Conoco and Reading & Bates announce joint venture.HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 31, 1996--Conoco and Reading & Bates Bates , Katherine Lee 1859-1929. American educator and writer best known for her poem "America the Beautiful," written in 1893 and revised in 1904 and 1911. announced Thursday the formation of a 50/50 venture to execute a $400 million, five-year drilling program in the ultra deepwater Gulf of Mexico Noun 1. Gulf of Mexico - an arm of the Atlantic to the south of the United States and to the east of Mexico Golfo de Mexico Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean - the 2nd largest ocean; separates North and South America on the west from Europe and Africa on the east . The new company will carry out the program for Conoco. To meet the challenges of drilling in ultra deepwater, the new company has commissioned construction of a $200 million, world-class, dynamically positioned drillship capable of drilling at water depths up to 10,000 feet. The vessel will carry the most stringent American Bureau of Shipping The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) is a classification society. At the end of 2006, ABS was the third largest class society with a classed fleet of over 10,000 commercial vessels and offshore facilities. requirement for dynamically positioning systems, DPS-3. To date, no other drillship has been designed for an operating condition this extreme to provide for such stringent layers of safety systems, redundancy and reliability. Samsung Heavy Industries of Korea has been awarded the contract to construct the vessel. Delivery is expected in 1998. The drilling program centers on 60 high potential blocks recently acquired by Conoco for exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. Water depths range from 2,000 to 9,000 feet. Thirty-three blocks were acquired during the April bid round, and the remaining 27 in September. "Having a drillship solely dedicated to Conoco's Gulf of Mexico operations fits our strategy to resume a leadership role in exploring the deepwaters of the region," said Conoco President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Archie W. Dunham. "This drillship, the venture with Reading & Bates and our previous experience in deepwater exploration and production give us the tools an expertise necessary to fully explore these blocks," he added. Conoco and Reading & Bates complement one another, combining expertise in marine and deepwater drilling operations, rig design and project management and construction supervision. Conoco's marine department will assist in the design of the vessel and help oversee construction, and Reading & Bates will provide drilling services to the new venture. Paul B. Loyd Jr., Reading & Bates chairman, president and CEO, stated, "We are very pleased to enter into this significant agreement with Conoco which will result in the construction and long-term deployment of a new generation deepwater drilling vessel. Conoco has been one of our most valued clients since the 1950s, and it is particularly satisfying to enter into this innovative project as partners, thus enhancing value for both companies' shareholders." The 721-foot long, double-hulled drillship has the additional flexibility to perform extended well test (EWT n. 1. (Zool.) The newt. ) and includes crude oil storage and offloading capacity, provision for simultaneous drilling and testing and eventual conversion to a floating production storage and offloading A Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO; also called a "unit" and a "system") is a type of floating tank system used by the offshore oil and gas industry and designed to take all of the oil or gas produced from a nearby platform (s), process it, and store (FPSO FPSO Floating Production Storage and Off-loading (shipping & oil industry) FPSO Foster Parent Society of Ontario FPSO Fleet Publication Supply Office ) vessel. The key to its deepwater performance is the dynamic positioning Dynamic positioning (DP) is a system to automatically maintain a ship’s position and heading by using her own propellers and thrusters. This allows operations at sea where mooring or anchoring is not feasible due to deep water, congestion on the sea bottom (pipelines, system in which a specialized combination of seabed and satellite positioning systems provide signals to computers that control six high-powered thrusters capable of positioning the ship exactly on target. The vessel configuration and dynamic positioning thrusters also provide efficient propulsion for high transit speed, giving the drillship excellent utility for deployment between drilling theaters worldwide, avoiding the considerable cost of tow and support vessels. Conoco, the energy subsidiary of DuPont, is an integrated, international energy company employing some 16,000 people in more than 30 countries. Reading & Bates is a New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. listed company, providing offshore drilling services through the world. Its wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. , Reading & Bates Development Co., provides technical, construction and project management services and subsea Subsea is a general term frequently used to refer to equipment, technology, and methods employed to explore, drill, and develop oil and gas fields that exist below the ocean floors. This may be in "shallow" or "deepwater". and floating production systems to the upstream offshore oil and gas industry worldwide. CONTACT: Conoco Teresa Wong, 713/293-1066 or Reading & Bates Charlie Ofner, 713/496-5000 |
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