Nabors Industries
Encyclopedia
Nabors Industries Ltd. founded in 1968 as Anglo Energy, Ltd. (former AMEX
symbol: AEL), and currently based in Hamilton, Bermuda
, is an S&P 500
oil, natural gas
and geothermal
drilling contractor operating on land throughout the Americas
, the Middle East
, the Far East
, and Africa
. It also performs onshore
well-servicing in North America
, and provides rigs for offshore oil platform
workover
, and also for offshore drilling rig
servicing. The company provides many support services for both offshore and onshore oil drilling and for well-servicing operations. The company has a charter
fleet of 29 marine
vessels for offshore operations. It also makes top drilling drive
s, directional drilling
systems, equipment for rig instrumentation and for data collection, equipment for pipeline
handling, and software for rig reporting. As of 2006, the company owned 610 land workover and well-servicing rigs in the United States, and 190 rigs in Canada, as well as 48 oil platform rigs, 19 jackup barge rigs, and 5 barge
rigs.
Its current Chief Executive Officer
, Eugene M. Isenberg, graduated in 1950 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst
, and the school's Isenberg School of Management is named in his honor.
with Class A shares under the ticker symbol AEL.A
Through the long secular bear market and economic malaise
of the 1970s, the company performed well, leading up to the early 1980s recession
, when troubles began to surface. In 1981, earnings came in at US$36 million, excluding an extraordinary charge of US$2 million.
However, coming out of the recession by 1982, the company suffered a loss of US$4 million, excluding extraordinary income of US$4.6 million.
By 1983, the company was in serious trouble. The loss that year had grown to US$53 million, excluding an extradordinary charge of an additional US$50 million. That year Anglo Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. At that time the company had assets of US$694 million, with sales revenue of US$310 million, and 860 employees. The stock was halted for trading by the AMEX on November 7, 1983, although it continued to trade on the NASDAQ
OTC exchange, as it was then known. From its 1970s high, the stock price had fallen by 97% by the end of the year, to a new all-time low.
In 1984, with the company in bankruptcy, the loss was less severe than it had been the prior year, at only US$25 million, excluding extraordinary income of US$6 million. However, the stock price set a new all-time low again that year, and began trading as a penny stock
(under $1), down another 23% from its 1983 low.
In 1985, the loss deepened yet again, to nearly US$29 million. By then the company carried long-term debt of US$154 million. The stock once again fell to its 1984 low, but then recovered up almost threefold from that low during the year. However by the end of the year, it had dropped yet again by half from that mid-year high, though it still traded 40% above its all time low set in the prior two years.
In 1986, Anglo Energy emerged from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, and refiled. Despite the reorganization relief that year, which decreased the company's long-term debt to only US$32 million, the company's loss deepened yet again in 1986, to its largest since 1983, at US$30 million. The penny stock price fell that year by another 50% from its previous 1984-1985 all-time low, to set what would become its final all-time low in 1986. Also that year, the company issued warrants
traded on the AMEX, through 1989.
In 1987, Anglo Energy exited its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, and changed its name to Anglo Energy Inc. It continued to trade on the AMEX under the ticker symbol AEL. By mid-year the stock price rose tenfold from its prior year all-time low, but then fell victim to the 1987 stock market crash. By the end of the year, the stock price dropped from its earlier high that year, by almost 90% again, nearly to the level of its 1986 all-time penny stock low, as the company's 1987 loss amounted to a record US$94 million.
by the early 2000s.
Eugene M. Isenberg became Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Nabors in the 1987 reorganization. From 1969 to 1982, he had been Chairman and the principal shareholder of Genimar, Inc., a steel trading and building products manufacturing company, until its sale in 1982.
By the early 1990s, Nabors Industries survived its post-bankruptcy financing troubles by diluting shareholder value, with the issuance of an eightfold increase in the number of common shares outstanding. But consequently the company kept its debt under control, at under US$60 million through the mid 1990s.
The company performed well through the 1990-1991 recession, with earnings of US$23 million and US$37 million, respectively. On October 1, 1991, Anthony G. Petrello was hired and became Deputy Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer
of Nabors Industries. Since 1986 he had previously been Managing Partner of the New York Office of the law firm Baker & McKenzie
, until his resignation from that firm in 1991.
