Business briefs

Danos awarded Bristow contract
LAROSE — Danos will begin providing field support for Bristow’s six Gulf of Mexico bases, five in Louisiana — Galliano, Houma, Intracoastal City, New Iberia and Venice — and one in Galveston, Texas, the company announced in a news release Monday.
“Partnering with Bristow to provide field support is a great opportunity for Danos,” said Hank Danos, president and CEO. “Like Danos, Bristow has an exceptional safety reputation, and a long history of providing outstanding service to the oil and gas industry.”
The internal announcement was made on Nov. 14, when executives from both companies met with Bristow employees to begin the monthlong transition process, the news release stated. Bristow, as well as current sub-contractor employees, were given the opportunity to become Danos employees.
“Bristow chose Danos as our field support contractor as part of our ‘Change, Win, Grow Strategy,’” said Robert Phillips, director of Bristow North America. “We believe this partnership will better support the future growth of our Gulf of Mexico business.”
The long-term contract, which covers six bases and 70 employees, was done without disruption to operations, the company reported.

Apache selling stake in 2 LNG projects for $2.75B
HOUSTON — Apache is selling its stake in two liquefied natural gas projects to Woodside Petroleum Ltd. for $2.75 billion.
The Houston-based oil and gas exploration and production company is selling its ownership in Australian subsidiary Apache Julimar Pty. Ltd. — which owns a 13 percent stake in the Wheatstone LNG project and a 65 percent interest in the area that includes the Julimar/Brunello offshore gas fields and the Balnaves oil development. The deal also includes Apache’s 50 percent stake in the Kitimat LNG project and related upstream acreage in the Horn River and Liard natural gas basins in Canada.
Apache Corp. anticipates net proceeds of about $3.7 billion. That includes its expenses between June 30 and the transaction’s closing date in the first quarter of 2015. The company may use proceeds to lower debt, buy back stock or for other purposes.
The Kitimat sale is subject to certain operator consents.
Apache said Monday that once the transaction closes, it will still have upstream acreage off the shore of Western Australia in the Carnarvon, Exmouth and Canning basins along with related hydrocarbon reserves and production. Apache will also keep its 49 percent ownership interest in Yara Holdings Nitrates Pty. Ltd. and 10 percent interest in the related ammonium nitrate plant.
The company’s stock added $1.16, or 2.1 percent, to $57.60 in premarket trading.

U.S. rig count down 27 to 1,893
HOUSTON — Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by 27 this week to 1,893.
The Houston firm said Friday in its weekly report 1,546 rigs were exploring for oil and 346 for gas. One was listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,782 active rigs.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, California, Kansas, Ohio and West Virginia each gained two rigs and New Mexico gained one.
Texas lost 24 rigs, Arkansas lost three, Colorado lost two and Alaska, Louisiana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Wyoming each lost one.
Oklahoma and Utah were unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.

Developers vie to redevelop World Trade Center
NEW ORLEANS — The city is whittling down proposals brought by developers hoping to revamp the vacant 33-story World Trade Center into a hotel and apartments.
The building stands at the foot of Canal Street and overlooks the Mississippi River. It is considered one of the city’s most valuable pieces of real estate.
On Monday a panel appointed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu to evaluate proposals cut the number of possible developers to five. The private re-development plans all offer to turn the 1960s-era tower into a mixed use building — part hotel, part apartment complex.
The five developers now will be given more time to come up with more detailed proposals. Six other proposals were eliminated.
Here are the five proposals in brief:
— A 350-room Four Seasons hotel and 40 apartments on four top floors.
— A Hilton Worldwide-brand Conrad Hotel & Residences with 300 hotel rooms on 11 floors.
— A 516-room Godfrey Hotel on the first 18 floors at the World Trade Center and about 166 apartments on the remaining floors, in addition an adjacent retail-entertainment building.
— A 252-room Andaz Hotel by Hyatt and 295 luxury apartments, in addition to meeting and commercial space.
— A 318-room Hotel Alessandra and 240 apartments.
The city hopes to lease the building out for 99 years. Since the late 1990s, negotiations with developers over long-term leases for the building have failed three times.
Most recently, after a months-long selection process, the city broke off talks in April with Gatehouse Capital Corp., which had hopes of turning the building into apartments and a hotel.
From The Associated Press and staff reports.