Transocean Ltd (Switzerland)

We do appreciate your patience and holding. We ask that you please continue to stand by. Your conference will begin momentarily. Music Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Q4 2023 Transocean earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, you will have the opportunity to ask questions during the question and answer session. You may register to ask a question at any time by pressing star 1 on your telephone keypad. You may remove yourself by pressing star 2. Please note, today's call will be recorded and I'll be standing by if you should need any assistance. It is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to Alison Johnson, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Todd. Good morning, and welcome to Transocean's fourth quarter 2023 earnings conference call. A copy of our press release covering financial results along with supporting statements and schedules, including reconciliations and disclosures regarding non-GAAP financial measures are posted on our website at deepwater.com. Joining me on this morning's call are Jeremy Thigpen, Chief Executive Officer, Keelan Adamson, President and Chief Operating Officer, Mark May, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Roddy McKenzie, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. During the course of this call, Transocean Management may make certain forward-looking statements regarding various matters related to our business and company that are not historical facts. Such statements are based upon current expectations and certain assumptions and, therefore, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially. Please refer to our SEC filings for our forward-looking statements and for more information regarding certain risks and uncertainties that could impact future results. Also, please note that the company undertakes no duty to update or revise forward-looking statements. Following Jeremy, Keelan, and Mark's prepared comments, we will conduct a question and answer session with our team. During this time, to give more participants an opportunity to speak, please limit yourself to one initial question and one follow-up. Thank you very much. I'll now turn the call over to Jeremy.

Thank you, Allison, and welcome to our employees, customers, investors, and analysts participating on today's call. As reported in yesterday's earnings release, for the fourth quarter, TransOcean delivered adjusted EBITDA of $122 million on $748 million of adjusted contract drilling revenues, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 16%. For the full year of 2023, we delivered adjusted EBITDA of $738 million on approximately $2.9 billion of adjusted contract drilling revenues, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 26%. As always, Mark will provide a more detailed review of our financial performance during his prepared remarks and provide revised guidance for the year 2024. 2023 was a very productive year for the company. We hit the ground running in January with a number of significant contract announcements that added approximately $880 million in backlog. These included harsh environment and ultra-deep water fixtures in various jurisdictions around the world. We also opportunistically refinanced four senior secured notes, totaling approximately $1.2 billion, and we raised $525 million from debt investors, secured in part by the Deepwater Titans five-year contract. By timely and opportunistically addressing certain debt maturities, we provided additional comfort to investors about our liquidity position. These transactions were positively received by our investors and resulted in the beginning phase of our share price more appropriately reflecting the reality of the improving offshore drilling market. 2023 also marked the beginning of the widespread transition of our rig's higher revenue-generating costs. Throughout the year, the average daily revenue for our Ultra Deepwater fleet increased from $360,000 per day in the first quarter to $432,000 per day in the fourth quarter. Key contributors to this improvement include the Deepwater Titan, which commenced operations with Chevron in May, joining the Deepwater Atlas as the second of the only two eighth-generation drillships in the world. both operating in 20,000 PSI fields in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. In addition to the Titan, we continue to add contracts with leading-edge day rates throughout the year, ending 2023 with an incremental $3.2 billion of backlog. Included in this total are two new fixtures added in the fourth quarter. First, we secured a contract for the Transocean Barrens with OMV Petrom SA and the Romanian Black Sea at a rate of $465,000 per day for a minimum of 540-day duration. The contract includes a rate increase to $480,000 per day for each day the rig operates beyond the initial term, including two option periods, plus a fully paid mobilization into the Black Sea. Second, the Deepwater Invictus was awarded a 40-day well in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico with an independent operator at a rate that is undisclosed at the request of the customer. In January this year, we signed a three-well extension in Angola for the Deepwater Skiros with Total Energies at a rate of $400,000 per day. The estimated 142-day contract extends the current firm term through May of 2025 at a rate that is meaningfully higher than the prior day rate. Despite the strong year of contracting, we recognize that some investors have been concerned by the pace of contract awards over the past few months. In an effort to ease that concern, it's important to note that our customers are increasingly focused on extended duration opportunities with longer lead times to contract commencement. While this tends to result in prolonged contract negotiations, It also demonstrates our customers' competence in the longevity of this upcycle and their commitment to the offshore market. In short, we remain extremely encouraged about the current and future demand for Transocean's assets and services. With that, I'll ask Keelan to discuss what we are seeing in the offshore drilling markets around the world. Keelan?