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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-K

(Mark one)

☑  ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

OR

☐  TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _____ to _____

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Commission file number 001-38373

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TRANSOCEAN LTD.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: +41 (41) 749-0500

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.   Yes ☑   No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act.   Yes ☐   No ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.   Yes ☑   No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).   Yes ☑   No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company.  See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ☑ Accelerated filer ☐ Non-accelerated filer ☐
Smaller reporting company ☐ Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).   Yes ☐   No ☑ 

As of June 30, 2021, 634,629,502 shares were outstanding and the aggregate market value of shares held by non-affiliates was approximately $2.87 billion (based on the reported closing market price of the shares of Transocean Ltd. on June 30, 2021 of $4.52 per share and assuming that all directors and executive officers of the Company are “affiliates,” although the Company does not acknowledge that any such person is actually an “affiliate” within the meaning of the federal securities laws).  As of February 14, 2022, 656,377,507 shares were outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days of December 31, 2021, for its 2022 annual general meeting of shareholders, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

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TRANSOCEAN LTD. AND SUBSIDIARIES

INDEX TO ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021

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Forward-Looking Information

The statements included in this annual report regarding future financial performance and results of operations and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States (“U.S.”) Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  Forward-looking statements in this annual report include, but are not limited to, statements about the following subjects:

Forward-looking statements in this annual report are identifiable by use of the following words and other similar expressions:

Such statements are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, but not limited to:

The foregoing risks and uncertainties are beyond our ability to control, and in many cases, we cannot predict the risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements.  Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated.  All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or to persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by reference to these risks and uncertainties.  You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.  Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement.  We expressly disclaim any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in our expectations or beliefs with regard to the statement or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any forward-looking statement is based, except as required by law.

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PART I

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 14, 2022, we owned or had partial ownership interests in and operated a fleet of 37 mobile offshore drilling units, consisting of 27 ultra-deepwater floaters and 10 harsh environment floaters.  As of February 14, 2022, we were constructing two ultra-deepwater drillships.

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, our segments 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 7—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.  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 22 ultra-deepwater drillships that are, and two ultra-deepwater drillships under construction that will be, 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.  In addition to dynamic positioning thruster systems, dual-activity technology and industry-leading hoisting capacity, our contracted newbuild drillships under construction will be equipped with at least one 20,000 pounds per square inch (“psi”) blowout preventers.

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.  Four of our 13 semisubmersibles are equipped with dual-activity technology and also have mooring capability.  Two of these four dual-activity units are custom-designed, high-capacity semisubmersible drilling rigs, equipped for year-round operations in harsh environments, including those of the Norwegian continental shelf and sub-Arctic waters.

Our floater fleet consists of ultra-deepwater floaters and harsh environment floaters 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 have greater displacement, 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 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

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over time, depends upon various factors, including the availability and cost of shipyard facilities, the cost of equipment and materials, the extent of repairs and maintenance that may ultimately be required, the length of time a rig has spent in stacking mode and 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 tables, presented as of February 14, 2022, provide certain specifications for our rigs.  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 expected time of completion, the year placed into service, and, if applicable, the year of the most recent upgrade.  As of February 14, 2022, we owned all of the drilling rigs in our fleet noted in the tables below, except for the following: (1) the harsh environment floater Transocean Norge, which is owned through our 33.0 percent ownership interest in Orion Holdings (Cayman) Limited (together with its subsidiary, “Orion”), and (2) the ultra-deepwater floater Petrobras 10000, which is subject to a finance lease through August 2029.

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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 lower or zero rates for periods during which the drilling unit is mobilized or when drilling operations are interrupted, restricted by equipment breakdowns, adverse environmental conditions or otherwise.  A 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, 2021, our contract backlog was approximately $6.60 billion, representing a decrease of 18 percent and 37 percent, respectively, compared to the contract backlog at December 31, 2020 and 2019, which was $8.06 billion and $10.42 billion, 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 the payment of an early termination payment.  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 periods of 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 an additional period 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 from substances in our control, such as diesel used onboard the rig 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 the cost of bringing the well under control.  However, because our drilling contracts are individually negotiated, the degree of indemnification we receive from our customers for the risks discussed above 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 consolidated 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.”

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Markets

Overview—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 14, 2022, the drilling units in our fleet, including stacked and idle rigs, but excluding rigs under construction, were located in Greece (eight units), the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (eight units), the Norwegian North Sea (seven units), Brazil (three units), Malaysia (three units), the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”) North Sea (two units), Trinidad (one unit), Angola (one unit), Canada (one unit), India (one unit), Myanmar (one unit), and Namibia (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.

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.

Outlook—In 2014, the industry began to experience a severe cyclical downturn that has proven to be of considerably longer duration than those previously observed.  Multiple years of volatile and generally weak commodity prices, exacerbated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and production disputes among major oil producing countries, resulted in our customers delaying offshore investment decisions and postponing exploration and development programs.  Some of our customers have also committed to invest or increase investment in low carbon and renewable energy resources, potentially affecting their expenditures in the development and production of hydrocarbons over the coming decades.  Even in the context of some diversion of investment away from traditional energy sources, the structural efficiency gains achieved by the offshore oil and gas industry during the past seven years materially improved the economics of deepwater and harsh environment offshore development projects.  Our services are central to the exploitation of these competitive sources of new supply.

