Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
Overview
Transocean Ltd. (together with its subsidiaries and predecessors, unless the context requires otherwise, “Transocean,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells. As of February 11, 2025, we owned or had partial ownership interests in and operated 34 mobile offshore drilling units, consisting of 26 ultra-deepwater floaters and eight harsh environment floaters.
We provide, as our primary business, contract drilling services in a single operating segment, which involves contracting our mobile offshore drilling rigs, related equipment and work crews to drill oil and gas wells. We specialize in technically demanding regions of the global offshore drilling business with a particular focus on ultra-deepwater and harsh environment drilling services. Our drilling fleet is one of the most versatile fleets in the world, consisting of drillships and semisubmersible floaters used in support of offshore drilling activities and offshore support services on a worldwide basis.
Transocean Ltd. is a Swiss corporation with its registered office in Steinhausen, Canton of Zug and with principal executive offices located at Turmstrasse 30, 6312 Steinhausen, Switzerland. Our telephone number at that address is +41 41 749-0500. Our shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “RIG.” For information about the revenues, operating income, assets and other information related to our business and the geographic areas in which we operate, see “ Part II. Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations ” and “Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements— Note 1—Business , Note 5—Revenues and Note 6—Long-Lived Assets .”
Drilling Fleet
Overview —We provide contract drilling services using our fleet of mobile offshore drilling units, including both drillships and semisubmersibles, broadly referred to as floaters. Floaters are designed to operate in locations away from port for extended periods of time and have living quarters for the crews, a helicopter landing deck and storage space for drill pipe, riser and drilling supplies. Our drilling units and related equipment are suitable for both exploration and development, and we engage in both types of activities.
Drillships are floating vessels that are shaped like conventional ships, generally self-propelled and considered to be the most mobile of the major rig types. Drillships typically have greater deck load and storage capacity than semisubmersible rigs, which provides logistical and resupply efficiency benefits for customers. Drillships are generally better suited to operations in calmer sea conditions and typically do not operate in areas considered to be harsh environments. All of our high-specification drillships are equipped with dynamic positioning thruster systems, which allows them to maintain position without anchors through the use of onboard propulsion and station-keeping systems. We have two ultra-deepwater drillships that are equipped with an industry-leading, 1,700 short ton hoisting capacity. We have 23 ultra-deepwater drillships that are equipped with our patented dual-activity technology. Dual-activity technology employs structures, equipment and techniques using two drilling stations within a dual derrick to allow these drillships to perform simultaneous drilling tasks in a parallel, rather than a sequential manner, which reduces critical path activity and improves efficiency in both exploration and development drilling.
Semisubmersibles are floating vessels that can be partially submerged by means of a water ballast system such that the lower column sections and pontoons are below the water surface during drilling operations. Semisubmersibles are known for stability, making them well suited for operating in rough sea conditions. Semisubmersible floaters are capable of maintaining their position over a well either through dynamic positioning or the use of mooring systems. Although most semisubmersible rigs are relocated with the assistance of tugs, some units are self-propelled and move between locations under their own power when afloat on pontoons. Three of our nine semisubmersibles are equipped with dual-activity technology and also have mooring capability. Two of these three dual-activity units are custom-designed, high-capacity semisubmersible drilling rigs, equipped for year-round operations in harsh environments, such as those of the Norwegian continental shelf and sub-Arctic waters.
Our fleet consists of ultra-deepwater drillships and semisubmersibles and harsh environment semisubmersibles that are designed with high-specification capabilities to operate in the technically demanding regions of the global offshore drilling business. Ultra-deepwater floaters are equipped with high-pressure mud pumps and are capable of drilling in water depths of 4,500 feet or greater. Harsh environment floaters are capable of drilling in harsh environments in water depths between 1,500 and 10,000 feet and typically have greater displacement than other semisubmersibles, which offers larger variable load capacity, more useable deck space and better motion characteristics.
