OREANDA-NEWS. Russia's TMK, one of the largest manufacturers of tubular products in the world, is teaming with RUSNANO to expand production of high-tech steel pipes with advanced properties for the oil and gas industry. RUSNANO's investments in the project are 5.5 billion rubles and investments by TMK are no less than 12.5 billion rubles. As part of the project RUSNANO has acquired 5.476% of shares in TMK through a public offering.

The new production includes a pipe rolling complex with a continuous fine quality mill (FQM) at Seversky Tube Works, producing seamless pipes intended mainly for use in the oil and gas industry for well construction (casings) and pipelines. The mill has capacity of 600,000 tonnes per year. Performance properties of the pipes will be significantly improved by the use of nanostructured alloys and microalloys, which increase strength, ductility and corrosion resistance by 15-20%. The pipes will be suited for the development of non-conventional and hard-to-recover hydrocarbon reserves.

The new project was made possible thanks to a history of successful cooperation between RUSNANO and TMK in the TMK-INOX joint venture. TMK-INOX, established in December 2010, is focused on the production of high-precision stainless steel pipes. It produces special-purpose pipes for high-tech industries, including the nuclear industry, aviation and automotive, aerospace and power engineering.

The CEO of RUSNANO, Anatoly Chubais, said: "It is important for Russian companies to make products that can compete by price and quality with the best foreign analogues and that can fully replace imports. RUSNANO offers more than money: it offers expertise in creating innovative products. The current foreign trade situation gives special relevance to production by our joint project, which will be in strong demand from the oil and gas industry."

The CEO of TMK, Alexander Shiryaev, said: "The new project will expand our company's production of oil and gas pipes with physical, chemical and geometrical properties that meet or exceed the most stringent international quality standards. The innovative tubular products manufactured at Seversky Tube Works in the project with RUSNANO are suited for use in particularly challenging climatic and geological conditions, and for horizontal and deep drilling."