U.S. Steel and Armco agreed to a joint venture.

The companies agreed to combine their oil field operations to cope with excess capacity. The two steelmakers said the joint venture between U.S. Steel’s Oilwell division and Armco’s National Supply Co. “is in response to the extreme overcapacity in the oil service business.” The combination should be completed by the end of the year, the companies said. Both divisions manufacture and distribute drilling and production equipment and supplies.