Western Geophysical
Western Geophysical was a company founded in California in 1933 by Henry Salvatori for the purpose of using reflection seismology to explore for petroleum.
The company prospered and was sold by Salvatori to Litton Industries in 1960. In 1987, Litton and Dresser Industries formed a joint venture comprising Western and Dresser Atlas. The joint venture, Western Atlas, was spun off as a public company in 1994. Western then purchased Halliburton Geophysical Services, which had been formed from Geophysical Service Incorporated, Geosource and several other companies. In 1998, Western Atlas was acquired by Baker Hughes. In 2000, Western Geophysical became part of a joint venture between Baker Hughes and Schlumberger called WesternGeco and ceased to exist as a separate entity. In May 2006, Schlumberger bought Baker Hughes' 30% share of the company.
Western Geophysical built a number of significant seismic survey vessels over the years, in different classes depending on the role. The majority of Western Geophysical vessels were named for geographic features, such as:
More recent vessels including the Western Trident and Western Neptune passed to WesternGeco when the new company was formed.
The company was often referred to as "Westerns" and was affectionately known over many years by many of its employees as the "circus without a tent."
Dean Walling was the operating President of Western Geophysical for his entire working life and retired when the company was sold to Litton Industries in 1960.
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