The OCTG Situation Report® Celebrates 40th Anniversary: From a Pipe Dream to Industry Benchmark

Photo Courtesy Texas Steel Conversion

Cheers! We all made it to the new year and for The OCTG Situation Report® we’ve reached a new decade and another milestone: our fourth in this space we fondly call “the oil patch.” And what better way to start the first month of the year than by honoring our current and very first subscriber who has a special place in our hearts and on our January cover: the 50-year-old Lone Star all-star known as Texas Steel Conversion. But let us state unequivocally for the record, our celebration isn’t all about us. It’s all about you—our global network of subscribers for whom we give thanks for making our 40-year anniversary a reality.

And now to the business at hand as there’s a ton (or two) to cover this month starting with the results of our exclusive OCTG Inventory Yard Survey ending December 31. Our 4Q25 survey revealed L48 inventories of prime, finished upstream OCTG were trimmed by a rather modest amount as the inventory burn stalled in truck terminal and inspection yards. This was the first L48 decrease posted in US inventories in 2025. Total inventories for FY 2025 posted the largest gain for a full year since the post-Covid comeback of 2022. Our separate survey of “select” distributors in the US turned in a decided decline in OCTG stocks Q/Q.

One year ago, way back in January 2025, the oil patch was fired up for the year ahead reporting the “busiest quoting season” in ages. That fervor has been snapped by a cold streak that makes the recent arctic blast impacting over 40 states throughout the US even more brutal. While mills remain a bit more bullish; a ‘buy-product’ of the probability of diminishing import levels with each passing month, every distributor has their own take on what’s at stake for 1Q26. After echoing the bulk of distributors’ sober sentiments one in particular summed it up best, “Hopefully we’ll be seeing some Valentine love and have better news to share next month.”

As our January Report has the distinction of being our “XL” annual YE quarterly inventory survey, we updated our Y/Y stats on the active versus stalled and/or obsolete OCTG inventories portion of our survey as well as providing an in-depth examination into the portion of upstream inventories dedicated to the GOM/deepwater segment for this past quarter.

In other news, OCTG Pricing started 2026 off with a ‘clang.’ January saw a “Name that Price” environment where anything goes. Our name for it is “skittish.” Bottom line: no one seems to want to stick their neck out or make a decision too far in one direction or another in this as of yet untested, mercurial market. So for now the OCTG pricing market is relatively stable, but you know what’s found in stables. Our advice: try not to step in it.

As we come to the close of our first blog post of the year on the cusp of The OCTG Situation Report's 40th anniversary celebration this February, it seems a fine time to interject some “Cowboy Wisdom.” The ever-wise Summit Brady, dubbed the “West Texas Philosopher” said, “The only time you should ever look back is to see how far you’ve come,” a perfect invitation for y’all to come back now, ya hear!

NOTE: Our monthly blog posts offer a slice of the content we publish in The OCTG Situation Report® every month. To subscribe and/or request a complimentary copy of our Report for review please visit: https://www.octgsituationreport.com/subscribe.