SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report: July 14, 1995
READING & BATES CORPORATION
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware 1-5587 73-0642271
(State or other (Commission (I.R.S. Employer
jurisdiction of File Number) Identification No.)
incorporation)
901 Threadneedle, Suite 200, Houston, TX 77079
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code (713) 496-5000
Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits
(c) Exhibits
Exhibit 99 - Press Release dated July 13, 1995 - Contract
awarded to the JACK BATES by Mobil North Sea
Limited.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf of the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
READING & BATES CORPORATION
By /s/T. W. Nagle
T. W. Nagle
Vice President & Chief
Financial Officer
Dated: July 14, 1995
EXHIBIT 99
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mr. Charles R. Ofner
(713) 496-5000
July 13, 1995, Houston, Texas.....Reading & Bates Corporation (RB-NYSE)
announced that the fourth-generation semisubmersible JACK BATES has been
awarded a contract by Mobil North Sea Limited, on behalf of its
partners Elf Exploration UK plc and Lasmo North Sea plc, for the
drilling of three wells, or an approximate nine month period, commencing
no later than April, 1997. The unit will be utilized on Mobil's
Tranche 6 area in Blocks 213 and 214 in the U.K. sector of the North
Atlantic in water depths up to 4500 feet. The total nine month contract
value is estimated at approximately $32 million plus mobilization fee,
equipment upgrades and shipyard time totaling approximately $12.5
million. Mobil expects to take options to extend the contract period to
18 months and will be in a position to offer slots in the drilling
program to other operators. With regard to the unit's schedule, it now
appears that the unit will be utilized during all, or most of, 1996 in
Southeast Asia with mobilization to the North Sea likely in late 1996 or
early 1997.
Paul B. Loyd, Jr., the Company's Chairman, President and CEO stated,
"The Tranche 6 area is one of the world's harshest environments with
extremely rough weather conditions and severe ocean currents, and we
are very pleased that the JACK BATES, along with Reading & Bates'
operational expertise, has been recognized by Mobil as the right
combination to take on this very formidable deepwater drilling project.
We believe this contract, in addition to reflecting a general tightening
in the fourth-generation semi market, offers insight into the earnings
power of the BATES relative to the rest of the high specification fleet
when the rig is operated in the environment for which it was designed.
We would expect to achieve strongly improving rates for our other two
fourth-generation semis as well when their contracts roll over in the
fourth quarter of 1996. Overall, our core fleet utilization currently
stands at 100%, with a term commitment expected shortly for our one
standard jackup idle in India."
Reading & Bates is a New York Stock Exchange listed company, providing
offshore drilling services throughout the world. Its wholly owned
subsidiary, Reading & Bates Development Co., provides technical,
construction and project management services and floating production
systems to the upstream offshore oil and gas industry worldwide.
