There was lots of water cooler talk in the oil patch Friday after the
announcement
late Thursday of the unexpected resignation of Noble Corp.'s chairman, CEO and
president Mark Jackson. Director William Sears was named interim chief. While
the Sugar Land, Texas, oil driller was mum on the reasons — in a statement
lacking even boilerplate appreciation-expressing and well-wishing — Dan
Pickering, principal of Tudor Pickering & Co. Securities Inc., thinks
Jackson's departure puts Noble in play.
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Pickering notes in a report Friday morning the
company had already been knee deep in consolidation talks — most likely with
GlobalSantaFe Corp. and Seadrill Ltd. Perhaps Jackson and the board disagreed
over whether to sell the company at a time when oil service providers are
combining like mad amid high oil prices.
Noble director Lawrence Chazen told Dow
Jones & Co. that Jackson wanted to return to Dallas where his family lives,
but Pickering isn't buying it. "We don't think Mark would just bolt from a sweet
CEO job on short notice and that relocation is something that would be discussed
with the board well in advance," he said. That leaves strategy disagreements,
problems or other personal issues as remaining possibilities. There is a Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act investigation into Noble's practices in Nigeria. The
company could also have accounting problems, missed earnings targets, lower
backlogs or cost overruns on newbuilds. But Pickering thinks the reason Jackson
left is strategic. With
Transocean/GlobalSantaFe
setting the precedent for no premium deals, Pickering thinks Noble could be
taken out for its closing price Thursday of $49 per share. Noble's stock opened
at $50 per share Friday and was up in midmorning trading, as were a lot of oil
stocks. — Claire Poole
