John Wood Group Buys Out Oilfield Personnel Specialist

John Wood Group PLC has acquired Operators & Consulting Services, Inc., an oilfield services company providing specialized outsourced personnel, along with operations and maintenance support services to oil and gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico.

OCS had revenues of $49 million for the year ended 31 December 2001, and had a net asset value of $5.3 million as of that date. The company is based in Lafayette, Louisiana, and provides services to more than 70 clients across the Texas to Alabama Gulf coast. OCS will continue to be led by the existing management team and will be part of Wood Group Production Services. With the addition of OCS, WGPS now employs more than 900 personnel.

'The acquisition of OCS emphasizes Wood Group's commitment to the Gulf of Mexico and is a strategic expansion of our production facilities management and maintenance capabilities in the Gulf,' explained Bill Edgar, Group director responsible for Wood Group's Engineering and Production Facilities business. 'OCS has a long reputation for providing high-quality technical services with a strong focus on health, safety and the environment. The addition of OCS' expertise with Wood Group's global experience will enable our Engineering and Production Facilities business to broaden its service base in integrated operations support to suit individual client requirements.'

'We at OCS are very excited to be joining Wood Group,' stated OCS President Jerry Artigue, who will continue in his current position. 'We look forward to leveraging our complementary strengths to deliver an enhanced range of services to satisfy the needs of existing and future clients and the new challenges of deepwater development.'

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