Western Geophysical

  1. Oil companies of the United States
  2. Companies based in Kern County, California
  3. Companies established in 1933
  4. Companies disestablished in 2000
  5. Oilfield services companies


Western Geophysical was a company founded in California in 1933 by Henry Salvatori for the purpose of using reflection seismology to explore for petroleum.

The company prospered and was sold by Salvatori to Litton Industries in 1960.[1] In 1987, Litton and Dresser Industries formed a joint venture comprising Western and Dresser Atlas. The joint venture, Western Atlas, was spun off as a public company in 1994. Western then purchased Halliburton Geophysical Services, which had been formed from Geophysical Service Incorporated, Geosource and several other companies. In 1998, Western Atlas was acquired by Baker Hughes. In 2000, Western Geophysical became part of a joint venture between Baker Hughes and Schlumberger called WesternGeco and ceased to exist as a separate entity.[2]

Western Geophysical built a number of significant seismic survey vessels over the years, in different classes depending on the role. The majority of Western Geophysical vessels were named for geographic features, such as:

  • Western Anchorage (200', West Coast and Alaska)
  • Western Cape (small, Gulf of Mexico)
  • Western Cay (small, Gulf of Mexico)
  • Western Glacier (200', West Coast and Alaska)

Recent vessels including the Western Trident and Western Neptune passed to WesternGeco when the new company was formed. There were numerous Western Geophysical (WGC) or "Westerns" was affectionately known over many years by many of its employees as the "circus without a tent".

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Our Heritage". Northrop Grumman. http://www.northropgrumman.com/heritage/index.html. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  2. ↑ "2000s: Building on core strengths". Schlumberger. http://www.slb.com/about/history/2000s.aspx. Retrieved March 18, 2011.


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