SERVICE SECTOR / Tesco Corp. Increases Interest In Joint Venture
TESCO ACQUIRES CASING DRILLING JOINT VENTURE
CALGARY, Feb. 19 /CNW/ - Tesco Corporation announced today that it has
acquired a 100% interest in the Tesco Casing Drilling Joint Venture for
consideration of 418,036 common shares of the Corporation. Prior to the
acquisition, Tesco held a 4.691% interest and an option to increase that
interest to 50% for a $5 million contribution to the Joint Venture. Prior to
Tesco's acquisition, the remaining interest in the Joint Venture had been
owned by joint interest unit holders who had contributed $5 million for the
purposes of conducting research and development activities into the casing
drilling process.
Drilling with casing, if perfected, could reduce drilling costs by as
much as 30%. With the goal of eliminating the use of drill pipe and much of
the time spent on unscheduled drilling events such as sidetracking, reaming
and backreaming, casing drilling could have significant, worldwide commercial
potential. The casing drilling project is a high-risk, high-return research
and development project. Significant interest has already been expressed in
this project by several of the world's largest oil and gas operators. With
rising finding and development costs, the commercial potential will be
significant for new technologies aimed at cost reduction, including drilling
with casing and Tesco's proven rental top drive systems.
To date, a specialized casing drilling rig has been constructed and
prototype downhole tools have been designed and fabricated. It is expected
that initial drilling tests will begin by the end of May, 1998 at Tesco's R&D
centre in Calgary, Alberta. Testing and development of the casing drilling
process will likely proceed into 1999.
Tesco's common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the
symbol ''TEO'' and on NASDAQ under the symbol ''TESOF''. |
