Nabors Industries News

A U.S. judge said on Tuesday he would approve Seadrill Ltd's plan to exit its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, in which the global offshore oil and gas drilling company would shed billions of dollars of debt and raise $1 billion in new investment. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones in Houston overruled two minor objections to the reorganization plan during a 90-minute hearing. The plan extends maturities on more than $5 billion of bank loans and converts about $2.3 billion in bond debt into equity in a reorganized Seadrill.

Offshore driller Nabors Industries Ltd reported a quarterly loss, hurt by lower drilling activity amid a slump in global crude prices.   The company posted a net loss of $891.1 million, or $3.08 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $150.6 million, or 50 cents per share, a year earlier.   Revenue rose 11.1 percent to $1.79 billion.     (Reporting By Darshana Sankararaman in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Jennings)

Some of the hedge fund industry's most respected firms made bigger bets on a wide swatch of energy companies during the third quarter only to watch the stocks get pummeled by falling crude oil prices. Robert Citrone's Discovery Capital Management raised its holding in Texas oil driller Diamondback Energy by 20 percent to own 1.4 million shares at the end of the third quarter, according to a regulatory filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Diamondback's stock price fell 16 percent over the quarter. The fund manager also raised its bet on oil and gas exploration and production company Cimarex Energy by 37 percent. The stock dropped 11 percent over the quarter.

Holders of Argentina's  defaulted debt and their supporters have warned the country risks being frozen out from international capital markets unless it finds a way to solve its legal problems by the July 30 deadline. But away from the bad-tempered litigation in U.S. courts, which has dominated the news about Argentina for months, the country is experiencing an oil drilling boom as international companies seek to cash on its huge shale resources. In June, there was an average of 107 rigs drilling for oil or gas in the country, the highest number operating since records began in 1982, and more than double the number at the start of 2012, according to oil field services company Baker Hughes (Chart 1). Most were hunting for oil rather than gas.

Environmental Drilling Solutions (EDS), a provider of drilling waste management, solids control and backyard management solutions to the oil and gas industry, announced two senior-level additions to its management team: John Meckert as chief executive officer (CEO) and John Marty III as business development manager. Meckert joins EDS with 23 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, primarily in oilfield services and drilling. He has spent most of his career at various divisions of Nabors Industries, the world’s largest land driller.

Nabors Industries, Inc. last week completed the previously announced acquisition of Enserco Energy Service Company Inc., a Tonronto listed company. Gene Isenberg, Chairman and CEO of Nabors said, "I have been particularly impressed with the quality of Enserco's people and assets and look forward to integrating them into what is sure to be the best operation in Canada. The combined companies will possess the most modern and suitable fleet of rigs as well as the financial and technical resources to further expand. These enhanced capabilities will enable us to better fulfill our customers' requirements as they endeavor to find and develop what appears to be the most prospective natural gas province in North America.

U.S. oil drillers expect weaker or flat first quarter earnings but see revenues picking up later in the year as recent high oil prices trickle down to the service sector. According to sector company executives, the recovery is set to begin in the second half of this year for most, and improve markedly in 2001 as major, independent and national oil firms ramp up oil and gas exploration and production spending. "The year 2000 will be a transition year, the later we get into the year the better things will become...We troughed in the third quarter (1999)," Robert Rose, Chairman, President and CEO of offshore driller Global Marine. "But we have to wait to 2001 before we start having the kind of earnings we had in 1997…

U.S. oil drillers expect weaker or flat first quarter earnings but see revenues picking up later in the year as recent high oil prices trickle down to the service sector. According to sector company executives, the recovery is set to begin in the second half of this year for most, and improve markedly in 2001 as major, independent and national oil firms ramp up oil and gas exploration and production spending. "The year 2000 will be a transition year, the later we get into the year the better things will become...We troughed in the third quarter (1999)," Robert Rose, Chairman, President and CEO of offshore driller Global Marine. "But we have to wait to 2001 before we start having the kind of earnings we had in 1997…

Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc., has completed its previously announced acquisition of 20 offshore supply vessels (OSVs) and their related business from certain affiliates of Nabors Industries Ltd. for cash consideration of $186m, plus the cost of the fuel inventory on such vessels. The Sea Mar Fleet is comprised of ten 200 class DP-1 new generation OSVs and ten conventional OSVs. The company also acquired one 285-ft. DP-2 new generation OSV currently under construction at a domestic shipyard with an anticipated fourth quarter 2008 delivery. The total estimated cost of this newbuild vessel, prior to allocation of construction period interest, is approximately $34m, of which $7.3m was paid to Nabors at closing. All of the vessels acquired by Hornbeck Offshore are U.S.

Hornbeck Offshore Services completed its acquisition of 20 offshore supply vessels and their related business from certain affiliates of Nabors Industries Ltd. for $186 million, plus the cost of the fuel inventory on the vessels. The Sea Mar Fleet is comprised of ten 200 class DP-1 new generation OSVs and ten conventional OSVs. The company also acquired one 285-foot DP-2 new generation OSV currently under construction at a domestic shipyard with an anticipated fourth quarter 2008 delivery. The total estimated cost of this newbuild vessel, prior to allocation of construction period interest, is approximately $34.0 million, of which $7.3 million was paid to Nabors at closing. All of the vessels acquired by Hornbeck Offshore are U.S. flagged and qualify for U.S.

Services, Inc. Industries Ltd. such vessels. generation OSVs and ten conventional OSVs. generation OSV currently under construction at a domestic shipyard with an anticipated fourth quarter 2008 delivery. Nabors at closing. All of the vessels to be acquired by Hornbeck Offshore are U.S. and qualify for U.S. of the conventional vessels, which is foreign-flagged. offshore Mexico. expected to be immediately accretive to earnings. projected cash flows from operations. conditions, including third party consents and regulatory approvals, and is expected to occur in early August 2007.

SEACOR Holdings Inc. and Nabors Industries Ltd. have entered into a letter of intent to form a new company to own and operate a fleet of 20 offshore support vessels currently owned by a Nabors affiliate. A subsidiary of SEACOR will be the majority owner of the new company, Sea Mar Offshore LLC and will manage its 19 US flag and one foreign flag vessels. Nabors will be a minority owner of Sea Mar, which will qualify for US coastwise trade. Early termination of the waiting period under the "Hart-Scott-Rodino" Anti-Trust Improvement Act of 1976 was granted on June 20, 2007. The transaction is subject to definitive documentation and expected to close on or before July 13, 2007.

Nabors Industries Inc. on Thursday reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, propelled by a surge in demand for its drilling rig fleet and services. The Houston-based driller earned $.51 per diluted share on a quarterly record operating income of $124 million, compared with $.12 a share on $33.2 million in the year-ago quarter. Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call had estimated first-quarter earnings of 45 cents a share. evenues for the quarter reached $513.8 million compared with $279.1 million in the prior year. "These results only begin to demonstrate our potential, with global rig utilization at only 60 percent during the quarter and average pricing still well short of current leading edge rates," company officials said.

Though fraught with traditional starts and stops, peaks and valleys, it appears now the much-anticipated Gulf of Mexico offshore business rebound is imminent. Maybe. Much of the uncertainty surrounding the upswing of offshore activity in the Gulf of Mexico region closely parallels the unpredictable dips and turns of the price per barrel of oil itself. While those in the industry and the financial community are hardly prepared to declare the oil market free from its cyclical shackles, there has been mounting evidence that those who most directly control the market - i.e. OPEC leaders - are more determined than ever to ensure stability is the hallmark of the new millennium's oil market.