Transocean Ltd
For the period ended Dec 31, 2024. Filed Feb 18, 2025.
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FY2024 · Filed Feb 18, 2025
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—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Sources and uses of liquidity
Sources and uses of liquidity
Overview—We expect to use existing unrestricted cash balances, cash flows from operating activities, borrowings under our Secured Credit Facility, proceeds from disposal of assets or proceeds from the issuance of debt or shares to fulfill anticipated near-term obligations, which may include capital expenditures, working capital and other operational requirements, scheduled debt maturities or other debt-related deposits or reservations of unrestricted cash. At December 31, 2024, we had $560 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents and $381 million in restricted cash and cash equivalents. We have generated positive cash flows from operating activities over recent years and, although we cannot provide assurances, we expect that such cash flows will continue to be positive over the next year. For example, among other factors, if we incur costs for reactivation or contract preparation of multiple rigs or to otherwise assure the marketability of our fleet or general economic, financial, industry or business conditions deteriorate, our cash flows from operations may be reduced or negative.
We have a Secured Credit Facility that provides us with a borrowing capacity of $576 million through June 22, 2025 and $510 million through its maturity on June 22, 2028. Our Secured Credit Facility, which is secured by, among other things, a lien on eight of our ultra-deepwater floaters and two of our harsh environment floaters, contains certain restrictive covenants, including a minimum guarantee coverage ratio of 3.0 to 1.0, a minimum collateral coverage ratio of 2.1 to 1.0 and a minimum liquidity requirement of $200 million, among others. The Secured Credit Facility also restricts the ability of Transocean Ltd. and certain of our subsidiaries to, among other things, merge, consolidate or otherwise make changes to the corporate structure, incur liens, incur additional indebtedness, enter into transactions with affiliates and permits, subject to certain conditions, the ability to pay dividends and repurchase our shares. For more information about the restrictions in our Secured Credit Facility and maturity triggers thereof, as well as on our scheduled debt maturities in 2025 and beyond, see Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 8—Debt.
Although we currently anticipate relying on these sources of liquidity, including cash flows from operating activities and borrowings under our Secured Credit Facility, among others, we may in the future consider establishing additional financing arrangements with banks or other capital providers and subject to market conditions and other factors, we may be required to provide collateral for any such future financing arrangements. Our secured indentures include collateral rig leverage ratios, and in the past, during periods when certain of these rigs have experienced reduced levels of operating efficiency or utilization, we have deposited unrestricted cash into the applicable debt service reserve account to maintain compliance with the applicable covenant. We may in the future deposit a portion of our unrestricted cash or, in lieu thereof, take other actions, including seeking covenant relief or other consents of holders of certain of our secured debt, as applicable. For more information about our indentures and our debt and equity securities, see Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 8—Debt and Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 13—Equity.
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Debt and equity markets—From time to time, we seek to access the capital markets, including with respect to potential liability management transactions. For example, we have completed multiple debt and equity transactions, including tender offers, redemptions, exchanges and retirement of existing debt, in connection with our ongoing efforts to prudently manage our capital structure and improve our liquidity position. Subject to then-existing market conditions and our expected liquidity needs, among other factors, we may use existing unrestricted cash balances, cash flows from operating activities, or proceeds from asset sales to pursue liability management transactions, including among others, purchasing or exchanging any of our debt or equity-linked securities in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions, or through tender or exchange offers, or by redeeming any of our outstanding debt securities pursuant to the terms of the applicable governing document, if applicable. Any future purchases, exchanges or other transactions may be on the same terms or on terms that are more or less favorable to holders than the terms of any prior transaction. We can provide no assurance as to which, if any, of these alternatives, or combinations thereof, we may choose to pursue in the future, if at all, or as to the timing with respect to any future transactions. For more information about our debt and equity transactions during the three-year period ended December 31, 2024, see Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 8—Debt.