Our overall outlook for the offshore drilling industry has improved over the past year and remains positive, particularly for high-specification assets, such as those we own and operate.  During the second half of 2021, our customers’ interest in deepwater and harsh environment offshore projects was renewed due to numerous favorable factors, such as sustained higher commodity prices and comparably lower carbon intensity compared to other sources of fossil fuel.  South America, including Guyana, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and, increasingly, West Africa remain key ultra-deepwater market sectors, while Norway continues to represent the largest harsh environment market.

In addition, in 2021, we observed continued strong tendering activity for Asia and Australia.  Licensing activity also indicated an increased interest in these areas as energy companies looked to explore and develop new prospects.  Certain customers began to increase their exploration, production and reserve replacement activities by restarting delayed projects and commencing new campaigns.  We have seen an acceleration in this trend in early 2022.  While we expect this to continue in the near term, and potentially longer, it depends upon many variables, including increased global demand for hydrocarbons, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer activity, the actions by some governments and regulators intended to curtail existing and future drilling activities, and other factors.

We expect offshore oil and gas production to be a significant part of the long-term strategy for energy companies as they strive to meet the global demand for energy sources and hydrocarbons.  These projects are technically demanding due to various factors, such as water depth, complex well designs, deeper drilling depth, high pressure and temperature, sub-salt geological formations, harsh environments, and heightened regulatory standards necessitating the use of high-specification drilling units.  Generally, high-specification rigs are the most modern, technologically advanced class of the offshore fleet and have capabilities that are attractive to energy companies operating in deeper water depths, other challenging environments or with complex well designs.  We have led the industry and made concerted efforts since the beginning of the prolonged downturn to high-grade our fleet profile by acquiring high-specification assets and disposing of lower-specification assets.  In this regard, during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, we sold for scrap value one, six and eleven lower-specification drilling units, respectively.

As the hydrocarbon supply-demand balance further improves, we expect sustained prices to increase demand for our high-specification fleet of assets and, because there are now fewer offshore drilling rigs than in recent years, further improvement of dayrates.  See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks related to our business.”

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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, 2021, our most significant customers were Shell plc (together with its affiliates, “Shell”) and Equinor ASA (together with its affiliates, “Equinor”), representing approximately 31 percent and 30 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, 2021.  Additionally, as of February 14, 2022, the customers with the most significant aggregate amount of contract backlog associated with our drilling contracts were Shell, Equinor and Chevron Corporation (together with its affiliates, “Chevron”), representing approximately 54 percent, 16 percent and 15 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

Worldwide workforce—As of December 31, 2021, we had a global workforce of approximately 5,530 individuals, including approximately 530 contractors, representing 58 nationalities.  At December 31, 2021, our global workforce is geographically distributed in 21 countries across five continents as follows: 34 percent in North America, 32 percent in Europe, 17 percent in South America, 12 percent in Asia and 5 percent in Africa.

FIRST Shared Values and 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 for our stakeholders and to maintain a safe and respectful work environment for our people.  Our Shared Values are as follows:

Code of Integrity and Human Rights—We maintain a Code of Integrity and Human Rights Policy that applies to all our board members, executives, employees and business partners, including contractors, suppliers, vendors, investees and joint venture partners.  We demonstrate our respect of human rights by maintaining a healthy and safe work environment, observing fair employment practices and providing 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.  Approximately 42 percent of our total workforce, working primarily in Norway, Brazil and the U.K., are represented by, and some of our contracted labor work is subject to, collective bargaining agreements, substantially all of which are subject to annual salary negotiation.  Negotiations over 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 our competitive advantage while benefitting our local communities by offering regionally competitive compensation and benefits packages, a technically challenging work environment, global opportunities, and rotational development programs.  We continually assess and adapt our offerings and our policies, based on evolving social and technological practices, to provide a modern work environment, which is essential to attract and retain top talent, and a respectful and inclusive work environment in which our global workforce can thrive.  Our focus on the quality of our workforce is designed to maximize the quality of our work performance and ultimately, the value we deliver to our stakeholders.

Training—We invest in our workers by providing them with the transferrable skill sets essential to advancing their professional development.  To ensure our business competes at the highest levels, we maintain a rigorous competency-based training program.  Our internal training board maintains and 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.  Setting us apart from our competitors, we also offer unique simulation-based education, augmented by digital twin modeling, enabling our workforce to more accurately visualize equipment performance and target efficiencies.  The certifications, skills and competencies needed for each role are clearly articulated to our workforce, and workers are required to successfully complete the relevant training and attain all necessary certifications prior to taking on new roles.

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Wellness and benefits—We offer our workforce regionally competitive medical and financial benefits, tailored to our workforce demographics.  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, emphasizing during the pandemic, as a key benefit, our globally available employee assistance program.

