Noble Corporation PLC (NE) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. My name is Carly, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Noble Corporation third quarter 2025 earnings call. (Operator Instructions)

感謝您的耐心等待。我叫卡莉，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線生。在此，我謹代表 Noble Corporation 向大家歡迎參加 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作說明）

I would now like to turn the call over to Ian Macpherson, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我將把電話交給投資者關係副總裁伊恩·麥克弗森。請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and welcome, everyone, to Noble Corporation's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. You can find a copy of our earnings report, along with the supporting statements and schedules on our website at noblecorp.com. We will reference an earnings presentation that's posted on the Investor Relations page of our website. Today's call will feature prepared remarks from our President and CEO, Robert Eifler; as well as CFO, Richard Barker. We also have with us Blake Denton, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Contracts; and Joey Kawaja, Senior Vice President of Operations.

謝謝接線員，歡迎各位參加 Noble Corporation 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。您可以在我們的網站 noblecorp.com 上找到我們的收益報告以及相關的報表和附表。我們將引用發佈在我們網站「投資者關係」頁面上的收益簡報。今天的電話會議將包括我們總裁兼首席執行官羅伯特·艾弗勒以及首席財務官理查德·巴克的準備好的演講。我們也邀請了行銷和合約資深副總裁布萊克·丹頓，以及營運資深副總裁喬伊·卡瓦哈。

During the course of this call, we may make certain forward-looking statements regarding various matters related to our business and companies that are not historical facts. Such statements are based upon current expectations and assumptions of management and therefore, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements, and Noble does not assume any obligation to update these statements.

在本次電話會議中，我們可能會就與我們業務和公司相關的各種事項發表一些前瞻性聲明，這些聲明並非歷史事實。此類聲明是基於管理層目前的預期和假設，因此存在一定的風險和不確定性。許多因素可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性聲明有重大差異，Noble 不承擔任何更新這些聲明的義務。

Also note, we are referencing non-GAAP financial measures on the call today. You can find the required supplemental disclosure for these measures, including the most directly comparable GAAP measure and an associated reconciliation in our earnings report issued yesterday and filed with the SEC.

另外請注意，我們今天在電話會議上提到的是非GAAP財務指標。您可以查閱我們昨天發布並提交給美國證券交易委員會的盈利報告，其中包含這些措施所需的補充披露信息，包括最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標和相關的調節表。

Now I'll turn the call over to Robert Eifler, President and CEO of Noble.

現在我將把電話交給 Noble 的總裁兼執行長 Robert Eifler。

Thanks, Ian. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the call today. I'll open with a brief summary of our Q3 highlights and recent contract awards, then provide some perspective on the market outlook. Richard will provide more detail on the financials before I wrap up with closing remarks and move on to Q&A.

謝謝你，伊恩。歡迎各位，感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議。首先，我將簡要總結我們第三季的亮點和最近獲得的合同，然後對市場前景進行一些展望。在我總結演講並進入問答環節之前，理查德將提供更多關於財務方面的詳細資訊。

During the third quarter, we earned adjusted EBITDA of $254 million, generated free cash flow of $139 million, and received an additional $87 million in net disposal proceeds. We again distributed $80 million to shareholders through our $0.50 quarterly dividend. And yesterday, our Board declared a $0.50 per share dividend for the fourth quarter, bringing total 2025 capital return to $340 million. The highly competitive cash yield on our stock continues to be a critical component of our story as we traverse this mid-cycle lull for our industry.

第三季度，我們實現了調整後 EBITDA 2.54 億美元，產生了 1.39 億美元的自由現金流，並獲得了 8,700 萬美元的淨處置收益。我們再次透過每股0.50美元的季度股息向股東分配了8000萬美元。昨天，我們的董事會宣布第四季每股派息 0.50 美元，使 2025 年的總資本回報達到 3.4 億美元。在我們產業經歷中期週期低迷期之際，我們股票極具競爭力的現金殖利率仍然是我們發展故事的關鍵組成部分。

Before we discuss the market, I'd like to commend and thank our crews and operating teams for achieving excellent operational uptime and HSE performance, aided by tools like our NORMS, Horizon56, and operations performance platforms. Our teams have continued to push the envelope in technically challenging well construction and completion activities.

在討論市場之前，我想表揚並感謝我們的船員和營運團隊，感謝他們在我們的 NORMS、Horizo​​​​n56 和營運績效平台等工具的幫助下，實現了卓越的營運正常運行時間和 HSE 績效。我們的團隊不斷突破技術難度極高的油井建造和完井作業的極限。

In Guyana, our drillships continue to post record-setting results within the Wells Alliance. We have now constructed over 200 wells in the basin, delivering 60% of the most recent 25 wells in under 35 days. In the US Gulf, the Noble BlackHornet set a new benchmark in deepwater drilling operations, earning high praise from the customer for outstanding execution of MPD influx management on a complex exploration well. Nearby, the Noble BlackLion recently performed the longest step out yet for BP in the Gulf at over 12,500 feet, which was also delivered well ahead of AFE. Results like these continue to be a defining success story for the deepwater industry and are leading the way in bringing deepwater sharply down the cost curve and thereby structurally increasing the size of the prize.

在圭亞那，我們的鑽井船在油井聯盟中不斷創造紀錄。目前，我們已在該盆地建造了 200 多口井，其中最近 25 口井的 60% 在 35 天內交付完畢。在美國墨西哥灣，Noble BlackHornet 為深水鑽井作業樹立了新的標桿，憑藉在複雜勘探井中出色執行 MPD 井湧管理，贏得了客戶的高度讚揚。附近，Noble BlackLion 最近為 BP 在墨西哥灣完成了迄今為止最長的航行，高度超過 12,500 英尺，並且比 AFE 提前很多交付。這樣的成果一直是深水產業的標誌性成功案例，引領深水作業成本大幅下降，從而從根本上增加了收益。

We've also had another solid quarter on the commercial front with backlog increasing to $7 billion currently on the back of several key contract awards. First, the Noble BlackLion and Noble BlackHornet have both been extended by an additional two years by BP in the US Gulf, extending the rigs into September 2028 and February 2029, respectively. These extensions are valued at $310 million per rig, excluding MPD services and both come with an additional one-year priced option.

在商業方面，我們也迎來了一個穩健的季度，由於獲得了幾項重要的合同，積壓訂單目前已增至 70 億美元。首先，BP已將美國墨西哥灣的Noble BlackLion和Noble BlackHornet鑽井平台的服役期限延長了兩年，分別延長至2028年9月和2029年2月。這些延期合約每台鑽孔機價值 3.1 億美元，不包括 MPD 服務，並且都附帶一年的額外付費選項。

These contract extensions further amplify the merits of the Diamond acquisition, which has materially over delivered on our original accretion expectations as the legacy Diamond rigs continue to perform and recontract at very high levels. We are thrilled to continue the BlackLion and BlackHornet's long-term assignments, which will now be approaching one decade in tenure. These long-duration engagements demonstrate the power of the deeply collaborative service posture that we have been working hard to cultivate over the past several years in order to drive value for our customers and earn their repeat work through dependable performance.