Fleet status —Depending on market conditions, we may idle or stack our non-contracted rigs. An idle rig is between drilling contracts, readily available for operations, and operating costs are typically at or near normal operating levels. A stacked rig typically has reduced operating and maintenance costs, is staffed by a reduced crew or has no crew and is (a) preparing for an extended period of inactivity, (b) expected to continue to be inactive for an extended period or (c) completing a period of extended inactivity. Stacked rigs will continue to incur operating costs at or above normal operating levels for approximately 30 days following initiation of stacking. Some idle rigs and all stacked rigs require additional costs to return to service. The actual cost to return to service, which in many instances could be significant and could fluctuate over time, depends upon various factors, including the availability and cost of shipyard facilities, the cost of
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equipment and materials, the extent of repairs, maintenance and commercial upgrades that may ultimately be required, the length of time a rig has spent in stacking mode and the time and cost of assembling and training crew. We consider these factors, together with market conditions, length of contract, dayrate and other contract terms, when deciding whether to return a stacked rig to service. We may not return some stacked rigs to work for drilling services.
Drilling units —The following table, presented as of February 12, 2025, provides certain specifications for our rigs, excluding rigs classified as held for sale. Unless otherwise noted, the stated location of each rig indicates either the current drilling location, if the rig is operating, or the next operating location, if the rig is in shipyard with a follow-on contract. The dates provided represent the year placed into service, and, if applicable, the year of the most recent upgrade. As of February 12, 2025, we owned all of the drilling rigs in our fleet noted in the tables below, except for the ultra-deepwater floater Petrobras 10000 , which is subject to a finance lease through August 2029.
Year
Hook
Water
Drilling
Contracted
entered
load
depth
depth
location or
service /
capacity
capacity
capacity
standby
Rig category and name
Type
upgraded
(short tons)
(in feet)
(in feet)
Specifications
status
Ultra-deepwater floaters (26)
Deepwater Titan
Drillship
2023
1,700
12,000
40,000
(a) (b) (c)
U.S. Gulf
Deepwater Atlas
Drillship
2022
1,700
12,000
40,000
(a) (b) (d)
U.S. Gulf
Deepwater Aquila
Drillship
2024
1,400
12,000
40,000
(a) (b) (e)
Brazil
Deepwater Poseidon
Drillship
2018
1,400
12,000
40,000
(a) (b) (f) (g)
U.S. Gulf
Deepwater Pontus
Drillship
2017
1,400
12,000
40,000
(a) (b) (f) (g)
U.S. Gulf
Deepwater Conqueror
Drillship
2016
1,400
12,000
40,000
(a) (b) (f) (g)
U.S. Gulf
Deepwater Proteus
Drillship
2016
1,400
12,000
40,000
(a) (b) (f) (g)
U.S. Gulf
Deepwater Thalassa
Drillship
2016
1,400
12,000
40,000
(a) (b) (f) (g)
U.S. Gulf
Deepwater Asgard
Drillship
2014
1,400
12,000
40,000
(a) (b) (f)
U.S. Gulf
Deepwater Invictus
Drillship
2014
1,400
12,000
40,000
(a) (b) (f)
U.S. Gulf
Ocean Rig Apollo
Drillship
2015
1,250
12,000
40,000
(a) (b)
Stacked
Ocean Rig Athena
Drillship
2014
1,250
12,000
40,000
(a) (b)
Stacked
Deepwater Skyros
Drillship
2013
1,250
12,000
40,000
(a) (b)
Angola
Ocean Rig Mylos
Drillship
2013
1,250
12,000
40,000
(a) (b) (f)
Stacked
Discoverer India
Drillship
2010
1,130
12,000
40,000
(a) (b)
Stacked
Discoverer Americas
Drillship
2009
1,130
12,000
40,000
(a) (b)
Stacked
Discoverer Clear Leader
Drillship
2009
1,130
12,000
40,000
(a) (b) (f)
Stacked
Deepwater Corcovado
Drillship
2011
1,000
10,000
35,000
(a) (b)
Brazil
Deepwater Mykonos
Drillship
2011
1,000
10,000
35,000
(a) (b)
Brazil
Deepwater Orion
Drillship
2011
1,000
10,000
35,000
(a) (b)
Brazil
Deepwater Champion
Drillship
2011
1,000
12,000
40,000
(a) (b)
Stacked
Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2
Drillship
2010
1,000
12,000
35,000
(a)
Brazil
Petrobras 10000
Drillship
2009
1,000
12,000
37,500
(a) (b)
Brazil
Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1
Drillship
2009
1,000
12,000
35,000
(a)
India
GSF Development Driller I
Semisubmersible
2005
1,000
7,500
37,500
(a) (b) (h)
Stacked
Discoverer Luanda
Drillship
2010
750
7,500
40,000
(a) (b)
Stacked
Harsh environment floaters (8)
