March Newsreel: Boomerang Tube Funds Texas Plant; Oil & Gas Execs Predict More 2010 Employment and more

“We have great confidence in the future of this business and expect to quickly become a high-quality supplier to the oil and gas sector,” said President/CEO Gregg Eisenberg. “Our new, state-of-the-art equipment will allow us to offer a wide array of products to our distribution network. We are pleased that the playing field finally has been leveled for our business with the recent decision by the International Trade Commission to impose duties on imports from China.”

He said the 487,000-square-foot plant will use the most modern equipment available in providing the lowest conversion costs in the OCTG and line pipe industries. Modifications to the existing building are under way, and equipment deliveries are set for the second quarter.

Ross Lukatsevich, Director of Access, said, “Gregg Eisenberg and Chief Operating Officer Sudhakar Kanthamneni are an aggressive, results-oriented team with tremendous experience in establishing successful businesses and starting up new facilities. We expect Boomerang to be a platform for additional investments in the North American oil and gas industry.”

Free Pipeline Welding Productivity Seminar
Lincoln Electric will hold a free pipeline welding productivity seminar at is Cleveland, OH headquarters on March 16. Topics include: Pipeline Market Overview; Latest Construction Trends; Understanding PHMSA’s Latest Findings; Welding Consumables Selection; Solutions to Common  Welding Challenges; Understanding Hydrogen Cracking; Automating the Welding Process; and Various Welding Demonstrations and Facility Tours. For information, contact michelle_zayakosky@lincolnelecric.com or staci_hynd@lincolnelectric.com, Phone (216) 383-8355. 

Senior Oil & Gas Executives See Rising Employment This Year
Half of U.S. oil and gas senior executives expect to increase employment this year and two-thirds believe the recession will end this year, according to Grant Thornton LLP’s eighth annual Survey of Upstream U.S. Energy Companies.

Reed Wood, Grant Thornton LLP’s partner-in-charge of the firm’s energy practice, detected optimism from the respondents of the 2010 survey. “It was convincingly evident in their outlooks for prices, capital expenditures and employment.”

While only a third of the respondents expect an overall increase in employment for the industry as a whole in 2010, half indicate their company would increase employment levels. The numbers for 2011 are more promising, with nearly 74% expecting industry employment to increase and 56% expecting their own company’s employment to increase.

Two-thirds believe conditions will improve enough for the U.S. economy in 2010 for most business leaders to consider the recession to be over (34% said the first half of 2010 and 33% said the second half of 2010). In addition, 71% believe the recession will end in 2010 for the upstream sector and 65% for service companies. Only 11% believe the recession has already ended for the U.S. economy, 7% for the upstream sector and 1% for service companies.