Safety—Our safety vision is to conduct our operations in an incident-free workplace, all the time, everywhere.  As a socially responsible company, 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.  We require compliance with all local regulations and a comprehensive set of internal policies and procedures that govern our operations, including health and safety protocols for COVID-19 mitigation.  With regular competency and effectiveness assessments, our highly trained crews are equipped to protect our operational integrity with the process-driven management of hazards to prevent and mitigate major hazard accidents.  We measure our safety performance in terms of widely accepted ratios with the use of industry standards, including (a) the total recorded incidence rate (“TRIR”), which represents the number of recordable work-related injuries or illnesses for every 200,000 hours worked, and (b) the lost time incidence 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, 2021, our TRIR was 0.26, and our LTIR was 0.02.

Environmental Responsibility

We understand our business has an impact on the environment.  Our objective is to deliver our services in a manner that minimizes the impact to the environment and supports the interests of our stakeholders.  We constantly seek new ways to advance our commitment to safely performing our operations while simultaneously safeguarding the environment in which we operate.  We maintain a global Environmental Management System (“EMS”) standard that is applied to our rigs, offices and facilities.  The EMS is aligned to ISO 14001 and provides a framework to ensure that our worldwide operations are managed consistently and continuously in an environmentally responsible manner.

We regularly assess the environmental impacts of our operations, focusing on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, operational discharges and water use, through increasing energy efficiency and waste minimization.  Our actions are designed to reduce risk in our current and future operations, to promote sound environmental management practices and to continue to be proactive in managing and reducing our environmental footprint.  Our investments and deployment of capital and technology reflect our commitment to improve the energy and emission efficiency of our operations.

Another way we seek to enhance our operational performance is by setting emissions targets.  We intend to reduce our operating Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 40 percent from 2019 levels by 2030.  Achieving these targets will require investments over time that result in the development and implementation of new technologies, reduced fuel consumption and other initiatives that enable us to optimize our power management capabilities.

When we have decommissioned older and less capable assets, we have demonstrated our commitment to recycle them according to established environmental regulations and guidelines.  All the rigs that we have sold for scrap value have been safely and responsibly recycled following protocols established under the Basel Convention and by the International Maritime Organization at the Hong Kong International Convention.

Technological Innovation

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 and numerous water depth world records over the past several decades.  Twenty-two drillships and two semisubmersibles in our existing fleet are, and our two drillships that are under construction will be, 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.

We continue to develop and deploy industry-leading technology in the pursuit of delivering safer, more efficient and environmentally responsible drilling services.  In addition to our patented dual-activity drilling technology, our two drillships under construction will include industry-leading 3.5 million-pound hoisting load capability, hybrid energy storage systems for enhanced drill floor equipment reliability, fuel and emissions savings as well as advanced generator protection for power plant reliability.  Ten drillships in our existing fleet are, and our two drillships that are under construction will be, outfitted with dual blowout preventers and triple liquid mud systems.  Our two drillships under construction will be equipped with 20,000 psi blowout preventers and related equipment.  Five drillships in our existing fleet are designed to accept 20,000 psi blowout preventers in the future.  We also continue to develop and invest in technologies designed to optimize our performance and deliver ever better operational integrity through innovations, such as our proprietary fault-resistant and fault-tolerant blowout preventer control system.

Seven of our harsh environment semisubmersibles are designed and constructed specifically to provide highly efficient performance in the Norwegian North Sea and in the Barents Sea.  We have installed automated drilling control systems on six harsh environment floaters, which materially improves our ability to safely and efficiently deliver wells to our customers.

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We employ a data-driven approach by deploying technology, augmented by the size of our fleet, to expand our knowledge framework for sustainable process optimization.  In 2020, we deployed 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.

Driven by our continued focus on safety, we developed and deployed our patented HaloGuard℠ system, which alarms, notifies and, if required, halts equipment to avoid injury to personnel who move into danger zones.  We recently deployed the first unit of Enhanced Drilling’s EC-Monitor system to an offshore installation, enabling highly accurate understanding of well fluid dynamics and improving the efficiency and accuracy of flow-checking and detecting flow anomalies.  Additionally, in 2021, we deployed on one of our ultra-deepwater drillships the first kinetic blowout stopper, a step-changing technology operations integrity and enterprise risk reduction through unrivaled shearing capability.  In the first half of 2022, we expect to be the first to deploy offshore a robotic riser bolting tool on two of our ultra-deepwater drillships, improving our ability to deliver safe, efficient and operations to our customers.

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 drilling more efficient wells, building greater resilience into our critical operating systems, ensuring the safety of our crews, and reducing fuel consumption and emissions.

Governmental Regulations

Our operations are subject to a variety of international, regional, national, state and local government regulations, including environmental regulations.  We monitor our compliance with such government regulations in each country of operation and, while we see an increase in many government regulations, particularly general environmental regulation, 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 in order to comply with such government regulations, including environmental regulations, and do not expect to make any material capital expenditures in order to comply with such regulations in the year ending December 31, 2022, 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 into this subsection “—Government Relations” the disclosures on government regulations, including environmental regulations, contained in the following sections of this annual report on Form 10-K:

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 joint ventures or companies 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 the transition to renewable or other energy alternatives.  We may or may not control these partially owned companies.  At December 31, 2021, we held partial ownership interests in companies organized in the Cayman Islands, the U.S., Norway, Canada and other countries, the most significant of which was our 33.0 percent ownership interest in Orion, an unconsolidated Cayman Islands exempted company formed to construct and own the harsh environment semisubmersible Transocean Norge.  Certain affiliates of Hayfin Capital Management LLP, own the remaining 67.0 percent ownership interest in Orion not owned by us.

