Maverick Tube Corp. has entered into a marketing agreement with Rocky Mountain Steel Mills (RMSM), whereby Maverick will have the exclusive worldwide right to market and sell RMSM premium seamless oil country tubular goods (OCTG) products. This agreement is for a minimum of 48,000 tons per year and commences immediately.

Jeff Shorter, Maverick's vice president and general manager, said, “This was the next logical step to continue to improve our access to the deeper wells our customers are drilling in all parts of the world. We expect that this arrangement will help improve the alloy component of our 2006 U.S. OCTG revenues to between 60% and 70%.”

Additionally, Maverick announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Prudential Steel Ltd., will expand its OCTG finishing facilities in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 2006. The expansion of threading lines is the last phase of a $10.4 million capital expansion plan for 2005-2006.

Bob Lee, president of Prudential, commented that “demand for OCTG has increased significantly over the last year, and the outlook for 2006 is very positive.”