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Seadrill rumour bumps GSF shares



By Upstream staff 

Shares of drilling contractor GlobalSantaFe rose and its bullish options surged today on talk of a potential takeover by Norwegian driller Seadrill.

"There is a rumour making the rounds that Seadrill might make a bid for the oil service company," said Frederic Ruffy, of Optionetics in Redwood City, California.

Shares of Houston-based GSF rose 3.4%, or $1.90, to close at $57.78 on the New York Stock Exchange, Reuters reported.

A spokesman for GSF said it was company policy not to comment on market rumours, while a US-based representative of Seadrill could not immediately be reached.

In January, Seadrill hired Tim Juran, a former executive at Transocean, to head its operations in the Americas. Juran's appointment fuelled more talk that the Norwegian company was on the prowl for a US driller.

Paul Foster, options strategist at Web information site theflyonthewall.com., said unconfirmed takeover chatter pushed up GSF shares and sparked increased call activity as many players bought calls, hoping to profit from share gains.

In all, more than 30,100 calls and 9,506 puts traded in GSF today, far outpacing yesterday's volume of 7957 contracts, according to market research company Track Data.


Wednesday, 21 February, 2007, 23:37 GMT  | last updated: Thursday, 22 February, 2007, 07:41 GMT

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