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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Item 1A.Risk Factors

Risks related to our business

Our business depends on the level of activity in the offshore oil and gas industry, which is significantly affected by volatile oil and gas prices and other factors.

Our business depends on oil and gas exploration, development and production in offshore areas where we are capable of operating.  Demand for our services depends on these activities and related expenditure levels that are directly affected by trends in oil and, to a lesser extent, natural gas prices.  Oil and gas prices are extremely volatile and are affected by numerous factors, including the following:

Demand for our services is particularly sensitive to the level of exploration, development and production activity of, and the corresponding capital spending by, energy companies, including national energy companies.  Prolonged reductions in oil and natural gas prices could depress the immediate levels of exploration, development and production activity.  Perceptions of longer-term lower oil and natural gas prices by energy companies, or a perception that the demand for hydrocarbons will significantly decrease in the medium to long term, could similarly reduce or defer major expenditures given the long-term nature of many large-scale development projects and capital reinvestment policies.  Lower levels of activity result in a corresponding decline in the demand for our services, which could have a material adverse effect on our revenue and profitability.  Oil and gas prices and market expectations of potential changes in these prices significantly affect this level of activity.  However, increases in near-term commodity prices do not necessarily translate into increased offshore drilling activity since customers’ expectations of longer-term future commodity prices and expectations regarding future demand for hydrocarbons typically have a greater impact on demand for our rigs.  Consistent with this dynamic, customers may delay or cancel many exploration and development programs, resulting in reduced demand for our services.  Also, increased competition for customers’ drilling budgets could come from, among other areas, land-based energy markets worldwide.  The availability of quality drilling prospects, exploration success, relative production costs, the stage of reservoir development and political and regulatory environments also affect customers’ drilling campaigns.  Worldwide military, political and economic events have often contributed to oil and gas price volatility and are likely to do so in the future.

The offshore drilling industry is highly competitive and cyclical, with intense price competition.

The offshore contract drilling industry is highly competitive with numerous industry participants, none of which has a dominant market share.  Drilling contracts are traditionally awarded on a competitive bid basis.  Although rig availability, service quality and technical capability are drivers of customer contract awards, bid pricing and intense price competition are often key determinants for which a qualified contractor is awarded a job.

The offshore drilling industry is highly cyclical and is impacted by oil and natural gas price levels and volatility.  Periods of high customer demand, limited rig supply and high dayrates have been followed by periods of low customer demand, excess rig supply and low dayrates.  Changes in commodity prices can have a dramatic effect on rig demand, and periods of excess rig supply may intensify competition in the industry and result in the idling of older and less technologically advanced equipment.  We have idled and stacked rigs, and may in the future idle or stack additional rigs or enter into lower dayrate drilling contracts in response to market conditions.  Idled or stacked rigs may remain out of service for extended periods of time.  During prior periods of high dayrates and rig utilization rates, we and other industry participants responded to increased customer demand by increasing the supply of rigs through ordering the construction of new units.  The number of new units delivered without contracts, combined with an increased number of rigs in the global market completing contracts and becoming idle, has increased and may continue to intensify price competition.  During periods of low oil and natural gas price levels, new construction has resulted in an oversupply of rigs and has caused a subsequent decline in dayrates and rig utilization rates, sometimes for extended periods of time.  In an oversupplied market, we may have limited bargaining power to negotiate on more favorable terms.  Additionally, lower market dayrates and intense price competition may drive customers to seek to renegotiate existing contracts to reduce dayrates in exchange for longer contract terms.  Lower dayrates and rig utilization rates could adversely affect our revenues and profitability.

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As of February 14, 2022, we have 15 uncontracted rigs, of which five have been out of service for greater than five years, and these rigs may remain out of service for extended periods of time.  If we are unable to obtain drilling contracts for our uncontracted rigs, whether due to a prolonged offshore drilling market downturn, a delayed or muted recovery of such market or otherwise, it may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows.

We may not be able to renew or obtain new drilling contracts for rigs whose contracts are expiring or obtain drilling contracts for our stacked and idle rigs.

The offshore drilling markets in which we compete experience fluctuations in the demand for drilling services.  Our ability to renew expiring drilling contracts or obtain new drilling contracts depends on the prevailing or expected market conditions at the time of expiration.  As of February 14, 2022, we have 15 stacked or idle rigs.  We also have 11 existing drilling contracts for our rigs that are currently operating, which are scheduled to expire before December 31, 2022.  We may be unable to obtain drilling contracts for our rigs that are currently operating upon the expiration or termination of such contracts, and there may be a gap in the operation of the rigs between the current contracts and subsequent contracts.  When oil and natural gas prices are low or it is expected that such prices will decrease in the future, we may be unable to obtain drilling contracts at attractive dayrates or at all.  We may not be able to obtain new drilling contracts in direct continuation with existing contracts, or depending on prevailing market conditions, we may enter into drilling contracts at dayrates substantially below the existing dayrates or on terms otherwise less favorable compared to existing contract terms, which may have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Our current backlog of contract drilling revenues may not be fully realized.

