Ankor to retain Taylor Energy workers in N.O.

The company created in the wake of the sale of Taylor Energy Co. to foreign interests plans to retain most of its New Orleans work force.

In announcing John Pope as its CEO and president, Ankor Energy LLC said it will retain nearly all of Taylor's 145 employees.

In January, Taylor CEO Phyllis Taylor sold the company her late husband, Pat Taylor, founded in 1979 to Korea National Oil Corp. and Samsung Oil and Gas USA Corp. for an undisclosed amount.

When the deal was announced Jan. 31, KNOC and Samsung said they intended to keep former Taylor employees with an office in New Orleans, but Ankor spokesman James Caillier said the new company will pull over about 140 workers.

"We'll be doing the same thing as Taylor Energy," said Caillier, detailing plans to conduct Gulf oil and gas exploration.

The Taylor-KNOC/Samsung transaction included five producing oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico's Outer Continental Shelf in water depths ranging from 70 feet to more than 650 feet. Daily production from the properties is about 17,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day.

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