這些合約延期進一步凸顯了收購 Diamond 的好處，由於 Diamond 的原有鑽井平台繼續以非常高的水平運行和續約，此次收購已遠遠超出了我們最初的增值預期。我們很高興能夠繼續執行黑獅和黑黃蜂的長期任務，它們的服役期即將達到十年。這些長期的合作關係展現了我們在過去幾年中努力培養的深度協作服務模式的力量，這種模式旨在為客戶創造價值，並透過可靠的業績贏得客戶的重複合作。

Next, the jackup Noble Resolute has been awarded a one-year contract with Eni in the Dutch North Sea at a day rate of $125,000. This contract is expected to commence later this quarter. And the Noble Interceptor has booked a five-month accommodation contract with Aker BP in Norway, which is scheduled to start next August.

接下來，自升式鑽井平台「Noble Resolute」號與埃尼集團簽訂了一份為期一年的合同，在荷屬北海作業，日租金為 125,000 美元。該合約預計將於本季稍後生效。Noble Interceptor 號已與挪威 Aker BP 公司簽訂了為期五個月的住宿合同，該合約計劃於明年 8 月開始。

Lastly, the 6G Semi Noble Developer has had an option exercised by Petronas for an additional well early next year, and the drillship Noble Venture was awarded a one-well contract from Amni in Ghana at a day rate of $450,000. This well is scheduled to follow in direct continuation of ongoing Tullow work in Ghana, which is expected to resume in its second phase within the next several days before the rig mobilizes to the US Gulf for long-term work commencing in late 2027.

最後，6G Semi Noble Developer 號鑽井船已獲得 Petronas 的授權，將於明年初再鑽一口井；此外，鑽井船 Noble Venture 號還從 Amni 公司獲得了一份在加納鑽一口井的合同，日租金為 45 萬美元。該井的開採計畫將直接延續 Tullow 在加納正在進行的作業，預計該作業將在未來幾天內恢復第二階段，之後鑽井平台將前往美國墨西哥灣，並於 2027 年底開始長期作業。

Beyond these specific contract awards, the broader contracting and utilization trends in deepwater are showing gradual signs of stabilization and improvement. The committed UDW rig count of approximately 100 rigs and low 90% marketed utilization is, in fact, up slightly compared to recent quarters despite some lingering near-term availability across several units with longer-dated contract starts. Additionally, deepwater contracting momentum is on an uptrend, with an average of 18 UDW rig years per quarter fixed in Q2, in Q3 this year, up 10% compared to the preceding two years. These are encouraging indicators, and there remains a significant number of additional fixtures anticipated over the next few months.

除了這些具體的合約授予之外，深水領域的整體承包和利用趨勢也逐漸呈現出穩定和改善的跡象。儘管一些長期合約開始日期較長的鑽井平台仍有一些短期可用，但UDW已承諾的鑽井平台數量約為100台，市場利用率較低（90%），實際上與最近幾季相比略有上升。此外，深水鑽井承包動能呈現上升趨勢，今年第二季平均每季固定 18 個深水鑽井平台年，而今年第三季則比前兩年增加了 10%。這些都是令人鼓舞的跡象，預計未來幾個月還將有大量的比賽進行。

Noble's backlog picture, as summarized on page 5 of the earnings presentation slides, shows 57% contract coverage across our entire fleet in 2026. When zooming into our 15 high-spec drillships, we are now 70% booked for available days in 2026, excluding options. However, we have active conversations behind all of our available rigs in 2026, including the Gerry de Souza, Viking, and BlackRhino, and while we are also tracking the number of contract opportunities across the balance of the fleet, both jackups and floaters. Securing additional work for these three drillships is a key priority, and our objective is to obtain 90% to 100% contract coverage across our 15 high-spec drillships by the second half of next year.

根據收益簡報投影片第 5 頁的總結，Noble 的積壓訂單狀況顯示，到 2026 年，我們整個機隊的合約覆蓋率為 57%。放大查看我們的 15 艘高規格鑽井船，目前 2026 年可用日期的預訂率已達 70%（不包括選擇權）。然而，我們正在積極洽談 2026 年所有可用鑽井平台的相關事宜，包括 Gerry de Souza、Viking 和 BlackRhino，同時我們也在追蹤船隊其餘部分（包括自升式鑽井平台和浮式鑽井平台）的合約機會數量。確保這三艘鑽井船獲得更多工作是當務之急，我們的目標是到明年下半年，使我們的 15 艘高規格鑽井船的合約覆蓋率達到 90% 至 100%。

On the jackup side, activity in the harsh environment Northern Europe market has been stable at 28 rigs and marketed utilization at 90%, flat with last quarter, with leading-edge day rates for drilling programs in the Southern North Sea holding flattish. Although the contracting environment has remained relatively subdued, we do have line of sight towards several opportunities that we hope to be able to book relatively soon.

在自升式鑽井平台方面，嚴酷環境下的北歐市場活動保持穩定，鑽井平台數量為 28 座，市場利用率為 90%，與上一季持平，而北海南部鑽井項目的領先日租金也保持平穩。儘管承包環境仍然相對低迷，但我們確實看到了一些機會，希望能夠盡快落實。

With the Interceptor's pending reactivation, we now have improving contract coverage for all five of our ultra-harsh CJ70 jackups as we progress through next year. While our six harsh rigs presently have limited contract coverage in 2026, we do expect this picture to improve based on several bidding opportunities currently in process.

隨著攔截者號即將重新啟用，隨著我們明年工作的推進，我們所有五個超惡劣的 CJ70 自升式鑽井平台的合約覆蓋範圍都將得到改善。雖然我們目前六座嚴苛環境下的鑽井平台在 2026 年的合約覆蓋範圍有限，但我們預計根據目前正在進行的幾個投標機會，這種情況將會改善。

So overall, we are encouraged by the shape of things and the opportunity set at hand, which includes a broad range of UDW requirements throughout the Golden Triangle, Asia Pacific, Mozambique, Mediterranean, and the harsh environment basins. The pipeline for early 2026 jobs is still significantly more limited compared to late '26 and early '27. But at this point, we are not seeing indications of additional project or procurement deferrals. Assuming reasonably stable oil prices, the path toward a methodically tightening floater market with deeper backlog appears to be on track.

總的來說，我們對目前的情況和機會感到鼓舞，其中包括金三角、亞太地區、莫三比克、地中海和環境惡劣的盆地中廣泛的地下水需求。與 2026 年底和 2027 年初相比，2026 年初的就業前景仍然十分有限。但目前為止，我們還沒有看到任何跡象表明會有其他項目或採購被推遲。假設油價保持相對穩定，那麼隨著浮動利率原油市場逐步收緊、訂單積壓加劇，油價上漲的趨勢似乎正在按計畫進行。

Now I'll pass it over to Richard to discuss the financials.

現在我將把發言權交給理查德，讓他來討論財務問題。

Good morning or good afternoon all. In my prepared remarks today, I will review our third-quarter results and then discuss our outlook for the remainder of the year as well as some additional high-level perspectives on 2026. Starting with our quarterly results.

各位早安/下午好。在今天準備好的發言中，我將回顧我們第三季的業績，然後討論我們對今年剩餘時間的展望，以及對 2026 年的一些其他高層次展望。首先，我們來看看季度業績。

Contract Drilling Services revenue for the third quarter totaled $798 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $254 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin was 32%. As expected, Q3 revenue and adjusted EBITDA were sequentially lower, primarily due to a number of rigs rolling off contract during the third quarter.

