’s Niko Tube mill has passed the prequalification audit of the oil and gas company Salym Petroleum Development (Russia). The main aim of the audit was to determine whether casing and tubing pipes with the UPJ premium joint produced at Interpipe’s Niko Tube mill in Nikopol, Ukraine, adhered to the quality standards of Shell.

The audit was held by representatives of Salym Petroleum Development and independent experts of the GLOBAL SCS Company (third party inspection and a division of Shell). During the audit representatives learned about the technological process at Interpipe Niko Tube, the process of production management of pipe products starting from the purchase of raw materials to the supply of products to the consumer. The auditors demonstrated the high functioning level of systems such as the ecological management system, the quality management system and the labour protection management system.

Fadi Hraibi, Director for Products and Resources at Interpipe said: ‘Salym Petroleum Development is a joint enterprise with one of the largest Russian oil and gas companies ‘Sibir Energy’ and world leader in oil and gas production, the Royal Dutch / Shell Company. The demands set by these companies regarding the quality of pipe products are very high and include not only correspondence to international standards but also to internal demands and procedures. For this reason we are pleased that during the audit representatives from the Salym Petroleum Development Company positively evaluated the level of technological equipment at Interpipe Niko Tube as high.’