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Tenaris: Company Profile
Tenaris entered a $1.209 million agreement in March 2019 to acquire IPSCO Tubulars and in January 2019 they acquired a 47.79% stake in the Saudi Arabian company. It appears that Tenaris does not publicly disclose information on their pilot programs, although it is possible the company calls them something different which is discussed below.
Investments
- In February 2019, Tenaris entered into an agreement to build a welded pipe plant in West Siberia, Russia. The agreement is with the Russian company PAO TMK. The total investment is expected to be about $240 million and the Tenaris will have a 49% stake in the company while PAO holds a 51% stake.
Acquisitions
- Tenaris acquired a 47.79% stake in Saudi Steel Pipe Company (“SSP”) in January 2019 for $141 million. The company is located in Saudi Arabia and produces welded steel pipes. SSP has an annual manufacturing capacity of 360,000 tons.
- In March 2019, Tenaris entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of IPSCO Tubulars, Inc. for $1.209 million. IPSCO is a U.S. "producer of seamless and welded OCTG and line pipe products." The agreement is awaiting regulatory approvals.
Pilot Projects
- A Tenaris brochure on pipeline coating solutions mentions that the company has a pilot plant for coating solutions. The brochure also lists about 40 projects undertaken from 2011 to 2016, but does not specify that they are pilot programs.
- In 2012, Tenaris conducted a pilot with a Colombian oil company that utilized their TenarisHydril Blue® connections technology. The success of the pilot led the oil company to consider future uses for the technology.
- Tenaris was recently involved in a project in the Culzean field in the North Sea which involved drilling in a technically challenging well. The company conducted rigorous testing to ensure the offered solutions would succeed in real world conditions.
- Tenaris does not mention any type of pilot programs on its website or in the annual reports. Additionally, the only reporting we found on a pilot program was from 2012, as reported above. Therefore, we conclude that either Tenaris is not conducting pilot programs, or they are not reporting on them publicly.
- If we consider pilot programs to be testing of solutions before implementation, there is evidence that this is done regularly by Tenaris. They offer technical consulting services to assist companies facing challenging problems that need customized solutions. However, they do not report on the number of clients or projects conducted.
Risk Level
- Tenaris partnered with Eni for a project to produce gas in the Zohr region. This project was viewed by some as a "mission impossible" but that didn't stop Tenaris from getting involved.
- Tenaris worked on a technically difficult project with LLOG and met a tight deadline. This is another indication that the company does not shy away from risk.
Research Strategy
To find information on the investment and acquisition activity of Tenaris, we utilized the annual reports of the company. We covered any activity from January 2019 through today. Since the results were limited, we supplemented this research by examining business reporting sites such as Crunchbase and Owler, as well as a media search. When these strategies did not result in any additional investments or acquisitions, this confirmed that the annual reports had provided all the relevant information.
Data on pilot projects proved to be difficult to find. We began our search on the company's website and in the annual reports, and there was limited information on pilot programs. Next, we conducted a search of press releases and media sites such as OE Digital and Reuters. This allowed us to find a couple of mentions of pilots but they were from around 2012. We decided to change our strategy to search for testing programs to see if that would result in any additional relevant information. This allowed us to find examples of recent projects that had extensive pre-implementation testing, which could be considered a pilot, but the data was still very limited. Therefore, we concluded that either Tenaris is not regularly conducting pilots, or they are not reporting on them publicly.