GlobalSantaFe Corporation was an

offshore drilling Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the te ...

contractor headquartered in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. It owned 59 marine drilling rigs. In November 2007, the company was acquired by Transocean.

History

The company was formed in 2001 by the merger of Global Marine and Santa Fe International Corporation. In March 2003, the company temporarily suspended operations in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

ahead of the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. In May 2004, the company sold its worldwide land drilling assets to

Precision Drilling Precision Drilling Corporation is the largest drilling rig contractor in Canada, also providing oil field rental and supplies. History Precision Drilling Ltd. was founded in 1951. In 1987, Precision Drilling was acquired by Cypress Drilling, ...

for $316.5 million. In August 2004, one of the company's rigs sank in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

about 25 miles offshore

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

after a fire broke out on the rig. In June 2006, the company contracted with

Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ar, أرامكو السعودية '), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. , it is one of ...

for 4 of its

jackup rig A jackup rig or a self-elevating unit is a type of mobile platform that consists of a buoyant hull fitted with a number of movable legs, capable of raising its hull over the surface of the sea. The buoyant hull enables transportation of the unit a ...

s. In November 2007, the company was acquired by Transocean.

References

{{Reflist, 1 2001 establishments in Texas 2007 disestablishments in Texas Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Defunct oil companies of the United States Transocean