Transocean Norge
Semisubmersible
2019
1,000
10,000
40,000
(a) (h) (i)
Norwegian N. Sea
Transocean Spitsbergen
Semisubmersible
2010
1,000
10,000
30,000
(a) (h) (i) (j)
Norwegian N. Sea
Transocean Barents
Semisubmersible
2009
1,000
10,000
30,000
(a) (h) (j)
Romania
Transocean Enabler
Semisubmersible
2016
750
1,640
28,000
(a) (h) (i)
Norwegian N. Sea
Transocean Encourage
Semisubmersible
2016
750
1,640
28,000
(a) (h) (i)
Norwegian N. Sea
Transocean Endurance
Semisubmersible
2015
750
1,640
28,000
(a) (h) (i)
Australia
Transocean Equinox
Semisubmersible
2015
750
1,640
28,000
(a) (h) (i)
Australia
Henry Goodrich
Semisubmersible
1985/2007
750
5,000
30,000
(h)
Stacked
(a) Dynamically positioned.
(b) Patented dual activity.
(c) Two 20,000 psi blowout preventers.
(d) One 15,000 psi blowout preventer and one 20,000 psi blowout preventer.
(e) One 15,000 psi blowout preventer and designed to accommodate a future 20,000 psi blowout preventer.
(f) Two 15,000 psi blowout preventers.
(g) Designed to accommodate a future upgrade to 20,000 psi blowout preventer(s).
(h) Moored.
(i) Automated drilling control.
(j) Dual activity.
Drilling Contracts
Our offshore drilling services contracts are individually negotiated and vary in their terms and conditions. We obtain most of our drilling contracts through bidding processes in competition against other drilling services contractors and through direct negotiations with operators. Drilling contracts generally provide for payment on a dayrate basis, typically with higher rates for periods when drilling operations are optimized and, conversely, lower or zero rates for periods during which the drilling unit is not mobilized or when drilling operations are interrupted or restricted, whether due to equipment breakdowns, adverse environmental conditions, regulatory approvals or otherwise. A
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dayrate drilling contract generally extends over a period of time either covering the drilling of a single well or group of wells or covering a stated term. At December 31, 2024, our contract backlog was $8.74 billion, representing a decrease of six percent and an increase of five percent, respectively, compared to our contract backlog of $9.25 billion and $8.34 billion at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. See “ Part II. Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Performance and Other Key Indicators .”
Certain of our drilling contracts may be cancelable for the convenience of the customer, typically with payment of an early termination fee. Such payments, however, may not fully compensate us for the loss of the contract. Drilling contracts also customarily provide for either automatic termination or termination at the option of the customer, typically without payment of any termination fee, under various circumstances such as non-performance, in the event of extended downtime or impaired performance due to equipment or operational issues or extended downtime due to force majeure events. Many of these events are beyond our control. The contract term in some instances may be extended by the customer exercising options for the drilling of additional wells or for additional periods of time. Our contracts also typically include a provision that allows the customer to extend the contract to finish drilling a well-in-progress. During periods of depressed market conditions, our customers may seek to renegotiate drilling contracts or options to reduce the term of their obligations or the average dayrate through term extensions or may seek to early terminate or repudiate their contracts. Suspension of drilling contracts will result in the reduction in or loss of dayrate for the period of the suspension. If customers cancel some of our contracts and we are unable to secure new contracts on a timely basis and on substantially similar or more favorable terms, if some of our contracts are suspended for an extended period of time or if a number of our contracts are renegotiated on less favorable terms, our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows may be adversely affected. See “ Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks related to our business—Our drilling contracts may be terminated due to a number of events, and, during depressed market conditions, our customers may seek to repudiate or renegotiate their contracts .”
