Bristow Group Inc (NYSE:BRS)

Bristow Group, Inc. provides helicopter services to major integrated, national and independent oil and gas companies. Its charter of helicopters transports personnel between onshore bases and offshore production platforms, drilling rigs and other installations. It has major transportation operations in the North Sea, Nigeria and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and in most of the other major offshore energy producing regions of the world, including Alaska, Australia, Brazil, Russia and Trinidad. The company Helicopter Service operations are conducted through five business units: Europe, West Africa, North America, Australia and Other International. The Europe business unit operates from four bases in the U.K., one base in Holland and three bases in Norway and its operations are subject to seasonality as drilling activity is lower during the winter months due to harsh weather and shorter days. The West Africa unit operates in Nigeria with seven operational bases, with the largest bases located in Escravos, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Warri. The North America unit operates in seven operating facilities in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and three operating facilities in Alaska. Operations in Alaska are subject to seasonality as fall and winter months have fewer hours of daylight and harsh weather conditions limit some oil and gas related activities. The Australia unit operates in five bases located in Western Australia, three in Victoria, one in South Australia and one in Queensland. The other international unit conducts operations in the Baltic Sea, Brazil, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Trinidad, and Turkmenistan. Bristow also operates a training business unit, Bristow Academy that trains students from around the world to become helicopter pilots and is approved to provide helicopter flight training at the commercial pilot and flight instructor level by both the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the European Joint Aviation Authority. Its technical services portion of the business provides helicopter repair services. Bristow Group was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.