Exploration Companies

Here is a list of exploration companies out there in the deep water, drilling for oil and gas.

Schlumberger N.V. (SLB) provides oil & gas drilling & exploration companies technologically advanced equipment and management services that aid in the extraction and production of crude oil and natural gas. The company provides a range of products from exploration to production of oil. [9] Schlumberger has made a number of acquisitions aimed at increasing their ability to service deepwater drilling, including Smith International and Geoservices, two companies that have advanced technologies that aid in the discovery, analysis, and extraction of deepwater oil reserves.

Transocean (RIG), as the name implies, is the biggest U.S. provider of rigs, platforms and services for offshore drilling.[12] The company acquired Santa Fe International (GSF) in late November 2007, creating the second largest oilfield services company overall, behind only Schlumberger N.V. (SLB) (based on market capitalization). Given that GSF also specializes in offshore drilling, the company in effect doubled down on deepwater drilling.

ChevronTexaco (CVX) acquired Unocal to get exposure to its Gulf of Mexico holdings. The company also partnered with MIT to develop ultra-deepwater drilling technology, to let the company search for oil at depths never before considered.

Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO) owns one of the largest drilling fleets in the world, a total of 44 ships, including 30 semisubmersibles, 14 jack-ups and one drillship. DO contracts these rigs to “operators”, or oil companies to find new oil or gas deposits, or to prepare existing deposits for production.

Brazilian Petroleum Corporation (PBR) is the national oil company of Brazil, with a virtual monopoly of all petroleum exploration and production in the country. In November 2007, the company announced the discovery of the Tupi oilfield, the biggest discovery in the last 20 years worldwide. Estimates from geological studies claim reserves in the range of 5 to 8 billion BOE. To put this in perspective, this field alone increases Brazil's hydrocarbon reserves by nearly 50%. One complication is that the oil is beneath 2000 to 3000 meters of water, making its retrieval a complex and likely expensive deepwater project. As of May, 2008, Petrobras had contracted 80% of the world's deepwater rigs, driving dayrates up for the rest of the industry as remaining oil majors like Exxon Mobil and BP compete for the other 20%.

SeaDrill Limited (SDRL) is a Bermuda-based offshore drilling company, with units deployed in northern Europe, Africa, southeast Asia, and North America. The company also has platform drilling and well intervention on fixed installations in the North Sea.