Under dayrate drilling contracts, consistent with standard industry practice, our customers, as the operators, generally assume, and grant indemnity for, subsurface and well control risks, and their consequential damages. Under all of our current drilling contracts, our customers indemnify us for pollution damages in connection with reservoir fluids stemming from operations under the contract, and we indemnify our customers for pollution that originates above the surface of the water from the rig for substances in our control, such as diesel used or other fluids stored onboard the rig. Also, our customers indemnify us for consequential damages they incur, damage to the well or reservoir, loss of subsurface oil and gas and costs to bring the well under control. However, because our drilling contracts are individually negotiated, the degree of indemnification we receive from our customers for such risks and related costs may vary from contract to contract based on market conditions, customer requirements existing when the contract was negotiated or other factors. In some instances, we have contractually agreed upon certain limits to our indemnification rights and can be responsible for certain damages up to a specified maximum dollar amount. The nature of our liability and the prevailing market conditions, among other factors, can influence such contractual terms. Notwithstanding a contractual indemnity from a customer, there can be no assurance that our customers will be financially able to indemnify us or will otherwise honor their contractual indemnity obligations.
The interpretation and enforceability of a contractual indemnity depends upon the specific facts and circumstances involved, as governed by applicable laws, and may ultimately need to be decided by a court or other proceeding, which would need to consider the specific contract language, the facts and applicable laws. Applicable laws often consider contractual indemnity for criminal fines and penalties to be against public policy. Many courts also restrict indemnification for criminal fines and penalties. The inability or other failure of our customers to fulfill their indemnification obligations, or the unenforceability of all of our contractual protections could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. See “ Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks related to our business—Our business involves numerous operating hazards, and our insurance and indemnities from our customers may not be adequate to cover potential losses from our operations. ”
Markets
Our operations are geographically dispersed in oil and gas exploration and development areas throughout the world. We operate in a single, global offshore drilling market, as our drilling rigs are mobile assets and can be moved according to prevailing market conditions. We may mobilize our drilling rigs between regions for a variety of reasons, including to respond to customer contracting requirements or to capture observed market demand. Consequently, we cannot predict the future percentage of our revenues that will be derived from particular geographic areas. As of February 12, 2025, the drilling units in our fleet, including stacked and idle rigs, were located in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (nine units), Greece (seven units), Brazil (six units), the Norwegian North Sea (four units), Malaysia (two units), Australia (two units), Angola (one unit), Canada (one unit), India (one unit) and Romania (one unit).
We categorize the sectors of the floater market in which we operate as follows: (1) ultra-deepwater and deepwater, (2) harsh environment and (3) midwater. We typically employ our ultra-deepwater floaters to service the ultra-deepwater and deepwater sector, and we employ our harsh environment floaters to service all three sectors. We generally view the ultra-deepwater and deepwater market sector as water depths beginning at 4,500 feet and extending to the maximum water depths in which rigs are capable of drilling, which is currently up to 12,000 feet. The midwater market sector includes water depths from approximately 300 feet to approximately 4,500 feet. The harsh environment market sector includes regions that are more challenged by lower temperatures, harsher weather conditions and water currents.
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The market for offshore drilling rigs and related services reflects our customers’ demand for equipment for drilling exploration, appraisal and development wells and for performing maintenance on existing production wells. Activity levels of energy companies, including integrated energy companies, independent energy companies and, to a lesser extent, national energy companies are largely driven by the worldwide demand for energy, including crude oil and natural gas. Worldwide energy supply and demand drives oil and natural gas prices, which, in turn, impact energy companies’ ability to fund investments in exploration, development and production activities.
See “ Part II. Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Outlook .”
Customers
We provide our offshore drilling services to most of the leading integrated energy companies or their affiliates, as well as for many government-owned or government-controlled energy companies and other independent energy companies. For the year ended December 31, 2024, our most significant customers were Shell plc (together with its affiliates, “Shell”), Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (together with its affiliates, “Petrobras”) and Equinor ASA (together with its affiliates, “Equinor”), representing 27 percent, 21 percent and 13 percent, respectively, of our consolidated operating revenues. No other customers accounted for 10 percent or more of our consolidated operating revenues in the year ended December 31, 2024. Additionally, as of February 12, 2025, the customers with the most significant aggregate amount of contract backlog associated with our drilling contracts were Petrobras and Shell, representing 24 percent and 17 percent, respectively, of our total contract backlog. See “ Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks related to our business—We rely heavily on a relatively small number of customers and the loss of a significant customer or a dispute that leads to the loss of a customer could have an adverse effect on our business. ”
Human Capital Resources
Workforce —As of December 31, 2024, we had a global workforce of approximately 5,800 individuals, including approximately 330 contractors, representing 62 nationalities. At December 31, 2024, our global workforce was geographically distributed in 22 countries across six continents as follows: 37 percent in North America, 26 percent in South America, 24 percent in Europe, six percent in Australia, four percent in Africa, and three percent in Asia.
