Tenaris has opened a new service centre in Francisco de Orellana, Ecuador, which will complement its existing centre in the Esmeralda Free Trade Zone. Francisco de Orellana is located in the east of the country, where new oil and gas drilling activity is being concentrated. Raúl García, General Manager of Tenaris in Ecuador, emphasised: âWe provide a wide range of services for which proximity to our customersâ operations is increasingly important. These services include string design, material requirement planning, maintenance and administration, inspections, rig returns, tube preparation for running to the well, protector recycling and, of course, our promoted JIC Service, that goes from the mill to the well, including running operations.â? With the start-up of the OCP Heavy Crude Pipeline, Ecuador expects to see significant growth in exploration and production activity. Since 18 August 2003 OCP has been receiving heavy crude on a regular basis in the first pumping station of the oil pipeline. The pipeline is expected to lead the way for a doubling of hydrocarbon production in the country.