In 1992, the earnings growth trend continued for Nabors, at US$44 million. By the end of 1992 the penny stock had risen tenfold again from its 1987 low, and the revived company had been added to the S&P MidCap 400 Index. But by 1993, the earnings trend began to turn down again, at only US$42 million.
In 1994, the economy slowed through the soft landing, and Nabors Industries earnings also declined, to only a marginal profit of less than a million dollars. The stock price floundered as well that year, down 30% from its earlier 1993 high.
In 1995, earnings fully recovered, to almost US$49 million. The company continued to issue shares at a steady pace, but the stock price doubled that year. By early 1996, the stock price rose another 50%, although at that time it was still trading at less than half the 1970s all-time high price of its predecessor. However, the positive trends in the company and in the overall stock market continued through the second half of the decade.
During the late 1990s, Nabors Industries continued to grow, and was added to the S&P 500 Index of the largest publicly-traded companies in the United States. The stock moved from the AMEX to the NYSE.
On July 20, 2007 Nabors Industries sold its Sea Mar Fleet for US$189 million in cash to Hornbeck Offshore Services
, Inc. , including 20 offshore supply vessels (OSVs). The deal closed in early August 2007.
At the annual shareholders meeting in Houston, Texas
on June 2, 2009, Peter Flaherty, president of the National Legal and Policy Center
, an ethics watchdog group and a shareholder, questioned Isenberg about his $1 million pledge to The Rangel Center. Isenberg denied any quid pro quo. Isenberg was clearly annoyed at Flaherty's line of inquiry. Isenberg admitted he has paid $400,000 of the pledge and insisted he would pay the rest. Isenberg called the New York Times article "full of malarkey", and challenged the Times' account of a meeting that he had with Rangel on the same day that the Ways and Means Committee was marking up legislation affecting the loophole. Susan Crabtree
, The Hill
, writes that Flaherty caught the whole exchange between himself and Isenberg on tape.
AMEX
AMEX, AmEx or Amex may refer to:*American Stock Exchange*American Express, a global financial services corporation*American Express Community Stadium, association football stadium in Brighton, England, currently sponsored by American Express...
symbol: AEL), and currently based in Hamilton, Bermuda
Hamilton, Bermuda
Hamilton is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination.-Geography:...
, is an S&P 500
S&P 500
The S&P 500 is a free-float capitalization-weighted index published since 1957 of the prices of 500 large-cap common stocks actively traded in the United States. The stocks included in the S&P 500 are those of large publicly held companies that trade on either of the two largest American stock...
oil, natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
and geothermal
Geothermal
Geothermal is related to energy and may refer to:* The geothermal gradient and associated heat flows from within the Earth- Renewable technology :...
drilling contractor operating on land throughout the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
, and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. It also performs onshore
Onshore
Onshore is a term used in finance to denote the jurisdiction in which a company is domiciled and in which it pays a significant rate of tax. It is the opposite of offshore, which denotes a tax haven...
well-servicing in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, and provides rigs for offshore oil platform
Oil platform
An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
workover
Workover
The term workover is used to refer to any kind of oil well intervention involving invasive techniques, such as wireline, coiled tubing or snubbing. More specifically though, it will refer to the expensive process of pulling and replacing a completion....
, and also for offshore drilling rig
Drilling rig
A drilling rig is a machine which creates holes or shafts in the ground. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas extraction wells, or they can be small enough to be moved manually by one person...
servicing. The company provides many support services for both offshore and onshore oil drilling and for well-servicing operations. The company has a charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
fleet of 29 marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
vessels for offshore operations. It also makes top drilling drive
Top drive
A top drive is a mechanical device on a drilling rig that provides clockwise rotational force to the drill string to facilitate the process of drilling a borehole. It is an alternative to rotary table...
s, directional drilling
Directional drilling
Directional drilling is the practice of drilling non-vertical wells. It can be broken down into three main groups: Oilfield Directional Drilling, Utility Installation Directional Drilling Directional drilling (or slant drilling) is the practice of drilling non-vertical wells. It can be broken down...
systems, equipment for rig instrumentation and for data collection, equipment for pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
handling, and software for rig reporting. As of 2006, the company owned 610 land workover and well-servicing rigs in the United States, and 190 rigs in Canada, as well as 48 oil platform rigs, 19 jackup barge rigs, and 5 barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
rigs.