Corporate culture —Our FIRST Shared Values serve as the foundation for our corporate culture and guide us to act ethically and responsibly as we strive to deliver value and to maintain a safe and respectful work environment for our people. We maintain a Code of Integrity and Human Rights Policy that applies to all board members, executives, employees and business partners, including contractors, suppliers, vendors, investees and joint venture partners. We demonstrate respect of human rights by aiming to maintain a healthy and safe work environment, observe fair employment practices and provide competitive employment terms. Practices such as modern slavery, child labor, forced or indentured servitude, and other human rights abuses are strictly prohibited.
Labor rights —We respect the labor rights of all individuals in our workforce, including the right to collective bargaining. As of December 31, 2024, approximately 43 percent of our total workforce, working primarily in Brazil and Norway, is represented by, and some of our contracted labor work is subject to, collective bargaining agreements, substantially all of which are subject to annual salary negotiations. Negotiations for annual salary or other labor matters could result in higher personnel or other costs or increased operational restrictions or disruptions. The outcome of any such negotiation generally affects the market for all offshore employees, not only union members. A failure to reach an agreement on certain key issues could result in strikes, lockouts or other work stoppages.
Attraction, development and retention —We aim to strategically cultivate a best-in-class workforce to offer the innovation, local knowledge and experience required of the world’s premier offshore drilling contractor. We seek to maintain a competitive advantage while benefitting local communities by offering regionally competitive compensation and benefits packages tailored to our workforce demographics, a technically challenging work environment, global opportunities, and rotational development programs. We design our wellness and benefits strategy under four pillars consisting of physical well-being, financial well-being, emotional well-being and social well-being, including a globally available employee assistance program. We continually assess and adapt offerings and policies to provide a modern work environment based on evolving social and technological practices, which is essential to attract and retain top talent. Our focus on the quality of our workforce is designed to maximize the quality of work performance and ultimately, the value we deliver to our customers and investors.
Training —We invest in our workers by providing them with the transferrable skill sets essential to advancing their professional development. To optimize the competitive position of our business, we maintain a rigorous competency-based training program. We maintain an internal training board that regularly updates our training matrix to meet or exceed industry standards, and it oversees our competency assurance management system, which is accredited by the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organization. We provide various offshore training formats designed to encompass all learning styles through on-the-job, e-learning, customer-specific training, certifications, and leadership and licensing programs. Distinguishing us from many of our competitors, we also offer unique simulation-based education augmented by digital twin modeling, enabling our workforce to visualize equipment performance and target efficiencies more accurately. We articulate to our workforce the certifications, skills and competencies needed for each role, and workers are required to successfully complete the relevant training and attain necessary certifications prior to taking on new roles.
Safety —Our safety vision is to conduct our operations in an incident-free workplace, all the time, everywhere. We prioritize the protection of everyone aboard our rigs and in our facilities, the environment and our property at all work locations and during all operations.
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We require compliance with local regulations, and our operations are governed by a comprehensive set of internal requirements. Regular competency and effectiveness assessments help to ensure that our highly trained crews are equipped to protect operational integrity with the process-driven management of hazards to prevent and mitigate major accidents. We measure safety performance in terms of widely accepted ratios with the use of industry standards, including (a) the total recordable incident rate (“TRIR”), which represents the number of recordable work-related injuries or illnesses for every 200,000 hours worked, and (b) the lost time incident rate (“LTIR”), which measures the number of incidents that result in lost time due to work-related injuries or illnesses for every 200,000 hours worked. In the year ended December 31, 2024, our TRIR was 0.15 and our LTIR was 0.00, the calculations for which were based on 11.7 million labor hours.