At February 14, 2022, our contract backlog was approximately $6.47 billion.  This amount represents the maximum contractual operating dayrate multiplied by the number of days remaining in the firm contract period, excluding revenues for mobilization, demobilization, contract preparation, other incentive provisions or reimbursement revenues, which are not expected to be significant to our contract drilling revenues.  Our contract backlog includes amounts associated with our two contracted newbuild units that are currently under construction.  The contractual operating dayrate may be higher than the actual dayrate we ultimately receive or an alternative contractual dayrate, such as waiting on weather rate, repair rate, standby rate or force majeure rate, may apply under certain circumstances.  The contractual operating dayrate may also be higher than the actual dayrate we ultimately receive due to a number of factors, including rig downtime or suspension of operations.  Several factors could cause rig downtime or a suspension of operations, including: equipment breakdowns and other unforeseen engineering problems, labor strikes and other work stoppages, shortages of material and skilled labor, surveys by government and maritime authorities, periodic classification surveys, severe weather or harsh operating conditions, and force majeure events.

In certain drilling contracts, the dayrate may be reduced to zero if, for example, repairs extend beyond a stated period of time.  Our contract backlog includes only firm commitments, which are represented by signed drilling contracts or, in some cases, other definitive agreements awaiting contract execution.  We may not be able to realize the full amount of our contract backlog due to events beyond our control.  In addition, some of our customers have experienced liquidity issues in the past, including some recently, and these liquidity issues could be experienced again if commodity prices decline for an extended period of time.  Liquidity issues and other market pressures could lead our customers to seek bankruptcy protection or to seek to repudiate, cancel or renegotiate these agreements for various reasons (see “—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”).  Our inability to realize the full amount of our contract backlog may have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

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.

Certain of our drilling contracts with customers may be cancelable at the option of the customer upon payment of an early termination payment.  Such payments may not, however, 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 the payment of any termination fee, under various circumstances such as non-performance, as a result of significant downtime or impaired performance caused by equipment or operational issues, or sustained periods of downtime due to force majeure events, many of which are beyond our control.  Certain customers who seek to terminate our drilling contracts may attempt to defeat or circumvent our protections against certain liabilities.  Our customers’ ability to perform their obligations under their drilling contracts, including their ability to fulfill their indemnity obligations to us, may also be negatively impacted by an economic downturn.  Our customers, which include national energy companies, often have significant bargaining leverage over us.  If our customers cancel some of our contracts, and we are unable to secure new contracts on a timely basis and on substantially similar terms, or if contracts are suspended for an extended period of time or if a number of our contracts are renegotiated on terms that are not as favorable as current terms, it could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

During periods of depressed market conditions, such as we have recently experienced, we are subject to an increased counterparty risk, as our customers may seek to repudiate their contracts, including through claims of non-performance in order to reduce their capital expenditures.  Our customers may no longer need a drilling rig that is currently under contract or may be able to obtain a comparable drilling rig at a lower dayrate.  We have experienced, and are at continued risk of experiencing, early contract terminations when there is a weak commodity price environment.  The ability of each of our counterparties to perform its obligations under a contract with us, including indemnity obligations, will depend on a number of factors that are beyond our control and may include, among other things, general economic conditions, the condition of the offshore drilling industry, prevailing prices for oil and natural gas, the overall financial condition of the

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counterparty, the dayrates received and the level of expenditures necessary to maintain drilling activities.  Should a counterparty fail to honor its obligations under an agreement with us, we could sustain losses, which could have an adverse effect on our business and on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

We must make substantial capital and operating expenditures to reactivate our stacked or idle fleet and to maintain our active fleet, and we may be required to make significant capital expenditures to maintain our competitiveness and to comply with laws and applicable regulations and standards of governmental authorities and organizations.

We must make substantial capital and operating expenditures to maintain our active fleet or to reactivate our stacked or idle fleet.  These expenditures could increase as a result of changes in the cost of labor and materials, requirements of customers, the size of our fleet, the cost of replacement parts for existing rigs, the geographic location of the rigs and the length of drilling contracts.  Changes in offshore drilling technology, customer requirements for new or upgraded equipment and competition within our industry may require us to make significant capital expenditures in order to maintain our competitiveness and to achieve our commitment to reduce our greenhouse gas emission intensity.  Changes in governmental regulations, including environmental requirements, and changes in safety or other equipment standards, as well as compliance with standards imposed by maritime self-regulatory organizations, may cause our capital expenditures to increase or require us to make additional unforeseen capital expenditures.  As a result of these factors, we may be required to take our rigs out of service for extended periods of time, with corresponding losses of revenues, in order to make such alterations or to add such equipment.  In the future, market conditions may not justify these expenditures or enable us to operate our older rigs profitably during the remainder of their economic lives.

