Oil prices today may have rebounded from a six-week low, but that’s not to say that current crude oil barrel prices are cause for celebration within the
US domestic or import energy pipe sectors.
Oil settled at $43.44 per barrel today, which reflects a 14-cent increase from yesterday. Year-on-year prices, however, are slightly down. The average crude oil spot price in Sept. 2015 was recorded at $46.28.
In terms of drilling activity, the most recent data from Baker Hughes indicates that for the week ending Sept. 16, the number of rotary rigs drilling for oil may have settled up 2, to 416, but there are still 228 fewer rigs targeting oil than there were this time last year.
As far as what this means for pricing within the
US domestic and import J55 ERW OCTG casing markets, sources close to SteelOrbis report the lateral-trend has sustained. Pricing for
US import OCTG casing from Korea is still trending at $27.50-$29.50 cwt. ($606-$650/mt or $550-$590/nt), DDP loaded truck in
US Gulf Coast ports, while domestic sources say it’s still too hard to pinpoint what the average
US domestic spot market price is, “since a lot of people who have stock are essentially asking customers to name their price.”