Did SEDCO acquire an airline? The reason for my interest was although I didn't get to be present during the heyday, I did eventually get to arrive at where the big boys were.

SEDCO - Southeastern Drilling Company. Founded by Governor Bill Clements in southeastern Mississippi near Brookhaven. Clements worked for Oilwell Supply and knew where two "repossessed" land rigs were. With some investors he bought the rigs and put them to work. Early employees included Bobby Lynch, Rick Kelley, and Joe Bryant to name a few. SEDCO ran rigs from Miss.

In the early 60's Clements negotiated a well 3 year turnkey contract with YPF IN Argentina. SEDCO managed to drill all the wells in 2. The rigs worked dayrate the last six months and then YPF bought all the equipment at the end of the term.

Six months later the Argentine government nationalized all foreign owned assets. SEDCO dodged a bullet and the money they made propelled them offshore which allowed them to differentiate themselves from the many "Mom and Pop" land rig drilling contractors in the southwest.

I am happy to share SEDCO memories. John Hoopingarner jhoopingarner hoopllc. South East Drilling Company was founded by Bill Clements later Governor of Texas with two separate terms. The "South East" refers to the region of Texas where it started as a land drilling contractor. In my opinion as a former competitor , they were the best managed company in the business.

They sold out to Schlumberger in the mid '80s at a premium price. SLB later spun it off in a merger with Forex and that entity was eventually acquired by Transocean.

As to the airline - I believe you may be thinking of Rowan.

They owned Evergreen which was originally purchased as a means of facilitating their crew changes. Rowan developed it into a full fledged entity including helicopters that catered to oilfield logistics. SEDCO was founded in by William P.

Clements later Governor of Texas and Secretary for Defense in Gerald Ford's Presidency as South Eastern Drilliing Co. He purchased two land rigs from US Steel Oilwell and started in East Texas, later expanding overseas to Argentina, Iran and elsewhere.

Their "big break" was the move into offshore work particularly with the series of triangular semi-submersibles and the series which established all sorts of records. They had several ventures outside drilling but never acquired an airline as far as I know. I worked in the UK office from - and wrote about the arrival of SEDCO in in my book "DUBS - how the oil came north" now out of print but available on Kindle. SEDCO stands for southeastern drilling company overseas. The owner of company was Bill Clements.

Transocean Sedco Forex Inc. -- Company History

Company started around I worked for the for 16 years. My mistake, that would be the Southeastern Drilling Company.

Sedco was founded in by Bill Clements, the future govenor of Texas. Sedco was bought by Schlumberger in A year later it was combined with Forex, a French outfit, and became Sedco Forex Drilling. The rumor that I heard was that a contract was on offer in the Middle East Libya I believe. The operator initially called another drilling contractor again, I seem to remeber the name Tropic Drilling. Nobody answered the phone at Tropic? You would need to fact check this as it was told to me over over 30 years ago over a beer in Rios dos Ostras, Brazil.

Bill Clements obviously played the leading role in Sedco, but Mike Parrish, Billy Joe Peterson, Rabbit Wilson and the rest of the crew in Dallas also played a big part. Sedco was known for having exceptionally well trained, loyal crews.

You had to stay with them for 15 years to become fully vested in the company, and many people did. Sedco built the Sedco STAFLO for Shell and it was one of the first semis to drill in the North Sea.

STAFLO STOOD FOR 'Stable Floater'.

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In reality, with 4 pontoons and 20 columns it bobbed like a cork - but got the job done! Kelly Cochran and Mike Foster along with Billy Joe Peterson were there as well. I drilled on it It was tough to work on , but fund because of all the good people.

Good to hear from you, send me your contacts and also your dad as I would like to give him a call and bull shit. My e mail address is kellyjcochrane yahoo. SEDCO stood for Southeastern Drilling Co. Governor Bill Clements and JERRY Cunningham, Spencer Taylor and Bobby Cox were in the founding group of "iron men" who inspired the next generation with Mike Parrish, Frank Wiliford and Vernon Grief as the new "engineer manager" prototypes to take the company into the next era of deep water offshore drilling!

Have a question, search Oilpro or ask your question. Menu Oilpro Create a Profile or Login Profile Create a Profile Equipment Directory Projects Directory PRO Status How Oilpro Works. How Oilpro Works Search People. Where did SEDCO get its big break as a drilling contractor? Last, question, what did SEDCO stand for? Or what did the letters mean? Answer Send Ask for Clarification. John Hoopingarner answered 5 months ago. Mark Rankin answered 6 months ago. Milne answered 6 months ago.

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SEDCO - South East Dredging Company, was company I knew in Nigeria back in Roger Brady answered 6 months ago. Kelly Cochrane answered 6 months ago. SEDCO stood for South East Drilling Company, which was based in Dallas. Douglas Buckland answered 6 months ago. South Eastern Drilling Company.

George Donald answered 6 months ago. Warren Hudson answered 5 months ago. Hi Barry, I never heard about about Clements buying an airline. Dave Coleman answered 5 months ago. Hello Dannon, Good to hear from you, send me your contacts and also your dad as I would like to give him a call and bull shit.

Kelly Cochrane answered 5 months ago. Billy Parrish answered 2 months ago. Share a photo, status update, or story Only Oilpro members can post to the wall. All visitors can see posts to the wall.

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