Page 39: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 15, 1973)

Gulf Oil And CNA Plan

Multibillion-Dollar Merger

Gulf Oil Corp. has announced it will merge with CNA Financial Corp. in a stock-and-bond swap involving two multibillion-dollar giants of energy and finance.

The big oil company said the merger talks are in a "preliminary stage" and that the pro- posal needs the okay of both firms' directors and stockholders, as well as regulatory agen- cies.

CNA common stockholders would receive $10 of a new Gulf 7 percent convertible de- benture and one share of a new Gulf 19 cents convertible preferred stock for each share of

CNA they own. CNA preferred holders will also receive a similar package.

Gulf, the third largest crude oil producing firm, had sales of $6.2 billion and profits of $447 million in 1972. CNA, which owns Con- tinental Casualty and Continental Assurance companies and other financial firms, had gross revenues of $1.5 billion and earnings of $98.7 million.

Construction Begins

On Zapata Drillship

The drillship Zapata Trader, now under construction at

Gulfport Shipbuilding Corporation, Port Arthur, Texas, features the latest innovations in equipment.

Zapata Corporation, Houston, Texas, has an- nounced that construction of the ship-shaped drilling vessel Zapata Trader is now under way at Gulfport Shipbuilding Corporation (a sub- sidiary of Levingston Shipbuilding Company),

Port Arthur, Texas. The self-propelled drill- ship, to be ibuil't at an overall cost of about $16 million, is scheduled for completion in mid- 1974. Ht will be owned by Zapata North Sea,

Inc., one of the company's offshore drilling subsidiaries.

The highly mobile Zapata Trader will be initially equipped for operation in 600 feet of water and drilling to a depth of 20,000 feet.

Its design provides for the later addition of equipment for operation in 1,000 feet of water.

Other special features include a motion com- pensator, automatic pipe racking system, flume tank stabilizing system, and below deck stor- age for drillpipe and other tubular materials.

The Panamanian-flag vessel will have a serv- ice speed of more than 11 knots, quarters for 90 men, and displacement of about 14,000 tons at drilling draft. Utilizing a former bulk car- rier for its basic bull, the Zapata Trader will be 427 feet long, with a 77-foot beam and a hull depth of 32 feet.

Zapata Corporation, a pioneer in the offshore drilling field, currently has 11 rigs in operation around the world, with a super semisubmer- sible rig under construction. In addition to offshore drilling, the company's activities in- clude supply vessel services for offshore opera- tors, petroleum exploration, menhaden and tuna fishing, copper and coal mining, and build- ing and general construction.

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October 15, 1973 11