第三季合約鑽井服務收入總計 7.98 億美元。調整後 EBITDA 為 2.54 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 32%。正如預期的那樣，第三季度收入和調整後 EBITDA 環比下降，主要是由於第三季度許多鑽井平台合約到期。

Free cash flow of $139 million in Q3 excluded an additional $87 million in disposal proceeds driven by the sale of the Pacific Meltem and Noble Highlander. Thus, we ended the quarter with a cash balance of $478 million, which is up $140 million compared to last quarter.

第三季自由現金流為 1.39 億美元，不包括因出售 Pacific Meltem 和 Noble Highlander 而獲得的額外 8,700 萬美元處置收益。因此，本季末我們的現金餘額為 4.78 億美元，比上一季增加了 1.4 億美元。

Subsequently, in October, we have completed the sale of the Noble Reacher for alternative use outside the drilling market for $27.5 million. As a reminder, the Reacher has not worked in drilling mode for several years having recently completed a long-term and low-margin accommodation contract. The rig would have required a significant amount of capital to return to drilling mode again. And as such, the Reacher was an outlier within our group.

隨後，在 10 月份，我們以 2750 萬美元的價格完成了 Noble Reacher 的出售，用於鑽井市場以外的其他用途。提醒大家，Reacher 號鑽井平台已經好幾年沒有進行鑽井作業了，它最近完成了一項長期且利潤微薄的住宿合約。此鑽井平台要恢復鑽井作業需要大量資金。因此，里奇在我們這個群體中是個異類。

As summarized on page 5 of the earnings presentation slides, our total backlog as of October 27 stands at $7 billion, which includes approximately $0.5 billion that is scheduled for revenue conversion for the remaining two-plus months of this year and $2.4 billion and $1.9 billion scheduled for conversion in 2026 and 2027, respectively. As a reminder, these figures exclude reimbursable revenue and revenues from ancillary services.

如收益簡報投影片第 5 頁所述，截至 10 月 27 日，我們的積壓訂單總額為 70 億美元，其中包括計劃在今年剩餘兩個多月內實現收入轉化的約 5 億美元，以及分別計劃在 2026 年和 2027 年實現收入轉化的 24 億美元和 19 億美元。需要提醒的是，這些數字不包括可報銷收入和輔助服務收入。

Referring to page 10 of the earnings slides, we are now in the range for our full year 2025 guidance for adjusted EBITDA to $1.1 billion to $1.125 billion. The midpoint of this range implies Q4 adjusted EBITDA that is marginally lower versus Q3. I would point out that the exact start date of the Globetrotter I contract in the Black Sea, which we currently estimate in mid-December, is the key sensitivity for Q4 revenue due to the relatively compressed duration of the full contract value, including mobilization.

參考獲利投影片第 10 頁，我們目前對 2025 年全年調整後 EBITDA 的預期範圍為 11 億美元至 11.25 億美元。該區間的中點意味著第四季度調整後 EBITDA 將略低於第三季。我想指出的是，由於包括動員在內的完整合約期限相對較短，因此「環球旅行者 I」黑海合約的確切開始日期（我們目前估計在 12 月中旬）是第四季度收入的關鍵敏感因素。

We are now guiding for full year 2025 CapEx net of customer reimbursables to a range of $425 million to $450 million. Reimbursable CapEx is expected to be approximately $25 million this year, including approximately $20 million year to date through Q3.

我們現在預計 2025 年全年資本支出淨額（扣除客戶補償）將在 4.25 億至 4.5 億美元之間。今年可報銷資本支出預計約 2,500 萬美元，其中截至第三季已達約 2,000 萬美元。

We plan to provide 2026 guidance on next quarter's earnings call. In directional terms, I would say that the shape of our current fleet status report would indicate an EBITDA trough in the first half of 2026 that would be somewhat below second half 2025 levels as well as lower results on a full-year basis for 2026 versus 2025.

我們計劃在下個季度的財報電話會議上提供2026年的業績指引。從方向性角度來看，我認為我們目前的船隊狀況報告表明，2026 年上半年的 EBITDA 將跌至谷底，略低於 2025 年下半年的水平，並且 2026 年全年業績也將低於 2025 年。

However, based on current and anticipated backlog, we are tracking toward a material inflection from late 2026 onwards, which we will look to define more sharply next quarter as the next slug of foundational contracts are expected to come into backlog.

然而，根據目前和預期的積壓訂單，我們預計從 2026 年底開始將出現實質轉折，我們將在下個季度更明確地定義這一轉折點，因為下一批基礎合約預計將進入積壓訂單。

We continue to anticipate approximately $450 million in CapEx, net of customer reimbursables next year based on our current contract status. However, this estimate may be subject to an increase to the extent that additional contract supported opportunities arise with compelling accretion. The capital to reactivate the Noble Interceptor will be reimbursed through an upfront mobilization payment.

根據我們目前的合約狀況，我們預計明年資本支出將達到約 4.5 億美元，扣除客戶補償金後。然而，如果出現更多有說服力的增值機會，則該估計值可能會增加。重新啟動「高貴攔截者」所需的資金將透過預付啟動款的方式償還。

Additionally, we are likely to incur additional outlays totaling up to approximately $135 million associated with the termination of the BOP service and lease contracts on the legacy Diamond [Black] ships.

此外，由於終止了原有鑽石[黑]船的BOP服務和租賃合同，我們可能還會產生總計約1.35億美元的額外支出。

During the third quarter, we delivered a termination for convenience notice for the service agreements, and we are currently in discussions around the lease agreement. We expect an approximate $35 million of cash outlay during Q4 2025, which is expected to flow through OpEx and CapEx and then the remainder during 2026. These amounts are not included in the aforementioned guidance ranges. However, as a reminder, this cash outlay would be offset by annual savings of approximately $45 million across OpEx and lease payments on the agreements on a combined basis.

第三季度，我們發出了服務協議的終止通知，目前我們正在就租賃協議進行討論。我們預計 2025 年第四季將有約 3,500 萬美元的現金支出，預計將透過營運支出和資本支出支出，剩餘部分將在 2026 年支出。這些金額不包含在上述指導範圍內。不過要提醒的是，這筆現金支出將被每年約 4,500 萬美元的營運支出和租賃付款節省所抵銷。

We are focused on building cash here in the last quarter of this year in anticipation of next year's capital requirements, including the potential BOP-related payments. We are also committed to maintaining a robust return of capital program and a prudent balance sheet position. Based on existing backlog and current customer dialogue, we would expect a healthy EBITDA and cash flow inflection late next year.

今年最後一個季度，我們專注於累積現金，以應對明年的資本需求，包括潛在的與國際收支平衡相關的付款。我們也致力於維持穩健的資本回報計劃和審慎的資產負債表狀況。根據現有積壓訂單和目前的客戶溝通情況，我們預計明年年底 EBITDA 和現金流將出現健康轉折點。

That concludes my remarks. And with that, I'll hand it back to Robert.

我的發言到此結束。然後，我就把它還給羅伯特。

Thanks, Richard. To wrap up, we're continuing to see a number of positive signs of increased deepwater activity after the anticipated trough over the next few quarters. This is essentially very similar to how we assess the outlook last quarter, albeit with additional backlog in our books today to help lay the path towards that outcome, but also with a bit more slippage with certain program start dates, which continues to bifurcate the 2026 versus 2027 picture. We still have some work to do with securing a few more key contracts in order to support our expectation for a meaningful free cash flow inflection by late next year, but the opportunity set there is highly encouraging and progressing well.