Its current Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
, Eugene M. Isenberg, graduated in 1950 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
, and the school's Isenberg School of Management is named in his honor.
Anglo Energy
Anglo Energy, Ltd. was founded in 1968, and publicly-traded on the American Stock ExchangeAmerican Stock Exchange
NYSE Amex Equities, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange is an American stock exchange situated in New York. AMEX was a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known as the New York Curb Exchange. On January 17, 2008, NYSE Euronext announced it would acquire the...
with Class A shares under the ticker symbol AEL.A
Through the long secular bear market and economic malaise
Malaise
Malaise is a feeling of general discomfort or uneasiness, of being "out of sorts", often the first indication of an infection or other disease. Malaise is often defined in medicinal research as a "general feeling of being unwell"...
of the 1970s, the company performed well, leading up to the early 1980s recession
Early 1980s recession
The early 1980s recession describes the severe global economic recession affecting much of the developed world in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The United States and Japan exited recession relatively early, but high unemployment would continue to affect other OECD nations through at least 1985...
, when troubles began to surface. In 1981, earnings came in at US$36 million, excluding an extraordinary charge of US$2 million.
However, coming out of the recession by 1982, the company suffered a loss of US$4 million, excluding extraordinary income of US$4.6 million.
By 1983, the company was in serious trouble. The loss that year had grown to US$53 million, excluding an extradordinary charge of an additional US$50 million. That year Anglo Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. At that time the company had assets of US$694 million, with sales revenue of US$310 million, and 860 employees. The stock was halted for trading by the AMEX on November 7, 1983, although it continued to trade on the NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
OTC exchange, as it was then known. From its 1970s high, the stock price had fallen by 97% by the end of the year, to a new all-time low.
In 1984, with the company in bankruptcy, the loss was less severe than it had been the prior year, at only US$25 million, excluding extraordinary income of US$6 million. However, the stock price set a new all-time low again that year, and began trading as a penny stock
Penny stock
In the United States, penny stocks are common shares of small public companies that trade at less than $1.00. In some countries, similar shares of stock are known as cent stocks.-Concerns for investors:...
(under $1), down another 23% from its 1983 low.
In 1985, the loss deepened yet again, to nearly US$29 million. By then the company carried long-term debt of US$154 million. The stock once again fell to its 1984 low, but then recovered up almost threefold from that low during the year. However by the end of the year, it had dropped yet again by half from that mid-year high, though it still traded 40% above its all time low set in the prior two years.
In 1986, Anglo Energy emerged from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, and refiled. Despite the reorganization relief that year, which decreased the company's long-term debt to only US$32 million, the company's loss deepened yet again in 1986, to its largest since 1983, at US$30 million. The penny stock price fell that year by another 50% from its previous 1984-1985 all-time low, to set what would become its final all-time low in 1986. Also that year, the company issued warrants
Warrant (finance)
In finance, a warrant is a security that entitles the holder to buy the underlying stock of the issuing company at a fixed exercise price until the expiry date....
traded on the AMEX, through 1989.
In 1987, Anglo Energy exited its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, and changed its name to Anglo Energy Inc. It continued to trade on the AMEX under the ticker symbol AEL. By mid-year the stock price rose tenfold from its prior year all-time low, but then fell victim to the 1987 stock market crash. By the end of the year, the stock price dropped from its earlier high that year, by almost 90% again, nearly to the level of its 1986 all-time penny stock low, as the company's 1987 loss amounted to a record US$94 million.
Nabors Industries
Anglo Energy subsequently changed its name to Nabors Industries Ltd., which also traded on the AMEX, under the new symbol NBR, until its move to the New York Stock ExchangeNew York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
by the early 2000s.
