NewYorkStockBrokersClub 960423
Sonat Offshore Drilling

Minimallly edited notes of the presentation of Sonat Offshore Drilling ( NYSE : RIG ) to Ted Feit`s NYSBC Meeting with Management at Harry`s at Hanover Square

This represents an example of the fact that immediate uploading of meeting notes may in fact be valuable to some audience . This meeting was on Tuesday afternoon . Note the opening comments ( which none of us pursued ) about the 'eventful' trip from TX . |THU.APR,960425,13:17| CNBC commented that Sonat was up 2 to 57 on merger w Norwegan Co .

| DDT |>| TUE.APR,960430,21:59 |

Note : I always use true proportions rather than percents , and in ASCII , the APL uses the percent symbol '%' for division .

  ============================: TUE.APR,960423 :============================
16: NYSBC SonatOffshoreDrilling NYSE:RIG
|16:45| Ted : info pkgs ~ here yet |
\JeffChastain ; 713-871-7551 X:-850-3834 ; Sonat Offshore Drilling / Four
 Greenway Plaza / Houston TX 77252 ; Dir Investor Relations .
                     FOR MORE INFO : jlc-ir@neosft.com :
 : eventful trip frm Houston , Chmn here momentarily , had to return .
 SOnat OffShore drilling Mkt | > 3000ft |
   15 rigs . 4th gen semi  - NorthSea  or  > 5000ft |
   in 5 mkts UK & Norway , Gulf , Brazil
  Separate drilling ( or Integrated ) services : does fixed price well
   drilling contract . vs DayRate | share risk w operator .
     Rev 3 mo  3/31  81 70
     106 Cash  | assets 561 | debt : 30
   Milestones : 1955 100ft 66 250 , 76 3500 , 78 4500 , 87 75 , 96 7600 ft
 Is Premier co in busn . Alone > 7000 | only since Sedco 4x , in 80s > 5000ft
 | 95 did all ( 8  > 5000 ft ) w 1 contractor .
Macro look @ floater busn - \/ - \/ - \/ - \/ - \/ - \/ - \/ - \/ - \/ - \/
   WW # rigs : 140 from  180 in `86 , utiliation  up to <=  .95 |
   most > 3k ft . most US. Gulf |
   .4 offshore are explored | .95 x .6 |>| 0.57  | unexplored > 3Kft Deep |
 Market Drivers :  Reserve Opportunities , Tek Advancment - $ dn , speed up
  ; Lease expirations |
 Reserve Opportuities : Gulf o Mex expect 8-15 , royalty relief on first
  80+Mbarrels before tax for deep wells .
 Brazil : Petrogas : 1.3 MB % yr by 2000 | they drilled Shell @ 5400ft Mensa
   Emerging North Sea w Shell etc , W of Shetland & Ireland , edge of shelf
   Only the 13 4th generation rigs can opperate yr rnd
  3D seizmik cos , eg , Digicon , Input/Output : has lowered risk & cost
  Horizontal extended reach drilling ;
  SubSea completion Tek | platforms in N.Sea since `60s . floor sited
   Shell 5400 ft 60 mi tied bac to shallow site .  300McFt gas
   FPX/FPSO  | cycle time - from lease to produce |
  Lease Expirations redrilling |
  292  115 21 ; fixed ,  < 3000  kft water
 Deepwater progression . Dayrate increase . 93 95 96 w 40  60 117 | K$ 4thGen
  10 yr hi floating utilization | Earnings leveraged on hi fixed costs .
  Limited # rigs | leases extending from 1y to > 2   le  5 yrs |
  8 Dynamically positiond Drill ships .  % 3 of existing rigs spoken for thru
  `99 | 50 - 100 M$ upgrades - Drill ship off Mobile AL , Sponsons to
  increase flotation capacity . now in gulf drilling record well .
 Conversions to 4500 ft water depth | rate 117K$ % day | cost of Cap le .12
  12 mo quicker than to build from scratch .
 NewBuild : Last cycle overbuilt , just outgrowing 70s-80s cycle
  5-10 units unmet current demand ? > 200M$ cost depending on capability .
  will require 3 >< 5 yr lease to justify  @ higher rates .
  Challenge : improve drilling process : goal .4 improvement  : automating
 Deepwateer presents long term Groth opportun lim by opers able to find
 reserves , contractors abil to provide affordable drilling svcs .
  Std 5 : Shell Exxon , Amoco , BP , ?
 Sonat   - good borrow
|17:28| ?s | FrankLay : bought some time ago . is happy . : NW coast of
 Norwary StaatOil owned | WSJ article ? Shell > 15000 ? Mars - 3000 in water
 ( they did ) | tot record may be 25000 ft | gulf currents hell .
| Compititon ?  DiamondOffShore  Reading&Bates Transocian ( NorW ) |
MonaShields : howlong to recoup ? signd 1 4gen for  |
 E x\ reverse 2 356 110000 |>|  110K 39.2M 78.3M   | contract day , yr , 2yr
Losses of rigs ? have ~ lost any due to weather . made to detach .
 Smaller Jackup in egypt from early `70s sank under tow | all rigs insured
  , this one @ 10 M for 3M book , so will record gain if totaled .
  CapEx w be larger this yr | Indonesia etc ? ~ sinse late `70s
  Amt of Seizmic going on is leading indecator of activity : implys w b big
  activity in Asia | working w Pmex  in bay of campecht .
  Do supply personel .
 Cost of production ?  may be .35 - .4 of total cost of oil
  even if day rate 2 x  , would represent small fraktion of PV of project .
 Earnings  %  Share | 95 : 1.65 , 1stCall proj 96 97 : 2.40 3.65 |
  Quite predictable because based on set leases .
  price @ yr hi : ~ 54 up from 20s .