謝謝你，理查。綜上所述，在接下來的幾個季度裡，我們持續看到一些積極的跡象，表明在預期的低谷期過後，深水活動將會增加。這與我們上季度評估前景的方式基本相似，儘管我們目前積壓的訂單有助於為實現這一目標鋪平道路，但某些項目的啟動日期也出現了一些延誤，這使得 2026 年和 2027 年的情況繼續出現分化。我們仍需努力爭取更多關鍵合同，以支持我們預計到明年年底自由現金流將出現顯著增長的目標，但目前的機會非常令人鼓舞，進展順利。

We continue to watch our customers' budget announcements closely, which, of course, have an aggregate, been less than inspiring at a headline level and which remain the ultimate growth governor for our business. But the same time, it has also been highly encouraging to see the relative resiliency of rig contracting activity this year in the face of elevated macroeconomic noise, sluggish oil prices, and upstream capital restraint. These divergent dynamics underscore the strategic long-term criticality of deepwater within the global upstream supply stack. We see this in the renewed emphasis and urgency surrounding upstream reserve replacement metrics.

我們繼續密切關注客戶的預算公告，當然，這些公告總體上並不令人振奮，而且仍然是我們業務成長的最終決定因素。但同時，面對宏觀經濟噪音加劇、油價低迷和上游資本受限等不利因素，今年鑽井平台承包活動表現出的相對韌性也令人倍感鼓舞。這些不同的動態凸顯了深水在全球上游供應鏈中的長期戰略重要性。這一點可以從人們對上游儲量替代指標的重新重視和迫切性中看出。

And in that same vein, on the ground here in Houston, there is a palpable growing sense of the capital imperative towards deepwater exploration in a way that feels different from anything over the past decade. So I would encourage investors to pay close attention to this important litmus indicator in the months and quarters ahead.

同樣地，在休士頓，人們明顯感受到對深水勘探的資本需求日益增長，這與過去十年來的任何情況都截然不同。因此，我鼓勵投資者在未來的幾個月和幾季密切關注這項重要的風向標指標。

Meanwhile, as we wait for these anticipated demand tailwinds to materialize, we continue to manage our costs and marketed capacity to optimize cash flow, and we remain committed to paying a competitive dividend and maintaining a strong balance sheet through the cycle.

同時，在我們等待這些預期需求利好因素實現的同時，我們繼續管理成本和市場產能，以優化現金流，並且我們仍然致力於在整個週期內支付有競爭力的股息並保持強勁的資產負債表。

With that, let me hand it back to you, operator, to go to the Q&A section.

那麼，現在我把麥克風交還給操作員，讓他進入問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Arun Jayaram, JPMorgan.

（操作說明）Arun Jayaram，摩根大通。

Robert, I wanted to maybe start with your thoughts on improving the utilization for your high spec floater fleet. You mentioned that you're 70% booked for 2026 with a target of getting to 90% to 100% by the second half of 2026. Talk to us about the opportunity set to get there, and kind of how long of a putt using a gulf analogy, would it take to get there?

羅伯特，我想先聽聽你對提高貴公司高規格浮式船隊利用率的看法。您提到 2026 年的檔期已預訂 70%，目標是在 2026 年下半年達到 90% 至 100%。請和我們談談實現目標的機會，以及用海灣推桿來比喻，需要多長的距離才能到達目標？

Thanks, Arun. So really it revolves around the Viking, the Gerry de Souza and the BlackRhino, and let's see. Continuing with the gulf analogy, I'd say it's really not a very long putt. I think we -- while we didn't have any real new news for you this quarter versus last, we are advancing conversations around all three of those rigs. And we hope to have some news for you here in the not-too-distant future.

謝謝你，阿倫。所以，故事其實圍繞著維京人、傑瑞·德·索薩和黑犀牛展開，讓我們來看看。繼續用海灣來比喻，我認為這真的不是一個很長的推桿。我認為，雖然本季與上季相比並沒有什麼真正的新消息要告訴大家，但我們正在推進圍繞這三個鑽井平台的討論。我們希望在不久的將來能在這裡給大家帶來一些消息。

So we're -- those are all very technically capable rigs. We're bidding them and in the discussions around a couple of different areas, but we do have line of sight towards the work that we're hopeful to win.

所以，這些都是技術能力非常強的設備。我們正在參與競標，並就幾個不同領域的項目進行討論，但我們確實已經明確了我們希望贏得的項目方向。

Great. That's helpful. And maybe if you guys could maybe just elaborate on the Diamond Offshore -- BOP leases. I believe those are agreements on eight of the rigs that you acquired. Can you just go through maybe the mechanics of that a little bit? It sounds like it's a pretty quick in terms of a cash return payoff given the savings and maybe just go through the numbers a little bit, just so we can tighten up our models?

偉大的。那很有幫助。或許可以詳細介紹一下Diamond Offshore的BOP租約狀況。我相信這些是你們收購的八座鑽井平台的協議。您能稍微講解一下其中的原理嗎？考慮到節省的費用，聽起來現金回報速度相當快，也許我們可以稍微計算一下，以便改進我們的模型？

Sure, Arun. So there's two components to it. There's the service agreement and the lease agreement. So we've now terminated the service agreement, and we'll have about a $35 million payment on that here in Q4. Okay. So that's $35 million of kind of cash out of the door during the fourth quarter of this year.

當然可以，阿倫。所以它包含兩個部分。有服務協議和租賃協議。所以我們現在終止了服務協議，我們將在第四季度收到約 3500 萬美元的款項。好的。所以，今年第四季就支出了 3,500 萬美元現金。

On the lease agreement, we're still working through that. There is a cap on that agreement of $85 million, and that would be payable next year. Obviously, there's a few remaining lease payments as well. So if you sum that all up together, there's a maximum of $135 million of cash out of the door and then the kind of the annual cash savings, if you will, so that's about $45 million for that. So it's about 3 times EBITDA multiple on that, if you will.

關於租賃協議，我們還在協商中。該協議的金額上限為 8500 萬美元，將於明年支付。顯然，還有一些租金尚未支付。所以，如果把所有這些加起來，最多會有 1.35 億美元的現金支出，然後還有每年的現金節省，如果你願意這麼稱呼的話，大約是 4500 萬美元。所以，如果以這個倍數計算，大約是 EBITDA 的 3 倍。

Great. Thanks a lot for those details.

偉大的。非常感謝您提供這些詳細資訊。

Greg Lewis, BTIG.

格雷格·劉易斯，BTIG。

Robert, I was hoping for a little more color, and I guess you kind of touched on it with some of the comments to Arun. But like as we think about the first half of '26, the kind of the moderately down versus what we are going to do in the second half of '25. As we kind of look at those drillships, some of them all have idle time in the second half of '25. It looks like there's going to be some idle time in the first half of '26. Is that largely what's driving that? Or is there other costs?

