- Geco-Prakla
Geco-Prakla was a European geophysical service company specializing in seismic surveys for
petroleum exploration.History
The company started as Geoteam-Computas Ltd. A.S. on
December 13 ,1972 . The name was later changed to Geophysical Company of Norway or Geco. Anders Farestveit was the founder andCEO . The main focus was marine seismic surveys. Geco was merged withStatex (owned byStatoil andKongsberg Våpenfabrikk ) in 1977.The company enjoyed strong expansion until 1985, when there was a global crisis in the oil industry. In the summer of 1986
Schlumberger Limited purchased first 50%, then the entire company. This brought about a merger withMerlin Geophysical (Seismic Profilers ), who had been purchased by Schlumberger a year earlier.Mergers with other geophysical companies followed, including Delft Geophysical, Prakla-Seismos and Seismograph Services Ltd. Following the merger with Prakla-Seismos the company was renamed Geco-Prakla. In 2001, Geco-Prakla was joined with the
Western Geophysical division ofBaker Hughes in a joint venture namedWesternGeco . Schlumberger retained 70% ownership in the venture; Baker Hughes owned the remaining 30%.In April 2006 Schlumberger acquired the 30% from Baker Hughes for $2.4 billion.
References
* På dypt vann - Et høyteknologisk eventyr. Halvor Kr. Bjerke, 1989.
External links
* [http://www.westerngeco.com WesternGeco website]
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