Oilfield Service Companies: Ensco plc

Ensco plc is a multinational oil and gas services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's second-largest offshore oil and gas well drilling company, and has 49 offshore jack-ups, seven drillships and 20 semi-submersible drilling rigs.

With over 7,000 employees, and annual revenue in the $2.3 billion range, the Company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ESV.

History

In 2009 Ensco announced that it would move its headquarters to London and become a UK-registered company. It stated that it did not plan to move "a large number" of employees to London and that the COO of the company would remain based in Dallas.

In February 2011, Ensco agreed to acquire its rival Pride Internationalfor $7.3 billion. The acquisition provided Ensco access to the lucrative Brazil and West African markets, as well as greatly diversified its asset base from being largely jack-up rigs into the drillship and semi-submersible rigs as well.