羅伯特，我原本希望看到更生動的描述，我想你對阿倫的一些評論已經稍微觸及這一點了。但就像我們展望 2026 年上半年時，情況會略有下降，而 2025 年下半年我們將採取的措施則截然不同。當我們觀察這些鑽井船時，會發現其中一些在 2025 年下半年都有閒置時間。看來 2026 年上半年會有一段空閒時間。這主要是造成這種情況的原因嗎？或是有其他費用嗎？

Is it maybe some idle time on the jackup fleet, just kind of -- if you could kind of help us maybe bridge why we're thinking it could be down? And what -- I mean, I'm assuming the answer to getting it higher would just be some spot work.

是不是自升式鑽井平台船隊暫時閒置了？ ——如果您能幫我們解釋為什麼我們認為它可能會停工，那就太好了！我的意思是，我猜想提高它的答案可能只是一些局部調整。

Yeah. It really is largely driven by the floaters. Last quarter, we mentioned trying to get to a run rate of $400 million to $500 million of cash flow here at the kind of back half of the year. And really, the driver there, are the three rigs I mentioned earlier. I think what -- I guess also I mentioned we just -- we're aiming to get back to effectively market utilization to low 90% to hit those numbers. And that translates to kind of two out of the three of those rigs working at any given time.

是的。這主要還是由浮動利率推動的。上個季度，我們提到過，希望在今年下半年實現 4 億至 5 億美元的現金流。而真正起作用的，是我前面提到的三輛卡車。我認為——我想我也提到過——我們的目標是將有效市場利用率恢復到 90% 左右，以達到這些數字。這意味著在任何特定時間，這三台設備中大約有兩台在運行。

And like I said, we have line of sight on different jobs. We're not going to win everything that's out there, but we feel pretty confident that as we work through things that the goal of having two out of those three is very achievable and hopefully can outperform by finding work for all three of them.

正如我所說，我們對不同的工作都有明確的目標。我們不可能贏得所有比賽，但我們很有信心，隨著我們努力克服困難，實現這三場比賽中兩場勝利的目標非常容易，而且我們還有信心能夠超越這個目標，為他們三場比賽都找到工作。

The spot work -- you asked about spot work. I think right now, it's one of those times in the market. It's actually a more unique time, I think, than I've seen previously, where there is a fair amount of work on the horizon starting in '26 and '27, but there is a definitive gap in between, where it's quieter than we've seen in multiple years. I'm probably missing some piece of history as I reflect on that, but I find it somewhat similar in nature.

臨時工作－你問的是臨時工作。我認為現在正是市場處於這種時期之一。我認為這實際上是一個比以往任何時候都更加獨特的時期，因為從 2026 年和 2027 年開始，有很多工作要做，但兩者之間存在一個明顯的空檔期，比我們多年來看到的都要平靜。當我思考這個問題時，我可能忽略了一些歷史細節，但我發現它們本質上有些相似。

And so I think the spot work, the gap filler work, so to speak, is going to be really separated from the rest of the work that's out there as it prices and as people think through it. So I anticipate that to be a dynamic that plays out through 2026.

因此，我認為，這種零星的工作，或者說填補空缺的工作，在定價和人們的思考過程中，將會與市場上其他的工作真正區分開來。所以我預計這種動態將持續到 2026 年。

Okay. Great. Super helpful. And then just the other question I had was around, I know it's hard to look at snapshots in time, but just kind of trying to understand, I think we all see the work out there, whether it's West Africa or parts of Asia. But as we look at some of those term jobs that are out there, do we get a sense or are those dates kind of remaining firm, just given some of the macro out there, are jobs that maybe three to six months ago, we thought were going to be in the second half of '26 still lining up to be in the second half? I'm trying to understand if there's been any drift or slippage in some of this work that's -- that me and you and a lot of people are waiting to kind of start early?

好的。偉大的。非常有用。然後，我的另一個問題是，我知道很難從時間的快照中看出端倪，但只是想嘗試理解，我想我們都看到了那裡的工作，無論是在西非還是亞洲部分地區。但當我們審視一些現有的短期工作時，我們能否感覺到，或者說，考慮到當前的一些宏觀經濟形勢，這些日期是否仍然保持不變？那些在三到六個月前我們認為會在 2026 年下半年出現的職位，現在是否仍然會如期在下半年出現？我想了解一下，在我們這些——包括你我以及很多人都在等待儘早開始的——工作中，是否存在任何偏差或延誤？

Yeah, it's been a mixture. I think there's some that have held firm and then there are some that have moved to the right. We really haven't seen anything being pulled back forward. That's certainly not the feeling you get right now.

是的，情況比較複雜。我認為有些人立場堅定，而有些人則轉向了右翼。我們真的沒有看到任何東西被拉回原點。你現在肯定不會有這種感覺。

But I'm just -- off the top of my head, I can think of a handful of jobs that are -- that have been pushed by, say, six months. And I can think of a handful of jobs that are right on schedule with our customers eager to start kind of in the middle or the beginning of the start window. So I think it's a mixture. Yeah.

但我只是──我隨便想想，就能想到一些工作──比如說，被延後了六個月。我還能想到一些項目，它們的進度都完全符合計劃，我們的客戶也渴望在開工窗口的中期或初期就開始施工。所以我認為兩者兼具。是的。

Thanks. Super helpful. Thank you very much.

謝謝。非常有用。非常感謝。

Eddie Kim, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的艾迪金。

Just wanted to touch on your expectations for the first half and next year. So you mentioned you expect moderately lower earnings and cash flow compared to second half '25 levels. Consensus currently has you guys at around $440 million in EBITDA, which represents about a 10% decline versus what your guidance implies for second half of this year. So just curious if you could speak to your expectations for first half '26 relative to where consensus is that now? And what it would take maybe in terms of some incremental contracting and spot market from here to achieve that level of EBITDA or if that level might be a bit too optimistic at this point?

我想了解一下您對上半年和明年的期望。所以您提到，您預計與 2025 年下半年的水平相比，收益和現金流將略有下降。目前市場普遍預期你們的 EBITDA 約為 4.4 億美元，比你們對今年下半年的預期下降了約 10%。所以，我很好奇您能否談談您對2026年上半年的預期，以及與目前普遍預期相比有何不同？那麼，從目前的情況來看，需要透過一些增量合約和現貨市場交易才能達到該 EBITDA 水準嗎？或者說，目前該水準是否過於樂觀了？

Yeah. So we haven't given out quarterly estimates. So let me think about how -- so that is standing true directionally that all that fits with kind of our narrative in the prepared remarks. And I think I would focus also on the fact that there's not a whole lot of work that we see in the first half of '26. There'll be a couple of announcements out there. There is some gap filler work that I mentioned earlier.

是的。所以我們沒有發布季度預測。所以讓我思考一下——這樣才能確保方向正確，所有這些都符合我們準備好的發言稿中的敘述。而且我認為我還應該關注這樣一個事實：我們在 2026 年上半年並沒有看到太多作品。屆時將發布幾項公告。我之前提到過，還有一些填補空缺的工作要做。

There really, I don't think, is a lot of room for upside improvement in the first half of the year. That does change pretty dramatically in the second half of the year. Of course, some of that's known and contracted and announced for both us and our competitors. But there's other work out there as well that's being negotiated and hasn't been announced industry-wide.

我認為，今年上半年真的沒有太多提昇空間了。這種情況在下半年會發生相當大的變化。當然，其中一些內容是我們和競爭對手都知道的，並且已經簽訂了合同，也已經對外公佈了。但還有其他一些工作正在洽談中，尚未在業界公開宣布。

So I think we're really focused on the timing of that working. We've set everything up, as we've mentioned, to hit this cash flow inflection. And for us, the timing is a little less certain around that back half of the year, but we certainly see it coming.

