Valaris Ltd (VAL) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Valaris third quarter, 2024 results conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance? Please signal conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions to ask a question. You may press star then one on your touchtone phone to withdraw your question. Please press star. Then two.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Valaris 2024 年第三季業績電話會議。所有參與者將處於僅聽模式。您需要協助嗎？請按星號鍵，然後按零，向會議專家發出訊號。今天的演講結束後，將有機會提問。您可以按按鍵式電話上的星號然後再按一個來撤回您的問題。請按星號。然後是兩個。

Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Nick Georges, Vice President, Treasurer and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

請注意此事件正在被記錄。我現在想將會議交給副總裁、財務主管和投資者關係尼克喬治 (Nick Georges)。請繼續。

Welcome everyone to the Valaris third quarter, 2024 conference call with me today are President and CEO Anton Dibowitz, senior Vice President and CFO Chris Weber, senior Vice President and CCO Matt Lyne and other members of our executive management team. We issued our press release which is available on our website at Valaris dotcom.

歡迎大家參加今天與我一起召開的Valaris 2024 年第三季電話會議，包括總裁兼執行長Anton Dibowitz、高級副總裁兼財務長Chris Weber、高級副總裁兼CCO Matt Lyne 以及我們執行管理團隊的其他成員。我們發布了新聞稿，可在我們的網站 Valaris dotcom 上取得。

Any comments we make today about expectations are forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations.

我們今天對預期做出的任何評論都是前瞻性陳述，並受到風險和不確定性的影響。許多因素可能導致實際結果與我們的預期有重大差異。

Please refer to our press release and sec filings on our website that define forward-looking statements and list risk factors and other events that could impact future results.

請參閱我們網站上的新聞稿和證券交易文件，其中定義了前瞻性陳述並列出了可能影響未來結果的風險因素和其他事件。

Also, please note that the company undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements during this call. We will refer to GAAP and Nongaap financial measures. Please see the press release on our website for additional information and required reconciliations.

另請注意，該公司不承擔在本次電話會議期間更新前瞻性陳述的義務。我們將參考 GAAP 和 Nongaap 財務指標。請參閱我們網站上的新聞稿，以了解更多資訊和所需的對帳。

Earlier this week, we issued our most recent fleet status report which provides details on contracts across our rig fleet.

本週早些時候，我們發布了最新的船隊狀態報告，其中提供了我們鑽機隊合約的詳細資訊。

An updated investor presentation will be available on our website after the call. Now, I'll turn the call over to Anton Dibowitz, President and CEO.

電話會議結束後，我們的網站上將提供最新的投資者介紹。現在，我將把電話轉給總裁兼執行長安東‧迪博維茨 (Anton Dibowitz)。

Thanks Nick and good morning and afternoon to everyone during today's call. I will begin with an overview of our performance during the quarter and provide an update on the offshore drilling market. I will then hand the call over to Matt to highlight our recent contract awards. Discuss the floater and jackup markets in more detail and provide some additional color on our contracting outlook.

謝謝尼克，今天的電話會議大家早安，下午好。我將首先概述我們本季的業績，並提供海上鑽井市場的最新情況。然後我會將電話轉交給馬特，以強調我們最近授予的合約。更詳細地討論浮式鑽井平台和自升式鑽井平台市場，並為我們的承包前景提供一些額外的資訊。

After that, Chris will discuss our financial results and guidance. Before I finish with some closing comments to begin, I want to highlight a few key points. First, we delivered excellent operating performance and financial results in the third quarter which helped us generate $111 million of free cash flow during the period.

之後，克里斯將討論我們的財務表現和指導。在結束一些結束語之前，我想強調幾個關鍵點。首先，我們在第三季取得了出色的經營業績和財務業績，幫助我們在此期間產生了 1.11 億美元的自由現金流。

Second, we maintain our conviction in the strength and duration of this subcycle and we believe valaris is well positioned to drive long term value creation while we have seen some customer demand deferred the pipeline of future opportunities in 2026 and beyond remains robust. We are focused on securing attractive long term contracts and prudently managing our fleet to support our earnings and cash flow growth. Third, as expected, our free cash flow profile improved relative to the first half of the year and we repurchased $100 million of shares during the third quarter, we remain committed to returning all future free cash flow to shareholders unless there is a better or more value accretive use for it. Turning to operations, we delivered another great quarter of operating performance with fleet wide revenue efficiency of 98%.