Our ability and willingness to access the debt and equity markets is a function of a variety of factors, including, among others, general economic, industry or market conditions, market perceptions of us and our industry and credit rating agencies’ views of our debt. General economic or market conditions could have an adverse effect on our business and financial position and on the business and financial position of our customers, suppliers and lenders and could affect our ability to access the capital markets on acceptable terms or at all and our future need or ability to borrow under our Secured Credit Facility. In addition to our potential sources of funding, the effects of such global events could impact our liquidity or cause us to need to alter our allocation or sources of capital, implement further cost reduction measures and change our financial strategy. Additionally, the rating of our long-term debt is below investment grade, which is causing us to experience increased fees and interest rates under our Secured Credit Facility and indentures governing certain of our senior notes. Future downgrades may further restrict our ability to access the debt market for sources of capital and may negatively impact the cost of such capital at a time when we would like, or need, to access such markets, which could have an impact on our flexibility to react to changing economic and business conditions.
Drilling fleet—From time to time, we review possible acquisitions of businesses and drilling rigs, as well as noncontrolling ownership interests in other companies, and we may make significant future capital commitments for such purposes. We may also consider investments related to major rig upgrades, new rig construction, or the acquisition of a rig under construction. Any such acquisition or investment has involved, and in the future could involve, the payment by us of a substantial amount of cash or the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares or other securities. Our failure to subsequently secure drilling contracts in these instances, if not already secured, could have an adverse effect on our results of operations or cash flows.
In June 2024, we completed construction ofDeepwater Aquila, and it commenced operations under its drilling contract. The seventh generation, high-specification drillship is equipped with our patented dual activity, a 1,400 short-ton hookload, large deck space, high load capacities and is dual-stack ready. The full scope of the construction project for the rig and related assets was completed for a total cost of $440 million.
The ultimate amount of our capital expenditures is partly dependent upon financial market conditions, the actual level of operational and contracting activity, the costs associated with the current regulatory environment and customer requested capital improvements and equipment for which the customer agrees to reimburse us. As with any major shipyard project that takes place over an extended period, the actual costs, the timing of expenditures and the project completion date may vary from estimates based on numerous factors, including actual contract terms, weather, exchange rates, shipyard labor conditions, availability of suppliers to recertify equipment and market demand for required components and resources. We intend to fund the cash requirements for our projected capital expenditures by using available cash balances, cash generated from operations and asset sales, borrowings under our Secured Credit Facility and financing arrangements with banks or other capital providers. Economic conditions and other factors could impact the availability of these sources of funding.
From time to time, we may also review the possible disposition of certain drilling assets. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we completed the sale of one ultra-deepwater floater and two harsh environment floaters. Considering market conditions, we have previously committed to plans to sell certain lower specification drilling units for scrap value, and we may identify additional lower-specification drilling units to be sold for scrap, recycling or alternative purposes. See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 6—Long-Lived Assets.
Contractual obligations—We provide additional information about our cash requirements for known contractual and other obligations on both a short-term and long-term basis in the notes to our consolidated financial statements as follows:
◾For additional information regarding our operating and finance lease obligations, see Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 7—Leases.
◾For additional information regarding our debt obligations and scheduled maturities, see Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 8—Debt.
◾For additional information regarding the obligations to our employees under our various postemployment benefit plans, see Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 9—Benefit Plans.
◾For additional information regarding our tax obligations, see Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 10—Income Taxes.
◾For additional information regarding our obligations under long-term service agreements and our material contingencies, see Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 12—Commitments and Contingencies.
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Other commercial commitments—We have other commercial commitments, such as standby letters of credit and surety bonds that guarantee our performance as it relates to our drilling contracts, insurance, customs, tax and other obligations in various jurisdictions. The cash obligations of these commitments, which are primarily geographically concentrated in Brazil, are not normally called because we typically comply with the underlying performance requirements. Standby letters of credit are issued under various committed and uncommitted credit lines, some of which require cash collateral. For additional information regarding our standby letters of credit and surety bond guarantees, see Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 12—Commitments and Contingencies.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S., which require us to make estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities. These estimates require significant judgments and assumptions. We evaluate our estimates on an ongoing basis using historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
We consider the following to be our critical accounting policies and estimates since they are very important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results and require our most subjective and complex judgments. We have discussed the development, selection and disclosure of such policies and estimates with the audit committee of our board of directors. For information about our significant accounting policies and accounting standards updates, see Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 2—Significant Accounting Policies and Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 3—Accounting Standards Updates.