所以我覺得我們真正關注的是這份工作的時機把握。正如我們之前提到的，我們已經做好了一切準備，以抓住這個現金流拐點。對我們來說，下半年的具體時間還不太確定，但我們肯定會看到它到來。

Got it. Got it. Understood. And my follow-up is just on your expectation for that, you called it the deepwater utilization recovery by late '26, early '27. Could you just talk about your confidence level in this recovery? Is it based on the tenders that are out there currently or the tone of your conversations with customers or contracts that you already have in hand. So if you could just talk to your confidence level in that recovery?

知道了。知道了。明白了。我的後續問題是關於你對此的預期，你稱之為深水油氣利用率在 2026 年底、2027 年初恢復。您能否談談您對此次康復的信心程度？這是根據目前正在進行的招標項目，還是根據你與客戶的溝通語氣，或是你已經手邊的合約來判斷的？所以，如果你能談談你對康復的信心程度呢？

Sure. Yeah. I mean, it's a mixture of both. Starting with the contracts in the US and in Suriname, I think we've kind of baked in somewhat of a floor for ourselves starting in the back half of next year. And we really see a tightening of the market out there. Some of that's announced and out there. Some of it is rumors that we understand some of our competitors have won some work, and some of it's stuff that we're working on ourselves.

當然。是的。我的意思是，它是兩者的混合。從美國和蘇利南的合約來看，我認為我們已經為自己設定了一個底線，從明年下半年開始生效。我們確實看到市場正在收緊。其中一些已經公佈了。有些是我們聽說競爭對手贏得了一些項目，而有些是我們自己正在做的項目。

We're cautiously optimistic here that day rates have bottomed. And not to say that there won't be some lower day rates that get announced after I've made the statement, but we're cautiously optimistic that from here, the market is tightening to a point late '26 and '27 that we've bottomed here. So stay tuned.

我們謹慎樂觀地認為，日租金已經觸底。當然，我並不是說在我發表聲明之後不會宣布一些更低的日租金，但我們謹慎樂觀地認為，從現在開始，市場將收緊到 2026 年末和 2027 年末，屆時我們將觸底反彈。敬請期待。

Great. Thanks, Rob.

偉大的。謝謝你，羅伯。

Fredrik Stene, Clarksons Securities.

Fredrik Stene，克拉克森證券。

So I think you painted a relatively, I guess, optimistic picture of demand from the second half of '26 and beyond, then you've mentioned a handful of rigs by name, more specifically the Viking, Gerry de Souza, and BlackRhino, which you seem to be relatively confident that you'll get some work on. But I was wondering, there is the Globetrotter I, and there is the Deliverer, for example. Do you have any additional color on how we should think about those rigs specifically going into next year?

所以我覺得你對 2026 年下半年及以後的需求描繪了一幅相對樂觀的圖景，然後你提到了一些鑽機的名字，更具體地說是 Viking、Gerry de Souza 和 BlackRhino，你似乎比較有信心能接到一些訂單。但我很好奇，例如，有環球旅行者號（Globetrotter I）和拯救者號（Deliverer）。關於明年我們應該如何看待這些鑽井平台，您還有什麼補充說明嗎？

And maybe even more so the Globetrotter I, is that also going to be at some point a divestment candidate after this contract? Or do you think it can get more work?

或許更該考慮的是環球旅行者一號，在本合約結束後，它是否也會成為剝離的目標？還是你認為它還能獲得更多工作機會？

Yeah. It's a good question. So in GT-I, we continue to chase intervention work, as we've mentioned, in that we continue to believe that that is an interesting market for that asset. We also have said that it could be a divestment candidate. So it's a little too early for us to kind of give anything firm there. But I would say that both of those, frankly, are on the table. If we can't find work for the rig in the intervention market, then we'll make a decision there.

是的。這是個好問題。因此，正如我們之前提到的，在 GT-I 領域，我們將繼續尋求幹預工作，因為我們仍然認為這是一個有趣的資產市場。我們也曾表示，它可能是撤資目標。所以現在就給出任何確切答案還為時過早。但坦白說，我認為這兩個方案都在考慮範圍內。如果我們在海上乾預市場找不到鑽井平台的工作，那麼我們就會在海上做出決定。

On the Deliverer, so I would maybe group all of the D rigs together as a bundle and say that we see more work today than we've seen at any point since at least the Noble side has owned those rigs for the last few years. Our outlook does not require all three of those rigs to be working. So I think finding work for all three would be (inaudible) for us. But we have -- we think we have a pretty good line of sight to at least two working and again, probably more increase than we've had at any point.

關於 Deliverer，我可能會把所有 D 型設備歸為一類，並說我們今天看到的作業量比 Noble 公司擁有這些設備以來的任何時候都要多。我們的預期並不要求這三座鑽井平台全部運作。所以我覺得要找到適合他們三個人的工作對我們來說是（聽不清楚）。但是，我們認為我們已經看到了至少兩個工作崗位的良好前景，而且，增長幅度可能比以往任何時候都大。

That's very, very helpful. Thank you. And as a follow-up, just turning on the less spoken about assets also on the floater fleet and maybe more in the harsh environment side. You have the GreatWhite, the Apex and the Endeavor that's currently idle. And I guess there's a two-part question here. One, on the GreatWhite is originally a UK type of rig, but have you thought anything more about potentially taking that rig into Norway, getting a proper AOC, and I'm sure that will come with a major CapEx payment, if you like to do something like that?

那真是太有幫助了。謝謝。作為後續措施，我們還可以啟用一些在浮式船隊中較少被提及的資產，尤其是在惡劣環境下的資產。你們有 GreatWhite、Apex 和目前閒置的 Endeavor 號。我想這裡應該包含兩個部分的問題。首先，GreatWhite 最初是英國類型的鑽井平台，但你有沒有考慮過把這個鑽井平台帶到挪威，獲得一個合適的 AOC（海上作業控制中心）？我相信如果你想做這樣的事情，那肯定需要一大筆資本支出。

And on the Apex and the Endeavor, how do you think about the fleet size in general? Or do you think that's maybe one too many rigs that are currently idle on the lower spec harsh environment side? Thanks.

那麼，關於Apex和Endeavor，您如何看待艦隊的整體規模？或者您認為目前低規格惡劣環境下閒置的設備是不是太多了？謝謝。

Yeah. So the GreatWhite, we're marketing in a number of different regions around the world. You're right, it was not built to a Norwegian spec, so there would be a capital cost to take it into Norway, if that were to become an option. So I think we're just a little too early right now to give guidance on where that rig might end up. There will be some white space on it and we're trying to find the best fit for it at any point in the future.

是的。所以，GreatWhite，我們正在世界各地多個不同地區進行市場推廣。你說得對，它不是按照挪威的規格建造的，所以如果要把它運到挪威，就需要投入一筆資金。所以我覺得現在就預測那個鑽井平台最終會建在哪裡還為時過早。上面會留一些空白區域，我們正在努力尋找未來任何時候最適合利用這些空白區域的方法。

There are several different jobs out there in different places around the world. The Apex and Endeavor likewise have opportunities. And like with all of our older rigs, we'll continue to have a very sharp pencil and look at opportunities closely. And for us any opportunity needs to stand on its own for those rigs, and that's pretty firm on our side. And so those are being marketed and hopefully have some update on direction there, perhaps next quarter. We'll see.

