R B Falcon Corp News

R&B Falcon Corp. reported that one of its inland drilling barges was destroyed in a blowout and fire at a natural gas well in southern Louisiana. The loss of the $15 million barge is believed to be covered by insurance.

Transocean Sedco Forex Inc., already the world's biggest offshore oil-drilling contractor, agreed to buy R&B Falcon Corp. in a $5.3 billion stock deal that will make it the dominant deepwater driller. Under the agreement, approved by the boards of both companies, R&B Falcon stockholders will receive 0.5 shares of newly issued Transocean Sedco shares for each R&B Falcon share. Transocean will also assume approximately $3 billion in R&B Falcon debt, putting a total value on the deal of some $8.3 billion. The combined company would have a market capitalization of about $16.5 billion, almost three times as much as its biggest competitors, and would rank only beneath diversified oilfield services giants Schlumberger Ltd. and Halliburton Co. as a contractor to the global oil and gas industry.

Transocean Sedco Forex is a leading international provider of deepwater and harsh environment contract drilling services for oil and gas wells. The company’s active fleet consists of 12 high-specification semisubmersibles, 29 second- and third-generation semisubmersibles, two Discoverer Enterprise-class drillships, four other drillships, 17 jackup rigs and three tenders. The company has under construction one Discoverer Enterprise-class drillship and three Sedco Express- class semisubmersibles. In addition, the fleet includes one mobile offshore production unit, six swamp barges and two land drilling rigs. In January 2001, the company completed the acquisition of R&B Falcon Corp., which operates a fleet of 139 marine-based drilling rigs. On Feb.

R&B Falcon Drilling has received a letter of intent from Petroleo Brasileiro S/A Petrobras for a two-year contract for the DP drillship Deepwater Frontier for operations offshore Brazil in up to approximately 8,900 ft. (2,712 m) of water. Capable of drilling in up to 10,000 ft. (3,048 m) of water, Deepwater Frontier is 60 percent owned by R&B Falcon Corp. and 40 percent by Conoco. The vessel will sail to Brazil upon completion of its current one-well commitment in West Africa, with operations for Petrobras expected to begin in November 1999. These two projects will essentially complete all of R&B Falcon's 2.5 year drilling contract obligation with respect to the Deepwater Frontier pursuant to the rig sharing agreement with Conoco.

R&B Falcon Corp. reported one of its inland drilling barges was destroyed in an explosion and fire at a natural gas well in southern Louisiana but nobody was injured. The company believes the loss of the barge, Rig 16, worth about $15 million, will be covered by its insurance and would therefore not have a material financial impact. The explosion occurred on July 1 at a well being drilled for The Meridian Resource Corp. two miles southeast of Amelia, La. The following day a lightning strike ignited the escaping gas.

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS), deepwater drilling (1,000 ft. and deeper) shows the greatest potential of development, and certainly has garnered the attention (as well as the E&P dollars) of offshore oil production industry leaders. By yearend 2003, the MMS estimates as much as 63 percent of the oil production and 29 percent of the daily gas production will come from deepwater reserves. In August of 1998 there were 30 (temporary and permanent) deepwater rigs drilling simultaneously in the Gulf of Mexico's Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), at depths greater than this. The proliferation of deepwater development projects will likely continue to grow…

Conoco and R&B Falcon Corp. announced Deepwater Pathfinder - a first-of-its-kind, ultra-deepwater drillship - began a five-year work program in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship, the first new build capable of drilling in 10,000 ft. of water, will fulfill a $400 million drilling program for Conoco. The vessel is expected to drill three or four wells in its first year of operation, with the first exploratory well being drilled at Garden Banks Block 783. Conoco has interests in 295 deepwater leases in the Gulf. The technological highlight of the ship is its dynamic positioning systems, wherein a specialized combination of seabed and satellite systems send signals to onboard computers.

R&B Falcon Drilling has received a letter of intent from Petroleo Brasileiro S/A Petrobras for a two-year contract for the DP drillship Deepwater Frontier for operations offshore Brazil in up to approximately 8,900 ft. (2,712 m) of water. Capable of drilling in up to 10,000 ft. (3,048 m) of water, Deepwater Frontier is 60 percent owned by R&B Falcon Corp. and 40 percent by Conoco. The vessel will sail to Brazil upon completion of its current one-well commitment in West Africa, with operations for Petrobras expected to begin in November 1999. These two projects will essentially complete all of R&B Falcon's 2.5 year drilling contract obligation with respect to the Deepwater Frontier pursuant to the rig sharing agreement with Conoco.

To say the Gulf of Mexico maritime business had a down year would be a major understatement. But rags-to-riches-to-rags experience of the past has resulted in a consolidated, resourceful group of companies poised to pounce on the next market upturn … which should be very soon. The business trends of consolidation and globalization that have largely defined the late 1990s have touched every level of business in the U.S., including the Gulf of Mexico maritime industry. Companies that had largely depended on "business as usual" are generally out of business today. The result: a resilient industrial base that is poised to prosper in good times and bad. "Business is bad right now, as the oilfield is our primary source of business," said Ralston P.

R&B Falcon Drilling has received a letter of intent from for Petroleo Brasiliero S.A. (Petrobas) for a two-year contract for DP drillship Deepwater Frontier, for operations offshore Brazil in up to approximately 8,900 ft. of water. Deepwater Frontier, capable of drilling in up to 10,000 ft. of water, is owned 60 percent by R&B Falcon Corp. and 40 percent by Conoco. The vessel will sail to Brazil upon completion of its current one-well commitment in West Africa. Operations for Petrobras are expected to commence in November 1999. The current well underway in West Africa and the Petrobras work, will essentially complete all of the R&B Falcon's 2.5-year drilling contract obligation with respect to the rig sharing agreement with Conoco. Conoco Inc. and Unocal Corp.

Oilfield service companies were not nearly as lucky as their oil producing counterparts. While net income in the oil producing industry was up over the 1998 third-quarter, oilfield service companies were still feeling the pain of the low oil prices from earlier in the year. While the stock market - the global business measuring stick - has generally been positive on the offshore oilfield sector throughout much of the year, there has been a relapse of sorts in October, as uncertainty surrounding OPEC output quotas has largely dampened the year's progress. In fact, a major tracker of offshore industry stocks, Warburg Dillon Read, in mid-October cut its ratings of four oilfield equipment and services companies.

Callon Petroleum Co. reported that all equipment and manpower were in place to bring the fire on its South Marsh Island Block 261 well in the Gulf of Mexico under control. Sunday afternoon Callon experienced a natural gas blowout while drilling the No. 2 test well at Block 261, located about 70 miles south of Lafayette, La. At the time of the incident all personnel were safely evacuated from R & B Falcon Corp. R & B Falcon/Cliffs Drilling Rig No. 153, which was drilling the well. Adverse weather prevented re-boarding of the drilling rig until Wednesday.

It appears that the long awaited, much antipated and greatly debated offshore boom part II is prepared to launch again, as offshore drilling stocks surged on Thursday as U.S. crude oil prices hit a fresh nine-year high of $32.15 a barrel, fueling a second day of strong gains on Wall Street for the oilfield services sector. Drilling stocks across the board were flying high, some posting high single and low double digit gains for the day. At mid-day R&B Falcon Corp. was 1-1/2 higher at 18-1/8 and Santa Fe International Corp. was up 3 at 32-15/16 -- gains of roughly 9 and 10 percent respectively. It was the second straight day of substantial gains for oilfield services stocks…