Executive Leadership
We have included the following information, presented as of February 11, 2025, on our executive officers for purposes of U.S. securities laws in Part I of this report in reliance on General Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K. The board of directors elects the officers of the Company, generally on an annual basis. There is no family relationship between any of our executive officers.
Age as of
Officer
Office
February 11, 2025
Jeremy D. Thigpen
«
Chief Executive Officer
50
Keelan Adamson
«
President and Chief Operating Officer
55
Brady K. Long
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
52
Roderick J. Mackenzie
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
49
R. Thaddeus Vayda
«
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
62
Jason Pack
Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer
50
« Member of our executive management team for purposes of Swiss law.
Jeremy D. Thigpen is Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Company’s board of directors. Before joining the Company in this position in April 2015, Mr. Thigpen served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at NOV Inc. from December 2012 to April 2015. At NOV Inc., Mr. Thigpen also served as President, Downhole and Pumping Solutions from August 2007 to December 2012, as President of the Downhole Tools Group from May 2003 to August 2007 and as manager of the Downhole Tools Group from April 2002 to May 2003. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Thigpen served as the Director of Business Development and Special Assistant to the Chairman for NOV Inc. Mr. Thigpen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Managerial Studies from Rice University in 1997, and he completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School in 2001.
Keelan Adamson is President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company. Before being named to his current position in February 2022, Mr. Adamson served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer from August 2018 to February 2022, as Senior Vice President, Operations from October 2017 to July 2018 and as Senior Vice President, Operations Integrity and HSE, from June 2015 to October 2017. Since 2010, Mr. Adamson served in multiple executive positions with responsibilities spanning Engineering and Technical Services, Major Capital Projects, Human Resources, and more recently, Operations Integrity and HSE. Mr. Adamson started his career as a drilling engineer with BP Exploration in 1991 and joined Transocean in July 1995. In addition to several management assignments in the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”), Asia, and Africa, he also held leadership roles in Sales and Marketing, Well Construction and Technology, and as Managing Director for operations in North America, Canada and Trinidad. Mr. Adamson earned a bachelor's degree in Aeronautical Engineering from The Queens University of Belfast in 1991 and completed the Advanced Management program at Harvard Business School in 2016.
Brady K. Long is Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of the Company. Before being named to his current position in March 2018, Mr. Long served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel from November 2015 to March 2018. From 2011 to November 2015, when Mr. Long joined the Company, he served as Vice President–General Counsel and Secretary of Ensco plc, which acquired Pride International, Inc. where he had served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary since August 2009. Mr. Long joined Pride International, Inc. in June 2005 as Assistant General Counsel and served as Chief Compliance Officer from June 2006 to February 2009. He was director of Transocean Partners LLC from May 2016 until December 2016. Mr. Long previously practiced corporate and securities law with the law firm of Bracewell LLP. Mr. Long earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brigham Young University in 1996, a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1999 and an Executive LLM in Taxation from New York University in 2019.
Roderick J. Mackenzie is Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of the Company. Before being named to his current position in February 2022, Mr. Mackenzie served previously as Senior Vice President, Marketing, Innovation and Industry Relations from August 2018 to February 2022; Vice President, Marketing and Contracts from February 2017 to August 2018; Managing Director, Business Development and Strategic Accounts from February 2016 to February 2017; and as a Marketing Director in the U.S., France, and Dubai from March 2012 to February 2016. In addition, Mr. Mackenzie has previously served in various operational and project roles around the globe, starting his career at the Company as a rig-based engineer in 1997. Mr. Mackenzie currently serves as Vice President for Offshore Division of the International Association of Drilling Contractors and on various committees for the Offshore Energy Center. Mr. Mackenzie earned a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering with Environmental Studies from the University of Strathclyde in 1997, and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2016.
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R. Thaddeus Vayda is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Before being named to his current position in May 2024, Mr. Vayda served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance and Treasurer from February 2023 to April 2024; as Vice President, Investor Relations, and Treasurer from August 2015 to February 2023, as Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer from July 2014 to August 2015; as Vice President, Investor Relations and Communications from March 2012 to June 2014 and as Vice President, Investor Relations from July 2011 to February 2012. Mr. Vayda initially joined Transocean in August 1995, working with the company until April 2000 in positions that included Director of Corporate Planning and Operational Division Engineer. Between May 2000 and June 2011, Mr. Vayda worked primarily in energy-related equity capital markets roles. Earlier in his career, Mr. Vayda held various leadership positions at Northwest Airlines. Mr. Vayda started his professional career with Booz Allen Hamilton, Management Consultants. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina in May 1992, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the Catholic University of America at Washington, D.C. in May 1985.