世界各地有很多不同的工作機會。Apex 和 Endeavor 也同樣有機會。就像我們以往所有的設備一樣，我們將繼續精打細算，仔細尋找機會。對我們來說，任何鑽井平台專案的機會都必須有其自身價值，這一點我們非常堅定。所以這些產品正在推向市場，希望下個季度能有關於這方面的最新消息。我們拭目以待。

All right. This is very good. Thank you for all the details.

好的。這非常好。謝謝您提供的所有細節。

Doug Becker, Capital One.

道格·貝克爾，第一資本。

Robert, I was hoping you would expand on the prospects for the BlackRhino specifically? Is this likely to be well-to-well work in US Gulf? Or is it more likely to be term work in the US Gulf or some other region, just given that you've talked about line of sight to contracting that rig?

羅伯特，我希望你能詳細談談BlackRhino的具體前景？這有可能是在美國墨西哥灣沿岸進行的井間作業嗎？或者更有可能是在美國墨西哥灣或其他地區從事短期工作，因為你提到了可以承接該鑽井平台的計畫？

That was the Rhino? Yeah, sorry. Look, I think we're talking to customers of that book. And actually, we think we have opportunities both in the Gulf and outside the Gulf right now. So I wish I had more direction than that. But we're kind of -- honestly, we have opportunities that fit in all three of those categories, short-term US, long-term US and long-term non-US. So we're going to have to just see what comes through for us here.

那是犀牛坦克嗎？抱歉。你看，我覺得我們正在和那本書的讀者交流。事實上，我們認為目前在海灣地區和海灣地區以外都有發展機會。所以，我希望我能得到更明確的指導。但說實話，我們有一些機會可以同時滿足這三個類別：短期美國機會、長期美國機會和長期非美國機會。所以，我們只能拭目以待了。

Fair enough. And then maybe circling back to Norway, it was kind of encouraging to see the reactivation of the Interceptor. Does this mean that there's a meaningful tightening in that market and really kind of thinking about some of the CJ70s that are working outside Norway, the potential of moving back in, in say, '27 or so?

很公平。然後，或許回到挪威，看到攔截者戰鬥機重新投入使用，多少令人鼓舞。這是否意味著該市場出現了實質的收緊？考慮到一些在挪威以外地區運營的 CJ70 卡車，它們是否有可能在 2027 年左右重新進入挪威市場？

Yeah. Look, I would say, I wish I could report that we saw a flood of work coming in Norway for the CJ70s. I can't claim that right now. We do have more opportunities today than we did six months ago and certainly a year or two ago, and that's driven us to look at reactivating the Interceptor there.

是的。說實話，我真希望我能報道說，我們在挪威看到了大量針對 CJ70 的訂單。我現在還不能這麼說。與六個月前，甚至一兩年前相比，我們現在擁有更多的機會，這促使我們考慮重新啟用攔截器。

I'd say that will be probably the most marketable rig in the region that doesn't have a contract as it rolls out of that accommodation work. So we like where it's positioned. And we're hopeful that perhaps rig demand picks up by one or if it's already picked up by one side, kind of maintain steady there. But it is a little too early to tell. And this contract I had stands on its own, and we're really happy to have it.

我認為，隨著住宿工程的結束，這套尚未簽訂合約的設備很可能成為該地區最具市場價值的設備。所以我們很滿意它的定位。我們希望鑽井平台需求能夠回升，或者如果已經回升，那就保持穩定。但現在下結論還為時過早。我簽的這份合約本身就有效，我們非常高興能簽下它。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Noel Parks, Tuohy Brothers.

諾埃爾·帕克斯，圖伊兄弟。

I just had a couple. Is it safe to say at this point that price sensitivity is not in the mix in a big way in customer decisions either from sort of a formal perspective, which would maybe urge them to commit sooner rather than later or sort of from a bargain hunting perspective. So is this sort of just what they want to do, being conservative on their budget commitments, the main driver that's at work these days?

我剛吃了兩顆。現在可以肯定地說，價格敏感度在顧客的決策中並沒有起到很大的作用，無論是從正式的角度來看（這可能會促使他們盡快做出決定），還是從尋找便宜貨的角度來看。所以，他們是不是有意為之，在預算承諾方面保持保守，而這正是目前的主要驅動因素？

I wish I could say yes. I don't think so, Noel. I think our customers are as price sensitive as ever. The macro outlook is obviously variable and uncertain. There's some downward oil price beliefs. And we'll learn more as 2026 budgets start to get announced and become more clear. But we're -- I would say we're seeing the opposite. I'd say we're seeing extreme price sensitivity in our ongoing negotiations.

我真希望我能答應。我不這麼認為，諾埃爾。我認為我們的客戶對價格的敏感度一如既往。宏觀經濟前景顯然變化莫測，充滿不確定性。市場對油價下跌有些預期。隨著 2026 年預算案陸續公佈並逐漸明朗，我們將了解更多資訊。但是，我認為我們看到的情況恰恰相反。我認為，在我們目前的談判中，雙方對價格極為敏感。

Okay. Okay. Thanks. And you did mention sort of in the wrap-up of the prepared remarks that in Houston, on the ground there, it feels different from how it has in terms of settlement towards the deepwater at any time in the past decade. I wondered if you could talk a little bit more about, I don't know if there's a sense of being like an inevitability that capital needs to head offshore relative to onshore opportunities. But just any sort of color or feel you can give for what you're hearing?

好的。好的。謝謝。您在總結發言中也提到，休士頓的情況與過去十年中任何時候的深水開發建設都截然不同。我想請您再多談談，我不知道是否存在這樣一種感覺：相對於境內機會而言，資本流向海外似乎是一種必然趨勢。但你能用任何顏色或感覺來形容你聽到的內容嗎？

Sure. I think here, it feels like it's well known that deepwater is going to be an important part of the supply mix going forward. That is obviously in the context of a slowing plateauing Permian, which eventually some day has to decline. Deepwater is obviously long cycle and requires forward thinking and investment. And those investments have to start at some point.

當然。我認為，在這裡，深水油氣將成為未來供應結構的重要組成部分這一點似乎已是眾所周知的事實。這顯然是在二疊紀地質活動逐漸趨於平穩的背景下進行的，而二疊紀地質活動最終必然會走向衰退。深水作業週期顯然很長，需要前瞻性思維和投資。這些投資總是要從某個時間點開始。

To me, that's the most obvious connector between the malaise in the macro environment in a world where a lot of people are calling for perhaps lower oil prices in the near term with the '26 and -- the opportunity set that we see in 2026 and 2027. And so I think we see more activity than perhaps one would have predicted if just given the macro uncertainty out there today. And to me, that explanation is -- one possible explanation is the understanding that deepwater is an important part of the energy mix going forward.

