news UNIT CORPORATION
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7130 South Lewis Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136
Telephone 918 493-7700, Fax 918 493-7714
Contact: Larry D. Pinkston
President and Chief Operating Officer
(918) 493-7700
For Immediate Release...
October 21, 2004
UNIT CORPORATION ANNOUNCES THE RETIREMENT OF
MR. JOHN NIKKEL AS ITS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Tulsa, Oklahoma . . . Unit Corporation (NYSE - UNT) announced today that
its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, John Nikkel, will retire as Chief
Executive Officer of the Company effective April 1, 2005 and that Mr. Larry
Pinkston, its President, has been elected to assume the additional role as the
Company's Chief Executive Officer effective with Mr. Nikkel's retirement. Mr.
Nikkel will continue to serve the Company as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Mr. Nikkel has also agreed to serve as a consultant for the Company following
his retirement.
Mr. Nikkel joined Unit in 1983 as its President and director. In 2001, he
became the Company's Chief Executive Officer, and in August 2003, Mr. Nikkel was
named Chairman of the Board of Directors. When Mr. Nikkel joined Unit in 1983,
the Company consisted of only 29 drilling rigs operating in Oklahoma and had
total oil and natural gas reserves of approximately 11 Bcfe. Today, Unit owns a
drilling rig fleet consisting of 100 rigs operating in Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming,
Colorado and Utah. Unit's oil and natural gas reserve base is in excess of 340
Bcfe, with its properties located primarily in Oklahoma, South Texas, and the
Permian Basin of West Texas.
Mr. Nikkel said, "It has been my distinct pleasure to serve Unit for the
past 21 years and because of the hard work and dedication of our employees, Unit
has had excellent growth through that period. Unit has outstanding management
talent that will continue our long-held strategy of growing our asset base with
a conservative financial policy."
Mr. Pinkston, who has served the Company as its President and Chief
Operating Officer since February 2004, said, "Through John's leadership, Unit
has experienced dramatic growth over the life of the Company. We plan to
continue growing the Company and intend to keep Unit on the path that John has
helped build for us."
Unit Corporation will be announcing its third quarter 2004 earnings on
Wednesday, October 27, 2004. Its conference call will be broadcast live over the
Internet at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on October 27th. The webcast may be accessed
at the Company's website, www.unitcorp.com.
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Unit Corporation is a Tulsa-based, publicly held energy company engaged
through its subsidiaries in oil and gas exploration, production and contract
drilling. Unit's Common Stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol UNT. For more information about Unit Corporation, visit its website at
http://www.unitcorp.com.
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Securities Litigation Reform Act that involve risks and uncertainties,
including the productive capabilities of the wells, future demand for oil and
natural gas, future rig utilization and dayrates, oil and gas reserve
information, anticipated production rates from company wells, the prospective
capabilities of offset acreage, anticipated oil and natural gas prices,
development, operational, implementation and opportunity risks, and other
factors described from time to time in the company's publicly available SEC
reports, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expected.