Eugene M. Isenberg became Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Nabors in the 1987 reorganization. From 1969 to 1982, he had been Chairman and the principal shareholder of Genimar, Inc., a steel trading and building products manufacturing company, until its sale in 1982.
By the early 1990s, Nabors Industries survived its post-bankruptcy financing troubles by diluting shareholder value, with the issuance of an eightfold increase in the number of common shares outstanding. But consequently the company kept its debt under control, at under US$60 million through the mid 1990s.
The company performed well through the 1990-1991 recession, with earnings of US$23 million and US$37 million, respectively. On October 1, 1991, Anthony G. Petrello was hired and became Deputy Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer
Chief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
of Nabors Industries. Since 1986 he had previously been Managing Partner of the New York Office of the law firm Baker & McKenzie
Baker & McKenzie
Baker & McKenzie is an international law firm, founded in Chicago in 1949 by Russell Baker and John McKenzie. It is home to more than 3,800 lawyers spread over 70 offices in 42 different countries....
, until his resignation from that firm in 1991.
In 1992, the earnings growth trend continued for Nabors, at US$44 million. By the end of 1992 the penny stock had risen tenfold again from its 1987 low, and the revived company had been added to the S&P MidCap 400 Index. But by 1993, the earnings trend began to turn down again, at only US$42 million.
In 1994, the economy slowed through the soft landing, and Nabors Industries earnings also declined, to only a marginal profit of less than a million dollars. The stock price floundered as well that year, down 30% from its earlier 1993 high.
In 1995, earnings fully recovered, to almost US$49 million. The company continued to issue shares at a steady pace, but the stock price doubled that year. By early 1996, the stock price rose another 50%, although at that time it was still trading at less than half the 1970s all-time high price of its predecessor. However, the positive trends in the company and in the overall stock market continued through the second half of the decade.
During the late 1990s, Nabors Industries continued to grow, and was added to the S&P 500 Index of the largest publicly-traded companies in the United States. The stock moved from the AMEX to the NYSE.
On July 20, 2007 Nabors Industries sold its Sea Mar Fleet for US$189 million in cash to Hornbeck Offshore Services
Hornbeck Offshore Services
Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc through its subsidiaries, operates offshore supply vessels , multi-purpose support vessels , and a to provide logistics support and specialty services to the offshore oil and gas exploration and production industry, primarily in the United States, Gulf of Mexico,...
, Inc. , including 20 offshore supply vessels (OSVs). The deal closed in early August 2007.
Ethics Committee investigation
The House Ethics Committee voted on December 9, 2008 to expand its investigation into Representative Charles B. Rangel to examine his role in preserving a tax loophole for an oil drilling company who chief executive Eugene Isenberg pledged $1 million to a City College of New York project that will bear the congressman's name.At the annual shareholders meeting in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
on June 2, 2009, Peter Flaherty, president of the National Legal and Policy Center
National Legal and Policy Center
The National Legal and Policy Center is a right-leaning 501 non-profit group that monitors and reports on the ethics of public officials, supporters of liberal causes, and labor unions in the United States. Among the NLPC's more high-profile targets have been Reverend Al Sharpton, Reverend Jesse...
, an ethics watchdog group and a shareholder, questioned Isenberg about his $1 million pledge to The Rangel Center. Isenberg denied any quid pro quo. Isenberg was clearly annoyed at Flaherty's line of inquiry. Isenberg admitted he has paid $400,000 of the pledge and insisted he would pay the rest. Isenberg called the New York Times article "full of malarkey", and challenged the Times' account of a meeting that he had with Rangel on the same day that the Ways and Means Committee was marking up legislation affecting the loophole. Susan Crabtree
Susan Crabtree
Susan Crabtree was the senior editor of The Hill. On January 18, 2011 she joined the Talking Points Memo staff as a reporter and the senior editor. -External links:********-References:...
, The Hill
The Hill (newspaper)
The Hill, a subsidiary of News Communications Inc., is a newspaper published in Washington, D.C. since 1994.Its first editor was Martin Tolchin, a veteran correspondent in the Washington bureau of The New York Times....
, writes that Flaherty caught the whole exchange between himself and Isenberg on tape.