Jason Pack is Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of the Company. Before being named to his current position in August 2024, he served as Chief Audit Executive from August 2018 to July 2024. Mr. Pack previously served as Vice President, Internal Audit at NOV Inc., where he spent 16 years. At NOV Inc., Mr. Pack held several roles, including Vice President, Finance Drilling and Intervention; Vice President, Finance Africa and Global Controller, Downhole. Prior to its acquisition by NOV Inc. in 2006, Mr. Pack served as Senior Controller of NQL Drilling Tools Inc. Mr. Pack has served as Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee for two publicly listed exploration and production companies: Kallisto Energy Corp. from November 2006 to June 2013 and Shelton Canada Corp from March 2007 to December 2009. Mr. Pack started his career at Deloitte and Touche in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where he worked as a staff auditor for three years. Mr. Pack is a certified public accountant and earned a Bachelor of Management degree in Accounting and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, Chemistry and Math from the University of Lethbridge.
Environmental Responsibility
We strive to deliver services in a manner that minimizes the impact of our business on the environment. We continuously monitor our operations and seek innovative ways to enhance our ability to meet our objectives. We maintain a global Environmental Management System (“EMS”) standard, aligned to ISO 14001, that we apply to our rigs, offices and facilities. The EMS provides a framework to consistently manage our worldwide operations in an environmentally responsible manner and monitor our performance. Within this framework, we regularly assess the environmental impact of operations, focusing on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, operational discharges, water use and waste.
In 2021, we conducted a sustainability-focused materiality assessment, which guided the creation of our previously announced sustainability goals. Since then, we have continued to track developments in the sustainability material topics that informed our goals, monitor our operations, and observed that the pace of technological advances associated with potential reductions in greenhouse gas emissions has been slower, and the costs have been greater, than anticipated. Particularly, in our engagements with shareholders and customers, we observed shifts in their approach to sustainability priorities. For these reasons, we have suspended our previously announced sustainability goals, including our greenhouse emissions intensity reduction goal. As always, we remain committed to providing safe, efficient, reliable, and environmentally responsible operations. We will continue to engage with our customers and service providers to optimize our power management capabilities and other aspects of our operations as technologies continue to develop.
Technological Innovation
Overview —We have a long history of technological innovation, including the first dynamically positioned drillship, the first rig to drill year-round in the North Sea, the first semisubmersible rig for year-round sub-Arctic operations, the first 10,000-ft. water depth rated ultra-deepwater drillship, the first eighth-generation drillships and numerous water depth world records over the past several decades. We develop and deploy industry-leading technology in the pursuit of delivering safer, more efficient and environmentally responsible drilling services to our customers. We also continue to develop and invest in technologies designed to differentiate our service offerings, including optimizing our performance, delivering ever - improving operational integrity and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
Drilling equipment and well control —Twenty-three drillships and one semisubmersible in our existing fleet are equipped with our patented dual-activity technology, which allows our rigs to perform simultaneous drilling tasks in a parallel rather than sequential manner, reducing well construction critical path activities and, thereby, improving efficiency in both exploration and development drilling. Two of our drillships are equipped with 1,700 short ton hoisting capacity and 20,000 psi blowout preventers. Seven of our drillships include hybrid energy storage systems for enhanced drill floor equipment reliability, fuel and emissions savings as well as advanced generator protection for power plant reliability. Twelve drillships in our existing fleet are outfitted with dual blowout preventers and triple liquid mud systems. Six drillships in our existing fleet are designed to accept 20,000 psi blowout preventers in the future. In 2021, we deployed the industry’s first kinetic blowout stopper, a step-changing technology for well control that delivers unrivaled shearing capability. This technology is currently deployed on two of our floaters and is being installed on a third floater. In 2024, we deployed the rotary multi-tool pipe cleaner and wellbore protector on one harsh environment floater with two additional systems in progress.