If we are unable to fund capital expenditures with our cash flows from operations or proceeds from sales of non-strategic assets, we may be required to either incur additional borrowings or raise capital through the sale of debt or equity securities, or additional financing arrangements with banks or other capital providers.  Our ability to access the capital markets may be limited by our financial condition at the time, perceptions of us or our industry, by changes in laws and regulations or interpretation thereof and by adverse market conditions resulting from, among other things, general economic conditions and contingencies and uncertainties that are beyond our control.  If we raise funds by issuing equity securities or other securities that are convertible into equity securities, existing shareholders may experience dilution.  Our failure to obtain the funds for necessary future capital expenditures could have a material adverse effect on our business and on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Public health threats have had, and may continue to have, significant adverse consequences for general economic, financial and business conditions, as well as for our business and operations.

Public health threats, pandemics and epidemics, such as the outbreak of COVID-19, including new variants therof, severe influenza, other coronaviruses and other highly communicable viruses or diseases, have impacted and may continue to impact our operations directly or indirectly, including by disrupting the operations of our business partners, suppliers and customers in ways that adversely impact our operations.  For instance, the outbreak of COVID-19 and its development into a pandemic in March 2020 resulted in various actions by governmental authorities around the world designed to prevent or reduce the spread of COVID-19, such as imposing mandatory closures of all non-essential business facilities, seeking voluntary closures of such facilities and imposing restrictions on, or advisories with respect to, travel, business operations and public gatherings or interactions.  In addition, companies and individuals seeking to curtail the spread of COVID-19 have taken certain cautionary measures, such as certain companies requiring employees to work remotely, suspending or curtailing all non-essential travel for employees, and discouraging employee attendance at in-person work-related meetings, as well as individuals voluntarily social distancing and self-quarantining.  While many of the restrictions and measures initially implemented during 2020 have since been softened or lifted in varying degrees in different locations around the world, and the manufacture and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines during 2021 aided to initiate an economic recovery from the pandemic, the uncertainty regarding new potential virus variants and the success of any these vaccines may in the future adversely affect global economic activity or prompt the re-imposition of certain restrictions and measures.  Increases in COVID-19 cases, such as recently developed as new variants emerged, may result in significantly reduced economic activity, even if not required by governmental authorities, particularly in affected areas, which could result in a sharp reduction in the demand for oil and a decline in oil prices as occurred during 2020.

We continue to experience increased costs and inefficiencies as a result of the comprehensive precautionary measures we continue to take to help minimize the risk of COVID-19 impacts to our business, employees, customers, suppliers and the communities in which we operate, including testing employees for COVID-19 prior to transport offshore to a rig and quarantining any operational employee, where appropriate, who have shown signs of COVID-19, regardless of whether such employee has been confirmed to be infected, and we also have experienced increased costs as a result of increasing our pools of employees that are available to substitute for employees who are not able to travel to a rig.  We cannot guarantee that any precautionary measures will be effective in preventing either an outbreak of COVID-19 on one or more of our rigs or other adverse effects related to COVID-19.  To the extent an outbreak of COVID-19 develops on one or more of our rigs, we may have to temporarily shut down operations of such rig or rigs, which could result in significant downtime or contract termination and have substantial adverse consequences for our business and results of operations.  In addition, most of our non-operational employees continue to work remotely a substantial majority of their time, which increases various operational risks.  For instance, working remotely may increase the risk of security breaches or other cyber incidents or attacks, loss of data, fraud and other disruptions as a consequence of more employees accessing sensitive and critical information from remote locations.

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Many governmental authorities across the globe implemented at various times during the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions and mandatory quarantine measures to prevent or reduce the spread of COVID-19, and in complying with such governmental actions, we have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, increased difficulties, delays and costs in moving our personnel in and out of, and to work in, the various jurisdictions in which we operate.  We may be unable to pass along these increased costs to our customers.  Additionally, disruptions to or restrictions on the ability of our suppliers, manufacturers and service providers to supply parts, equipment or services in the jurisdictions in which we operate or to progress the construction of our newbuild projects, whether as a result of government actions, labor shortages, the inability to source parts or equipment from affected locations, or other effects related to the COVID-19 outbreak, may have significant adverse consequences on our ability to meet our commitments to customers, including by increasing our operating costs and increasing the risk of rig downtime and could result in contract terminations.

Concerns over the prolonged negative effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on economic and business prospects across the world, including as a result of new variants of the virus, have also contributed to oil price volatility and uncertainty regarding the outlook for the global economy.  Such conditions have resulted in, and may continue to result in, reductions to our customers’ drilling and production expenditures and delays or cancellations of projects, thus decreasing demand for our services, and an increased risk that our customers may seek price reductions or more favorable economic terms for our services, terminate our contracts or that we may be required to idle, stack or retire more of our rigs.  Additionally, any early termination payment made in connection with an early contract termination may not fully compensate us for the loss of the contract.  Accordingly, the actual amount of revenues earned may be substantially lower than the reported contract backlog.  To the extent our suppliers experience a deterioration in financial condition or operational capability as a result of such depressed market and industry conditions or we or other suppliers incur delays in moving personnel to and from drilling rigs, we may experience disruptions in supply, which could increase our operating costs and increase rig downtime.  The occurrence of any such events with respect to our customers, contracts or suppliers in certain cases has had, and may continue to have, significant adverse consequences for our business and financial position.

