Parker Drilling CEO says not for sale

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Parker Drilling Co. (PKD.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the subject of takeover speculation, is not positioning itself to be sold, Chief Executive Robert Parker said on Thursday.

"The company is not for sale," Parker told the Reuters Global Energy Summit in New York.

"It's always a board decision ... but we're not positioning ourselves to be sold. We're positioning ourselves to increase our shareholder value," he said.

Parker shares have been boosted by speculation that the company is a takeover target and reached a year high of $12.10 on June 4.

Parker is just one of several oil and gas drillers that has been hit by talk of industry mergers and acquisitions, but Parker said that deep water offshore drilling probably does not need to consolidate.

"Personally, I don't feel there's a lot of need for M&A on the offshore deep water efforts," he said, explaining that that particular market is not that fragmented in terms of the numbers of players.

He also said that because valuations have risen in the group -- a move that started last year -- the company has turned more to building than buying for growth.

"We have found that this last year or so it is easier and more economic to build our rigs ourselves," Parker said.

The company has done acquisitions in the past when the oil and gas business was in a down cycle, and he said the company may begin making purchases when the cycle turns again.

Parker shares were off 22 cents, or about 2 percent, at $11.66 in early afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading.