AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
Byline: GERRY MIRIELLO
Oil driller Unit Corp. (New America, May 31) is about to get a whole lot bigger.
On March 21, it announced plans to buy 20 drilling rigs and related gear from a closely held firm. Unit wouldn't name the seller, but in a report, equity researcher First Albany Corp. listed it as Cactus Drilling Co.
Whoever it is, the seller will get 7.5 million common shares of Unit's stock. Based on its closing price on March 20, the deal is worth $123 million.
Unit, based in Tulsa, Okla., is an oil and natural gas explorer, contract driller and producer. It has some 36 million shares outstanding.
Cactus Drilling has a reputation for high-quality equipment, First Albany says. The rigs were built in the mid-1980s and completely refurbished last year.
"We believe that Unit's purchase is extremely timely, as we see a strong second-half 2002 recovery in U.S. gas drilling," First Albany said. "Unit's leverage to deep gas drilling -- the future of the U.S. natural gas resource base -- rises in several respects."