news UNIT CORPORATION
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7130 South Lewis Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136
Telephone 918 493-7700, Fax 918 493-7711
Contact: Larry D. Pinkston
President and Chief Operating Officer
(918) 493-7700
For Immediate Release...
January 5, 2005
UNIT CORPORATION ANNOUNCES CLOSING OF ACQUISITION
Tulsa, Oklahoma . . . Unit Corporation (NYSE - UNT) announced today that
its wholly owned subsidiary, Unit Drilling Company, has closed an acquisition to
purchase a subsidiary of Strata Drilling LLC for $10.5 million in cash. Through
this acquisition, Unit Drilling Company will acquire two drilling rigs, its
102nd and 103rd rigs, as well as spare parts, inventory, drill pipe, and other
major rig components.
The two existing rigs are 1,500 horsepower, diesel electric rigs with the
capacity to drill 12,000 to 20,000 feet. One rig is currently operating under
contract and the other rig will require approximately $2 million in expenditures
to complete. The latter rig should be fully operational within 90 days.
Currently, Unit has all 100 of its drilling rigs operating under contract. Its
101st rig, previously under construction, is complete and will be operating
under contract next week. Unit also plans to initiate construction of its 104th
rig, a 1,500 horsepower diesel electric rig. Both of the two rigs acquired in
our recent acquisition and our 104th rig will be added to our 19-rig Rocky
Mountain Division.
Mr. Larry Pinkston, Unit's President and Chief Operating Officer, said,
"This acquisition will complement our current drilling rig fleet and will help
to meet our customers' growing demand for drilling rigs."
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Unit Corporation is a Tulsa-based, publicly held energy company engaged
through its subsidiaries in oil and gas exploration, production, contract
drilling and natural gas gathering and processing. 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 intended operating location of the recently acquired drilling
rigs, 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.