Automated drilling platforms and robotics —We utilize technology, including artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies, and employ a data-driven approach, augmented by the size of our fleet, to expand our knowledge framework for sustainable process optimization. We supported the development of the Inteliwell™ drilling automation platform, which we have installed on one harsh environment floater and
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one ultra-deepwater floater. This end-to-end automation platform integrates automation sequences with digital well planning and smart well monitoring. We also have six harsh environment floaters and two ultra-deepwater floaters equipped with an automated drilling control system. Since 2022, we have deployed on three ultra-deepwater drillships an offshore robotics riser bolting system, which has handled over 3,000 riser joints without human intervention.
Automated safety and monitoring tools —We developed and, on eight of our drilling units, deployed our patented HaloGuard ℠ system, which is designed to alarm, notify and, if required, halt equipment to avoid injury to personnel who move into danger zones. In 2020, we launched our smart equipment analytics tool, which delivers real-time data feeds from equipment to monitor equipment health, inferred emissions and energy consumption while identifying performance trends that allow us to systematically optimize equipment maintenance and achieve higher levels of reliability, operational efficiency and sustainability.
Ongoing efforts —We believe our efforts to continuously improve, and effectively use, innovative technologies to meet or exceed our customers’ requirements is critical to maintaining our competitive position within the contract drilling services industry by ensuring the safety of our crews, drilling more efficient wells, building greater resilience into our critical operating systems and reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
Joint Venture, Agency and Sponsorship Relationships and Other Investments
In some areas of the world, local customs and practice or governmental requirements necessitate the formation of joint ventures with local participation since local laws or customs in those areas effectively mandate the establishment of a relationship with a local agent or sponsor. When appropriate in these areas, we may enter into agency or sponsorship agreements. We also invest in certain companies for operational and strategic purposes. Some of these companies or joint ventures in which we are an investor are involved in researching and developing technology to improve efficiency, reliability, sustainability and safety for our drilling and other activities or are involved in businesses developed to support renewable or other energy alternatives. We may or may not control these partially owned companies. At December 31, 2024, we held partial ownership interests in companies organized in Belgium, the Cayman Islands, the U.S., Norway and other countries. At December 31, 2024, among other equity investments, we held noncontrolling equity ownership interests in Global Sea Mineral Resources NV, an unconsolidated Belgian company and leading developer of nodule collection technology, which is engaged in the development and exploration of deep-sea polymetallic nodules that contain metals critical to the growing renewable energy market.
Governmental Regulations
Our operations are subject to a variety of international, national, regional, state and local government regulations, including environmental regulations. We monitor our compliance with such government regulations in each country of operation and, notwithstanding increases in governmental regulations, particularly general environmental regulations, we have made and will continue to make the required expenditures to comply with current and future government requirements. To date, we have not incurred material costs to comply with such governmental regulations, and we do not expect to make any material capital expenditures to support our continued compliance in the year ending December 31, 2025, or any other period contemplated at this time. We do not believe that our compliance with such requirements will have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, consolidated results of operations or cash flows. We incorporate by reference herein the disclosures on government regulations, including environmental regulations, contained in the following sections of this annual report on Form 10-K:
◾ “ Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks related to our laws, regulations and governmental compliance ;”
◾ “ Item 3. Legal Proceedings ;”
◾ “ Part II. Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Other Matters ;”
◾ “Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 10—Income Taxes;” and
◾ “ Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 12—Commitments and Contingencies .”
Available Information
Our website address is www.deepwater.com . Information contained on or accessible from our website is not incorporated by reference into this annual report on Form 10-K and should not be considered a part of this report or any other filing that we make with the SEC. Furthermore, references to our website URLs are intended to be inactive textual references only. We make available on this website free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file those materials with, or furnish those materials to, the SEC. You may also find on our website information related to our corporate governance, board committees and company code of business conduct and ethics. The SEC also maintains a website, www.sec.gov , which contains reports, proxy statements and other information regarding SEC registrants, including us. We intend to satisfy the requirement under Item 5.05 of Form 8-K to disclose any amendments to our Code of Integrity and any waiver from any provision of our Code of Integrity by posting such information in the Governance page on our website at www.deepwater.com .
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