The magnitude and duration of potential social, economic and labor instability resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, including the speed at which national economies can recover, or whether any recovery will ultimately experience a reversal or other setbacks, are uncertain and cannot be estimated as such effects depend on future events that are largely out of our control.  The ultimate extent of the impact of COVID-19 and its variants on our business and financial position depend largely on future developments, including the duration, spread or containment of the outbreak, particularly within the geographic locations where we operate, and the related impact on overall economic activity, all of which are highly uncertain.  We are unable to predict the timing or impact of any such restructurings, if completed, on the capital structure and competitive dynamics among offshore drilling companies.

Public and investor sentiment towards climate change, fossil fuels and other esg matters could adversely affect our business, cost of capital and the price of our stock and other securities.

Changing public sentiment concerning fossil fuels, aimed at the investment community, including investment advisors, sovereign wealth funds, public pension funds, universities and other groups, has prompted efforts to promote the divestment of shares of energy companies, as well as to pressure lenders and other financial services companies to limit or curtail activities with energy companies.  These efforts have recently intensified, as demonstrated by the State of New York’s December 2020 announcement that it will be divesting the state’s Common Retirement Fund from fossil fuels.  If this or similar divestment efforts are successful, our stock price and our ability to access capital markets may be negatively impacted.

Members of the investment community are also increasing their focus on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) practices and disclosures, including practices and disclosures related to greenhouse gases and climate change, in the energy industry in particular, and diversity and inclusion initiatives and governance standards among public companies more generally.  As a result, we may face increasing pressure regarding our ESG disclosures and practices.  Additionally, members of the investment community may screen companies such as ours for ESG sustainability performance before investing in our stock.  Over the past few years there has also been an acceleration in investor demand for ESG investing opportunities, and many large institutional investors have committed to increasing the percentage of their portfolios that are allocated towards ESG investments.  As a result, there has been a proliferation of ESG focused investment funds seeking ESG oriented investment products.  If we or our securities are unable to meet the sustainability ESG standards or investment criteria set by these investors and funds, we may lose investors or investors may allocate a portion of their capital away from us, our cost of capital may increase, our stock price and the price of our publicly traded debt securities may be negatively impacted and our reputation may also be negatively affected.

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.

We engage in offshore drilling services for 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, 2021, our most significant customers were Shell and Equinor, representing approximately 31 percent and 30 percent, respectively, of our consolidated operating revenues.  As of February 14, 2022, the customers with the most significant aggregate amount of contract backlog associated with our drilling contracts were Shell, Equinor and Chevron, representing approximately 54 percent, 16 percent and 15 percent, respectively, of our total contract backlog.  The loss of any of these customers or another significant customer, or a decline in payments under any of our drilling contracts, could, at least in the short term, have an adverse effect on our business.

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Our operating and maintenance costs will not necessarily fluctuate in proportion to changes in our operating revenues.

Our operating and maintenance costs will not necessarily fluctuate in proportion to changes in our operating revenues and are affected by many factors, including inflation.  Costs for operating a rig are generally fixed or only semi-variable regardless of the dayrate being earned.  In addition, should our rigs incur unplanned downtime while on contract or idle time between drilling contracts, we will not always reduce the staff on those rigs because we could use the crew to prepare the rig for its next contract.  During times of reduced activity, reductions in costs may not be immediate because portions of the crew may be required to prepare rigs for stacking, after which time the crew members may be reassigned to active rigs or released.  As our rigs are mobilized from one geographic location to another, the labor and other operating and maintenance costs can vary significantly.  In general, labor costs increase primarily due to higher salary levels and inflation.  Equipment maintenance costs fluctuate depending upon the type of activity the unit is performing and the age and condition of the equipment, and these costs could increase for short or extended periods as a result of regulatory or customer requirements that raise maintenance standards above historical levels.  The amount of contract preparation and reactivation costs vary based on the scope and length of the contract preparation or reactivation project, and the recognition of such costs varies depending on the duration of the firm contractual period and other contract terms.

Certain of our drilling contracts are partially payable in local currency.  The amounts, if any, of local currency received under these drilling contracts may exceed our local currency needs to pay local operating and maintenance costs, leading to an accumulation of excess local currency balances, which, in certain instances, may be subject to either restrictions or other difficulties in converting to U.S. dollars, our functional currency, or to other currencies of the locations where we operate.  Excess amounts of local currency may also be exposed to the risk of currency exchange losses.

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.

Our operations are subject to the usual hazards inherent in the drilling of oil and gas wells, such as, blowouts, reservoir damage, loss of production, loss of well control, lost or stuck drill strings, equipment defects, craterings, fires, explosions and pollution.  Contract drilling requires the use of heavy equipment and exposure to hazardous conditions, which may subject us to liability claims by employees, customers and other parties.  These hazards can cause personal injury or loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of property and equipment, pollution or environmental or natural resource damage, claims by third parties or customers and suspension of operations.  Our offshore fleet is also subject to hazards inherent in marine operations, either while on site or during mobilization, such as capsizing, sinking, grounding, collision, piracy, damage from severe weather and marine life infestations.

