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Schlumberger, Baker Hughes form seismic joint venture Baker’s Western Geophysical and Schlumberger’s Geco-Prakla combine to form WesternGeco; Van Borssen to remain head of Alaska office Petroleum News Alaska
Schlumberger Ltd. said Nov. 30 that it had closed a joint venture with Baker Hughes Inc. creating a new seismic company. WesternGeco consists of assets of Schlumberger Geco-Prakla and Baker Hughes Western Geophysical, including their seismic fleets, data processing assets, exclusive and nonexclusive multi-client surveys and other assets currently comprising the surface seismic businesses of Schlumberger and Baker.
Donna Garbutt, GeoMarket manager for Schlumberger Oilfield Services in Alaska, told PNA in early December that since Geco-Prakla has had “a minimal presence” in Alaska, there will be no real impact on what was once Western Geophysical in Alaska. The current Alaska manager for Western Geophysical, Peter Van Borssen, will remain at the helm of the local office.
“We look forward to Peter’s continued leadership and working with clients locally,” Garbutt said. “In the future, when and if it makes sense, we may look at synergies,” Garbutt said, but for now little will change. “Peter’s office will provide the focus for seismic in Alaska.” Terms of the deal On an international level, the former president of Western Geophysical, Gary Jones, has been named president of WesternGeco. Jones will report directly to Andrew Gould, executive vice president of Schlumberger Oilfield Services.
Under the terms of the transaction, Schlumberger paid $500 million in cash to Baker. WesternGeco is owned 70 percent by Schlumberger and 30 percent by Baker.
In May, when an understanding between Schlumberger and Baker was initially announced, Gould said, “This is a natural alignment of two quality seismic companies with complementary markets, technologies and cultural values. The two companies share a common commitment to delivering the best possible seismic services to our customers in a safe and economical manner. ... This new venture combining Geco-Prakla and Western Geophysical is expected to permit the implementation of substantial cost savings, resulting in better results than would be possible for the companies operating separately. These cost savings would support the development and innovation necessary to help seismic maintain its role as a key contributor to the oil industry’s process of lowering the cost of finding and producing oil and gas.”
Schlumberger Ltd. is a global leader in technical services spanning the oil and gas, utility, semiconductor testing, smart cards, network and Internet solutions industries. Schlumberger revenue was $8.4 billion in 1999.
Additional information is available from Realtime [www.slb.com], the Schlumberger corporate web site.
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