在我看來，這是宏觀環境的低迷與2026年和2027年我們所看到的機會之間最明顯的聯繫，在當今世界，許多人呼籲短期內油價可能會走低。因此，我認為我們看到的交易活動比人們預期的要多，這或許是因為目前宏觀經濟情勢存在不確定性。在我看來，這種解釋是——一種可能的解釋是，人們認識到深水是未來能源結構的重要組成部分。

Right, right. And if I could just (multiple speakers) --

對，對。如果我能…（多位發言者）——

I'll just add, Noel. We mentioned exploration. I can't say today that we've seen any uptick in exploration wells. I have seen an analysis that shows that the higher explanation of the difference in rig count from last market cycle high in 2013, '14 to today is the difference between development work and exploration work. And so I think that's something we've watched very closely.

我再補充一點，諾埃爾。我們提到了探索。目前還不能說勘探井的數量有增加。我看到一份分析報告顯示，從 2013 年、2014 年上一個市場週期的高點到今天，鑽井平台數量差異的主要原因是開發工作和勘探工作之間的差異。所以我覺得這是我們一直密切關注的事情。

I don't think it's right on the horizon as a driver for demand in our business, certainly not in 2026. But I do think that's an important litmus test, which is why we mentioned that because we're running at around 90% utilization today on the pretty heavy development load or put a different way on a pretty low total exploration load and so we watch that very closely. And we'll see what happens over the next couple of years here.

我不認為它會成為我們業務需求的驅動因素，至少在 2026 年不會。但我認為這是一個重要的試金石，所以我們才提到這一點，因為我們目前在開發負荷相當大的情況下，產能利用率約為 90%，或者換句話說，在勘探總負荷相當低的情況下，產能利用率卻很高，所以我們非常密切地關注著這一點。接下來幾年，我們將拭​​目以待。

Great. Thanks. And I just wanted to ask one more and that's about, I think last quarter, you were observing that in general, in West Africa, customers were a little slower to commit than compared to South America. So I just wondered if that's unchanged. And you're talking about oil sentiment.

偉大的。謝謝。我還想再問一個問題，我想上個季度你們觀察到，整體而言，西非的客戶比南美的客戶在做出承諾方面要慢一些。所以我想知道這一點是否沒有改變。你這是在談論石油市場情緒。

It has been surprising to me that there seems to be just a lack of attention to sustained geopolitical premium in the oil strip these days despite there being still quite a few hotspots out there to be sure. And I just wonder if there are -- if you saw the sort of concern about future oil prices or oversupply or whatever, if you saw it playing out more strongly in the thinking of customers in one region than another?

令我感到驚訝的是，儘管石油帶仍然存在不少熱點地區，但如今人們似乎對該地區持續的地緣政治溢價缺乏關注。我只是想知道——你是否注意到人們對未來油價、供應過剩或其他問題的擔憂，以及這種擔憂是否在某個地區的消費者心中比其他地區的消費者心中表現得更為強烈？

Yeah, sure. So first, just on West Africa, that's a long-cycle region, takes a lot of planning. I think last quarter, we mentioned -- but certainly in the past, we've mentioned that really a difference between where we, at one point, we're hopeful the demand picture would be around this time, and reality here is explained by a lack of West Africa demand. We see that starting to play out in a number of countries in West Africa.

當然可以。首先，就西非而言，那是一個週期較長的地區，需要大量的規劃。我認為上個季度我們提到過——當然，在過去我們也提到過——我們一度希望此時的需求情況與現實情況之間的差異，可以用西非需求不足來解釋。我們看到這種情況開始在西非的一些國家出現。

We mentioned Mozambique, too. I think that comes online in the next couple of years. So if that corrects itself, I think that's a few units of demand that I think is going to really help in late '26 and '27 bring total utilization -- or excuse me, total demand back where we were predicting it to be.

我們也提到了莫三比克。我認為它將在未來幾年內上線。所以如果這種情況能夠得到糾正，我認為這幾個單位的需求將在 2026 年末和 2027 年真正幫助使總利用率——或者抱歉，總需求——回到我們預測的水平。

On the oil piece, I think there's a lot of negative sentiment. There's -- a lot of people hold a belief that it's likely to go down before it goes up. We struggle to predict, obviously. I will say, I guess, kind of repeat what I said around what we see on service demand, demand for our services, which is encouraging.

關於石油這件作品，我覺得有很多負面情緒。很多人都認為，它很可能會先下跌後再上漲。顯然，我們很難預測。我想說的是，我之前說過的話，就是關於我們目前所看到的服務需求，也就是對我們服務的需求，這令人鼓舞。

And then I always point to kind of the middle part of the Brent curve which has moved so much less than spot pricing and then a very volatile sentiment. And if you're a deepwater operator, you're obviously having to take 5- and 10-year view. So it makes sense that with that middle part moving less, that we're seeing planning continue, perhaps beyond what the otherwise volatile macro would suggest.

然後我總是會指出布蘭特原油價格曲線的中間部分，這部分價格的波動幅度遠小於現貨價格，而且市場情緒波動非常劇烈。如果你是一家深水作業公司，那麼你顯然需要從 5 年和 10 年的角度來看問題。因此，隨著中間部分波動較小，我們看到規劃仍在繼續，這或許超出了原本動盪的宏觀經濟所暗示的範圍，也就不足為奇了。

Terrific. Thanks a lot.

了不起。多謝。

(Operator Instructions) Josh Jayne, Daniel Energy Partners.

（操作說明）Josh Jayne，Daniel Energy Partners。

I just had one. I think it was at the end of the prepared remarks. You talked about the balance sheet and some cost rationalization. Maybe you could speak to the efforts you're taking on the cost side. And if you view those as sort of structural or if these are things that you're doing, assuming that we have a trough in the first half of next year before recovery. Maybe just go into more detail on the things that Noble is doing. Thanks.

我剛剛吃了一塊。我想應該是在準備好的發言稿的最後。你談到了資產負債表和一些成本合理化措施。或許您可以談談您在成本控制方面所做的努力。如果你把這些看作是某種結構性因素，或者如果你認為這些是你正在做的事情，假設明年上半年經濟會經歷一個低谷，然後才會復甦。或許可以更詳細地介紹一下Noble正在做的事情。謝謝。

Sure. Yeah. Obviously, the cost in the down markets is very important. And I think as you think about the Diamond transaction as an example, right? So in that deal, we've announced a $100 million of synergies. We achieved that, I guess, in Q2 of this year. And so we're well -- it was -- well, at an amount now obviously, that's materially higher than that.

當然。是的。顯然，在市場低迷時期，成本非常重要。我想，如果你以鑽石交易為例來思考這個問題，對吧？因此，在那項交易中，我們宣布了1億美元的綜效。我想，我們在今年第二季實現了這個目標。所以，我們現在的情況——當時的情況——顯然，金額已經遠遠高於那個數額了。

But it's hard to bifurcate what is the synergy versus the other kind of cost work that we're doing in the company. So we haven't put out a kind of an incremental cost savings target, but I think it's fair to say that we're realizing kind of the incremental cost savings, obviously, as activity slows here in the first half of next year.

但很難將協同效應與我們在公司進行的其他成本控制工作區分開來。因此，我們還沒有提出逐步降低成本的目標，但我認為可以公平地說，隨著明年上半年業務活動的放緩，我們正在逐步實現成本節約。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Ian Macpherson for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題了。現在我將把電話轉回給伊恩·麥克弗森，請他作總結發言。

Thanks, everyone, for joining us today and for your interest in Noble. We look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. Have a great day.

感謝各位今天蒞臨現場，也感謝大家對Noble的關注。我們期待下個季度再次與您交流。祝你有美好的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線了。