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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazlo Pierce who wrote (6282)	12/30/1997 2:23:00 PM
From: Lazlo Pierce	Respond to of 95453

CDG Closes on Rig purchase. <<Cliffs Drilling Closes Acquisition of Three Offshore Rigs in Trinidad HOUSTON, Dec. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Cliffs Drilling Company (NYSE: CDG - news) announced today it had completed the acquisition of 2 offshore platform drilling rigs, one self-propelled jackup drilling/workover rig and substantially all of the assets used in the offshore contract drilling business in Trinidad previously operated by Well Services (Marine) Ltd. (''Well Services''). Substantially all of the employees of Well Services used in its offshore business have become Cliffs Drilling employees. The $44.0 million purchase price consisted of $23.5 million in cash, 437,939 shares of Cliffs Drilling Company Common Stock and, subject to meeting certain post-closing criteria, an additional $3.0 million cash payment. Douglas E. Swanson, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cliffs Drilling said that, ''We are pleased to have closed this transaction in 1997 and look forward to the increased earnings and cash flow the rigs will afford Cliffs Drilling in 1998 and beyond. This latest acquisition has not only added to our equipment base but will also augment our Latin American presence.'' Cliffs Drilling now owns 16 jackup drilling rigs, 11 land rigs, 4 mobile offshore production units and 3 platform rigs.

To: Lazlo Pierce who wrote (6282)	12/30/1997 2:31:00 PM
From: Czechsinthemail	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Dave, RIG vs. DO is a closer call because they are are both deep drillers. CDG is a shallow driller. Though collectively they are all offshore drillers, the situation for shallow drillers is somewhat different. They are more heavily influenced by natural gas prices than crude oil, and the rig supply/demand situation is different. Generally, the deep drillers are likely to have a more secure imbalance between supply and demand for a longer time. That would make them the safer choice. Of course overselling among the shallow drillers can make them more attractive bargains on a price basis. Similarly, land drillers may have a stronger speculative play if everyone gets back on the driller bandwagon. My preference has been to go with the deep drillers, particularly while there is a lot of market uncertainty on the assumption that they are likely to be consensus choices. My favorites are NE and SDC, but RIG, DO, FLC should also do well. Baird