Income taxes
Overview—We provide for income taxes based on expected taxable income, statutory rates and tax laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate or have a taxable presence. The relationship between our provision for or benefit from income taxes and our income or loss before income taxes can vary significantly from period to period considering, among other factors, (a) the overall level of income before income taxes, (b) changes in the blend of income that is taxed based on gross revenues rather than income before taxes, (c) rig movements between taxing jurisdictions and (d) our rig operating structures. Consequently, our income tax expense does not change proportionally with our income or loss before income taxes.
Uncertain tax positions—We apply significant judgment to evaluate our tax positions based on the interpretation of tax laws in various jurisdictions and with the use of estimates and assumptions regarding significant future events, such as the amount, timing and character of income, deductions and tax credits. Our tax liability in any given year could be affected by changes in tax laws, regulations, agreements, and treaties, currency exchange restrictions or our level or profitability of operations in each jurisdiction. The tax laws relating to the offshore drilling industry in certain jurisdictions in which we operate are not well developed, requiring us to apply incremental judgment. Although we employ the best information available at the time we prepare our annual tax provision, a number of years may elapse before the tax liabilities in the various jurisdictions are ultimately determined.
Our tax returns are undergoing examinations in a number of taxing jurisdictions covering various years. We review our liabilities on an ongoing basis and, to the extent audits or other events cause us to adjust the liabilities accrued in prior periods, we recognize those adjustments in the period of the event. Our potential tax liabilities are dependent on numerous factors that cannot be reasonably projected, including among others, the amount and nature of additional taxes potentially asserted by local tax authorities; the willingness of local tax authorities to negotiate a fair settlement through an administrative process; the impartiality of the local courts; and the potential for changes in the taxes paid to one country that either produce, or fail to produce, offsetting tax changes in other countries. Consequently, we cannot reasonably estimate the future impact of changes to the assumptions and estimates related to our annual tax provision.
Unrecognized tax benefits—We establish liabilities for estimated tax exposures, and we recognize the provisions and benefits resulting from changes to those liabilities, together with related interest and penalties, in income tax expense or benefit. Income tax exposure items include potential challenges to permanent establishment positions, intercompany pricing, disposition transactions, and withholding tax rates and their applicability. Such tax exposures may be affected by changes in applicable tax law or other factors, which could cause us to revise our prior estimates, and are generally resolved through the settlement of audits within the tax jurisdictions or by judicial means. At December 31, 2024 and 2023, we had unrecognized tax benefits of $414 million and $458 million, respectively, including interest and penalties, against which we recorded net operating loss deferred tax assets of $372 million and $411 million, respectively, resulting in net unrecognized tax benefits of $42 million and $47 million, respectively, including interest and penalties, that upon reversal would favorably impact our effective tax rate.
Valuation allowance—We apply significant judgment to determine whether our deferred tax assets will be fully or partially realized. To evaluate our ability to realize deferred tax assets, we consider all available positive and negative evidence, including projected future taxable income and the existence of cumulative losses in recent years. We continually evaluate opportunities to utilize our deferred tax assets. We record a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not that some or all of the benefit from the deferred tax asset will not be realized. For example, we may record a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets resulting from net operating
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losses incurred during the year in certain jurisdictions for which the benefit of the losses will not be realized or for foreign tax credit carryforwards that may expire prior to their utilization. During the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, in connection with our evaluation of the projected realizability of our deferred tax assets, we determined that our consolidated cumulative loss incurred over the recent three-year period has limited our ability to consider other subjective evidence, such as projected contract activity rather than contract backlog. See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 10—Income Taxes.
Property and equipment
Overview—We apply significant judgment to account for our property and equipment, consisting primarily of offshore drilling rigs and related equipment, related to estimates and assumptions for useful lives and salvage values. At December 31, 2024 and 2023, the carrying amount of our property and equipment was $15.83 billion and $16.94 billion, respectively, representing 82 percent and 84 percent, respectively, of our total assets.