其次，我們對這子週期的強度和持續時間保持信心，我們相信valaris 處於有利地位，可以推動長期價值創造，同時我們看到一些客戶需求推遲了2026 年及以後的未來機會管道，但仍然強勁。我們專注於獲得有吸引力的長期合約並謹慎管理我們的機隊以支持我們的收入和現金流成長。第三，正如預期的那樣，我們的自由現金流狀況相對於上半年有所改善，並且我們在第三季度回購了1 億美元的股票，我們仍然致力於將所有未來的自由現金流返還給股東，除非有更好的或更多的對其增值使用。在營運方面，我們又實現了出色的季度營運業績，整個機隊的收入效率達到 98%。

Achieving sustained high levels of operational performance has been an area of emphasis across the organization this year and I'm pleased that this was our third consecutive quarter of at least 97% revenue efficiency. These results demonstrate the entire company's focus on this key objective since delivering safe, reliable and efficient operations is vital in building longstanding customer relationships.

實現持續的高水準營運績效一直是整個組織今年的重點領域，我很高興這是我們連續第三個季度至少 97% 的收入效率。這些結果表明整個公司都專注於此關鍵目標，因為提供安全、可靠和高效的營運對於建立長期的客戶關係至關重要。

I'd like to thank the amazing men and women offshore and all those on shore who support them for their efforts in helping us to achieve such outstanding performance. This year.

我要感謝海上傑出的男男女女以及所有支持他們的岸上人員，感謝他們為幫助我們取得如此出色的業績而付出的努力。今年。

I'd particularly like to congratulate the crews of Valaris Ds seven for achieving 100% revenue efficiency during the third quarter. This is a fantastic accomplishment for a rig that began its contract late in the second quarter following a reactivation and demonstrates the organization's ability to deliver complex capital projects and provide exceptional operating performance for our customers. From day one on the safety front. We are proud to be recognized for the 2nd year in a row by the Center for Offshore Safety with its safety leadership award for the development of our restricted zone analysis tool.

我要特別祝賀 Valaris Ds 7 的工作人員在第三季度實現了 100% 的收入效率。對於在第二季末重新啟動後開始簽訂合約的鑽孔機來說，這是一項了不起的成就，並證明了該組織有能力交付複雜的資本項目並為我們的客戶提供卓越的營運績效。從第一天起就注重安全。我們很榮幸能夠連續第二年因開發禁區分析工具而獲得海上安全中心的安全領導獎。

This innovative visual planning tool identifies safe, restricted and no go zones for activities like pipe handling, pressure testing and complex lifts by helping to ensure that only authorized personnel access high risk areas. This tool significantly reduces exposure to hazardous zones, enhancing the safety of our offshore operations.

這種創新的視覺化規劃工具有助於確保只有授權人員才能進入高風險區域，從而識別管道處理、壓力測試和複雜升降機等活動的安全、限制和禁區。該工具顯著減少了危險區域的暴露，提高了我們海上作業的安全性。

In addition, we had several rigs celebrate safety milestones during the quarter.

此外，我們有幾台鑽機在本季度慶祝了安全里程碑。

Velaris Stavanger reached three years without a recordable incident. And DS 8, DS 9, DS17 ,DS 122 and Thunder Horse all achieved one year recordable free, an excellent accomplishment by each of these teams moving to our financial performance adjusted EBITDA increased to $150 million in the third quarter, up from 139 million in the second quarter. This was better than our guidance primarily due to the team achieving strong operating performance during the quarter.

維拉里斯·斯塔萬格 (Velaris Stavanger) 已連續三年沒有發生任何可記錄的事故。DS 8、DS 9、DS17、DS 122 和Thunder Horse 都實現了一年可記錄免費，這是每個團隊取得的出色成就，我們的財務業績調整後EBITDA 在第三季度從1.39 億美元增加到1.5億美元。這好於我們的指導，主要是因為團隊在本季取得了強勁的經營業績。

This strong operating performance also contributed to solid free cash flow generation and we repurchased $100 million of shares during the third quarter.

這種強勁的經營業績也有助於產生穩定的自由現金流，我們在第三季回購了 1 億美元的股票。

Chris will provide further details of our financial results and guidance a little later turning now to the broader offshore drilling market in terms of market fundamentals. Global demand for hydrocarbons continues to increase and offshore production. Particularly deep water is expected to play an increasingly important role in providing secure and affordable energy to meet the world's growing energy needs.

