Vallourec Drilling Products, a subsidiary of Paris, France-based steel pipe maker Vallourec SA, will lay off roughly 150 employees in Texas, according to a regulatory filing.
Vallourec specializes in making tubular products for the energy and other industrial sectors. It has about 19,000 employees worldwide, while its drilling products division employs roughly 600 people.
Companies that supply equipment and services to the oil field are still recovering from a three-year rout in oil prices. Although benchmark crude futures have traded above $60 a barrel for much of the year, they have fallen recently amid concerns of growing supply.
On Feb. 13, West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading around $58.74 a barrel.
In December, Vallourec said it had received a binding offer from National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) to purchase its drilling products business for $63 million.
A spokesman for National Oilwell Varco declined to comment on the acquisition, which has not yet closed.
A representative of Vallourec Drilling Products did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vallourec's North American Drilling Products group has offices in Houston and Edmond, Okla.
Last week, rival drill pipe maker IPSCO Tubulars postponed an IPO because of adverse market conditions.
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