Useful lives and salvage values—We depreciate our assets using the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives after allowing for salvage values. We estimate useful lives and salvage values by applying judgments and assumptions that reflect both historical experience and expectations regarding future operations, rig utilization and asset performance. Useful lives and salvage values of rigs are difficult to estimate due to a variety of factors, including (a) technological advances that impact the methods or cost of oil and gas exploration and development, (b) changes in market or economic conditions and (c) changes in laws or regulations affecting the drilling industry. Applying different judgments and assumptions in establishing the useful lives and salvage values would likely result in materially different net carrying amounts and depreciation expense for our assets. We reevaluate the remaining useful lives and salvage values of our rigs when certain events occur that directly impact the useful lives and salvage values of the rigs, including changes in operating condition, functional capability and market and economic factors. We may also consider major capital upgrades required to perform certain contracts and the long-term impact of those upgrades on future marketability. At December 31, 2024, a hypothetical one-year increase in the useful lives of all of our rigs would cause a decrease in our annual depreciation expense of approximately $29 million and a hypothetical one-year decrease would cause an increase in our annual depreciation expense of approximately $15 million.
Long-lived asset impairment—We review our property and equipment for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts of our assets held and used may not be recoverable. Potential impairment indicators include rapid declines in commodity prices and related market conditions, declines in dayrates or utilization, cancellations of contracts or credit concerns of multiple customers. During periods of oversupply, we may idle or stack rigs for extended periods of time until market conditions change, or we may elect to sell certain rigs for scrap, which in combination with other indicators above, could be an indication that an asset group may be impaired since supply and demand are the key drivers of rig utilization and our ability to contract our rigs at economical rates. Our rigs are mobile units, equipped to operate in geographic regions throughout the world and, consequently, we may mobilize rigs from an oversupplied region to a more lucrative and undersupplied region when it is economical to do so. Many of our contracts generally allow our customers to relocate our rigs from one geographic region to another, subject to certain conditions, and our customers utilize this capability to meet their worldwide drilling requirements. Accordingly, our rigs are considered to be interchangeable within each asset group, and we evaluate impairment by asset group. We consider our asset groups to be ultra-deepwater floaters and harsh environment floaters.
We assess recoverability of assets held and used by projecting undiscounted cash flows for the asset group being evaluated. When the carrying amount of the asset group is determined to be unrecoverable, we recognize an impairment loss, measured as the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset group exceeds its estimated fair value. To estimate the fair value of each asset group, we apply a variety of valuation methods, incorporating income, market and cost approaches. We may weigh the approaches, under certain circumstances, when relevant data is limited, when results are inconclusive or when results deviate significantly. Our estimate of fair value generally requires us to use significant unobservable inputs, representative of Level 3 fair value measurements, including assumptions related to the long-term future performance of our asset groups, such as projected revenues and costs, dayrates, rig utilization and revenue efficiency. These projections involve uncertainties that rely on assumptions about demand for our services, future market conditions and technological developments. Because our business is cyclical, the results of our impairment testing are expected to vary significantly depending on the timing of the assessment relative to the business cycle. Altering either the timing of or the assumptions used to estimate fair value and development of significant unanticipated changes to the assumptions could materially alter an outcome that could otherwise result in an impairment loss. Given the nature of these evaluations and their application to specific asset groups and specific time periods, it is not possible to reasonably quantify the impact of changes in these assumptions. See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 6—Long-Lived Assets.
Other Matters
Related party transactions
During the year ended December 31, 2024, we entered into certain related party transactions with our unconsolidated affiliates. For additional information regarding our related party transactions, see Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 4—Unconsolidated Affiliates and Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 8—Debt.
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Regulatory matters
We occasionally receive inquiries from governmental regulatory agencies regarding our operations around the world, including inquiries with respect to various tax, environmental, regulatory and compliance matters. To the extent appropriate under the circumstances, we investigate such matters, respond to such inquiries and cooperate with the regulatory agencies. See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 12—Commitments and Contingencies.
Tax matters
We conduct operations through our various subsidiaries in countries throughout the world. Each country has its own tax regimes with varying statutory rates, deductions and tax attributes, which are subject to changes resulting from new legislation, interpretation or guidance. From time to time, as a result of these changes, we may revise previously evaluated tax positions, which could cause us to adjust our recorded tax assets and liabilities. Tax authorities in certain jurisdictions are examining our tax returns and, in some cases, have issued assessments. We intend to defend our tax positions vigorously. Although we can provide no assurance as to the outcome of the aforementioned changes, examinations or assessments, we do not expect the ultimate liability to have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations; however, it could have a material adverse effect on our cash flows. See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 10—Income Taxes.
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