WASHINGTON: The proposed US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports are poised to escalate costs for US oilfield services companies, which rely on these metals for their operations.
Oilfield services firms such as ChampionX and Patterson-UTI are the backbone of the North American oil and gas industry, supplying essential equipment and services for drilling, production and maintenance.
The lifeblood of this sector – drilling rigs, pipelines, refineries, compressors, storage tanks and offshore platforms – is steel.
US President Donald Trump earlier doubled the planned tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium imports to 50%, to go into effect on Wednesday morning.
Any tariff hike is a potential hit to the operational and production costs of these businesses, half a dozen industry experts told Reuters.
“About 14% of what we buy, it comes from countries that will be impacted by tariffs,” said Patterson-UTI chief executive officer Andy Hendricks. — Reuters
