Ensco plc
 |
|
| Public limited company | |
| Traded as | : ESV S&P 400 Component |
| Industry | Petroleum industry |
| Founded | 1975 (Dallas) |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom (incorporation) San Felipe Plaza, Houston, Texas, USA (operational) |
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Key people
|
Carl Trowell (CEO) |
| Services |
Offshore drilling Well drilling |
| Revenue |  US$2.776 billion (2016) |
 US$0.929 billion (2016) |
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| US$0.897 billion (2016) |
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| Total assets | US$14.374 billion (2016) |
| Total equity | US$8.250 billion (2016) |
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Number of employees
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4,900 (2016) |
| Website | enscoplc |
Ensco plc is an offshore drilling contractor headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
The company was formerly known as Blocker Energy Corporation, named after the founder, John R. Blocker, and Energy Service Company Inc.
Ensco is the world's second-largest offshore drilling and well drilling company, and owns 41 offshore jack-ups, 8 drillships, and 12 semi-submersible drilling rigs.
In 2016, 13% of its revenues came from BP and 12% of its revenues came from Total S.A..
The company provides quarterly updates on the status of each rig in its fleet on its website.
ENSCO's predecessor company, Blocker Energy Corporation, was incorporated in 1975 by longtime oilman John R. Blocker.
After graduating from Texas A&M in 1948, Blocker worked on a Gulf of Mexico oil rig for several years before establishing a South Texas drilling company with his father in 1954. When an oversupply of oil on the market crippled the contract drilling business the company was dissolved, and in 1958 Blocker went to work for Dresser Industries as operations manager for the oil equipment division in Argentina and Venezuela, a natural fit because he had grown up in South America, learning Spanish before English. Over the next several years he learned the political and financial realities of the foreign oil business, lessons that would later serve him well with Blocker Energy. In 1965, he moved to Dresser's Houston office and ultimately rose to the level of a senior vice-president. His attention, however, was soon fixed on the drilling company, due to a domestic exploration boom that resulted from the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo.
In 1975, Blocker bought Choya Energy, a six-rig contract drilling company based in Alice, Texas, and renamed the company Blocker Energy.
Blocker took advantage of his South American experience to position the company in the international market, believing it was less risky than the domestic market, which had 800 to 900 competitors. Blocker Energy expanded rapidly to meet the demand for its services and as a result soon found itself $44 million in debt. Blocker took the company public to pay down some of the debt and fund further expansion.
By 1980, the company had 1,700 employees worldwide, including 211 at its Texas headquarters. In the early 1980s, Blocker, along with many other oil-related companies, thought the price of oil could only go higher. In 1981 and early 1982, the company borrowed heavily to expand its rig fleet to 54 rigs. However, the premise of higher oil prices was a complete mistake. The price of oil plunged in late 1982 and, to avoid bankruptcy, Blocker Energy restructured, giving 64% of the company to its banks in exchange for $240 million in debt forgiveness. By 1983, the company was only operating 6 rigs, although that number increased to 24 in 1984. By 1985, the worldwide employee count of the company was down to 500.
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Wikipedia