The South China Sea, the Northwest Coast of Australia and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico are areas subject to typhoons, hurricanes or other extreme weather conditions on a relatively frequent basis, and our drilling rigs in these regions may be exposed to damage or total loss by these storms, some of which may not be covered by insurance.  The occurrence of these events could result in the suspension of drilling operations, damage to or destruction of the equipment involved and injury to or death of rig personnel.  Some experts believe global climate change could increase the frequency and severity of these extreme weather conditions.  Operations may also be suspended because of machinery breakdowns, abnormal drilling conditions, failure of subcontractors to perform or supply goods or services, or personnel shortages.  We customarily provide contract indemnity to our customers for certain claims that could be asserted by us relating to damage to or loss of our equipment, including rigs, and claims that could be asserted by us or our employees relating to personal injury or loss of life.

Damage to the environment or natural resources could also result from our operations, particularly through spillage of hydrocarbons, fuel, lubricants or other chemicals and substances used in drilling operations, or extensive uncontrolled fires.  We may also be subject to property damage, environmental indemnity and other claims by energy companies or other third parties.  Drilling involves certain risks associated with the loss of control of a well, such as blowout, cratering, the cost to regain control of or redrill the well and remediation of associated pollution.  Our customers may be unable or unwilling to indemnify us against such risks.  In addition, a court may decide that certain indemnities in our current or future drilling contracts are not enforceable.  The law generally considers contractual indemnity for criminal fines and penalties to be against public policy, and the enforceability of an indemnity as to other matters may be limited.

Our insurance policies and drilling contracts contain rights to indemnity that may not adequately cover our losses, and we do not have insurance coverage or rights to indemnity for all risks.  We have two main types of insurance coverage: (1) hull and machinery coverage for physical damage to our property and equipment and (2) excess liability coverage, which generally covers offshore risks, such as personal injury, third-party property claims, and third-party non-crew claims, including wreck removal and pollution.  We generally have no hull and machinery insurance coverage for damages caused by named storms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.  We maintain per occurrence deductibles that generally range up to $10 million for various third-party liabilities, and we self-insure $50 million of the $750 million excess liability coverage through our wholly owned captive insurance company.  We also retain the risk for any liability that exceeds our excess liability coverage.  However, pollution and environmental risks generally are not completely insurable.

If a significant accident or other event occurs that is not fully covered by our insurance or by an enforceable or recoverable indemnity, the occurrence could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.  The amount of our insurance may also be less than the related impact on enterprise value after a loss.  Our insurance coverage will not in all situations provide sufficient funds to protect us from all liabilities that could result from our drilling operations.  Our coverage includes annual aggregate policy limits.  As a result, we generally retain the risk for any losses in excess of these limits.  We generally do not carry insurance for loss of revenue, and

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certain other claims may also not be reimbursed by insurance carriers.  Any such lack of reimbursement may cause us to incur substantial costs.  In addition, we could decide to retain more risk in the future, resulting in higher risk of losses, which could be material.  Moreover, we may not be able to maintain adequate insurance in the future at rates that we consider reasonable or be able to obtain insurance against certain risks.

Failure to recruit and retain key personnel could hurt our operations.

We depend on the continuing efforts of key members of our management, as well as other highly skilled personnel, to operate and provide technical services and support for our business worldwide.  Historically, competition for the personnel required for drilling operations has intensified as the number of rigs activated, added to worldwide fleets or under construction increased, leading to shortages of qualified personnel in the industry and creating upward pressure on wages and higher turnover.  We may experience a reduction in the experience level of our personnel as a result of any increased turnover and ongoing staff reduction initiatives, which could lead to higher downtime and more operating incidents, which in turn could decrease revenues and increase costs.  If increased competition for qualified personnel were to intensify in the future we may experience increases in costs or limits on operations.

Our labor costs and the operating restrictions under which we operate could increase as a result of collective bargaining negotiations and additional unionization efforts.

Approximately 42 percent of our total workforce, working primarily in Norway, Brazil and the U.K., are represented by, and some of our contracted labor work is subject to, collective bargaining agreements, substantially all of which are subject to annual salary negotiation.  Negotiations over 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 the union members.  A failure to reach an agreement on certain key issues could result in strikes, lockouts, or other work stoppages.  Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Congress that could encourage additional unionization efforts in the U.S., as well as increase the chances that such efforts succeed.  Additional unionization efforts, if successful, new collective bargaining agreements or work stoppages could materially increase our labor costs and operating restrictions.

Our shipyard projects and operations are subject to delays and cost overruns.

As of February 14 2022, we had under construction two ultra-deepwater drillships.  We also have a variety of other more limited shipyard projects at any given time.  These shipyard projects are subject to the risks of delay or cost overruns inherent in any such construction project resulting from numerous factors, including the following: