Noel Parks's questions to Seadrill Ltd (SDRL) leadership • Q3 2024
Question
Noel Parks asked about the outlook for exploration activity and whether customers' capital discipline is leading to more short-term thinking, such as deprioritizing continuous rig operations.
Answer
President and CEO Simon Johnson noted a shift in investment towards offshore but said exploration remains a low capital priority for customers. EVP and CCO Samir Ali added that while some marginal exploration is occurring, it's not significant. He confirmed that customers are indeed deferring costs, acknowledging that restarting a rig later will be more expensive but treating it as a '2026 problem' to preserve cash in the near term for shareholder returns or portfolio reallocation.