克里斯稍後將提供有關我們財務業績和指導的更多詳細信息，現在轉向更廣泛的海上鑽探市場的市場基本面。全球對碳氫化合物的需求和海上生產持續增加。特別是深水預計將在提供安全且負擔得起的能源以滿足世界不斷增長的能源需求方面發揮越來越重要的作用。

Deep water production is attractive to customers due to the size of deep water fields. Compelling program economics and the lower carbon emissions intensity relative to other sources of production.

由於深水油田的規模，深水生產對客戶很有吸引力。與其他生產來源相比，具有引人注目的計劃經濟效益和較低的碳排放強度。

While spot Brent crude prices declined during the third quarter and have shown increased volatility of late longer dated Brent crude prices have remained relatively stable.

儘管布蘭特原油現貨價格在第三季有所下降，且波動性加大，但較遠期布蘭特原油價格保持相對穩定。

The five year Brent ford price is around $70 per barrel. A level at which more than 90% of undeveloped offshore reserves are expected to be profitable.

五年期布蘭特福特原油價格約為每桶 70 美元。預計 90% 以上的未開發海上儲量將實現盈利。

As a result, commodity prices remain very supportive of continued investment in long cycle offshore projects.

因此，大宗商品價格仍然非常有利於長週期海上專案的持續投資。

The commodity pricing environment and the demand drivers for deep water in particular have provided a strong project pipeline that said this year, we have seen a year over year decline in the pace of contracting and a meaningful amount of customer demand being deferred into 2026.

大宗商品定價環境，特別是深水的需求驅動因素，提供了強大的專案儲備，今年我們看到承包速度逐年下降，大量客戶需求被推遲到 2026 年。

The primary drivers of these deferrals are availability of production equipment delayed. F PSO S protracted regulatory approvals and customers capital discipline while these factors have created some headwinds for next year. It is important to note that projects are being delayed as opposed to being canceled. Demonstrating our customers' commitment to deep water production as a key component of their production portfolios.

這些延期的主要驅動因素是生產設備的可用性延遲。F PSO S 的監管審批和客戶資本紀律曠日持久，而這些因素為明年帶來了一些阻力。值得注意的是，項目不是被取消，而是被推遲。展示我們的客戶對深水生產作為其生產組合的關鍵組成部分的承諾。

Our conviction in the strength of the market is bolstered by recent developments including major FIDS such as total energy's 10.5 billion Grand mgu Development of Shore Suriname and Exxon's reported $10 billion investment in a Deepwater project off.

最近的發展增強了我們對市場實力的信心，其中包括主要的 FIDS，例如 Total Energy 耗資 105 億美元的蘇利南海岸大開發項目，以及埃克森美孚報告的投資 100 億美元的深水項目。

In addition, we have seen further progression of tender processes for several long term programs for work offshore Brazil, West Africa and Southeast Asia.

此外，我們也看到巴西、西非和東南亞近海工作的幾個長期計畫的招標程序取得了進一步進展。

And we have also seen continued strength in day rates particularly for high specification drillships.

我們也看到日費率持續走強，尤其是高規格鑽井船。

Average day rate for seventh generation drillships have continued to increase year-to-date averaging approximately $500,000 in the third quarter.

年初至今，第七代鑽井船的平均日費率持續成長，第三季平均日費約為 50 萬美元。

The fact that average day rates remain strong despite a recent modest decline in marketed utilization demonstrates that customers see this relative softness is temporary and they are willing to pay solid rates to secure the best assets for their projects.

儘管近期市場利用率略有下降，但平均日費率仍然強勁，這一事實表明，客戶認為這種相對疲軟是暫時的，他們願意支付穩定的費率，以確保其項目獲得最佳資產。

From a floater fleet management perspective, our first priority is securing attractive long term contracts for our assets and we see a solid pipeline of opportunities for our high spec flow to fleet in 2026 and beyond.

從浮動船隊管理的角度來看，我們的首要任務是為我們的資產獲得有吸引力的長期合同，並且我們看到了 2026 年及以後我們的高規格船隊流動的堅實機會。

We're also focused on securing well programs that can provide a meaningful bridge to this longer term work.

我們也致力於確保油井計劃能夠為這項長期工作提供有意義的橋樑。

At the same time, prudent management of our active fleet and operating costs is also a priority. If a rig is expected to have a meaningful GAAP between contracts, we will warm stack it to lower daily operating cost as we are currently doing on GPS. Five and DS 10. Until we secure its next contract.

同時，審慎管理我們的現役機隊和營運成本也是當務之急。如果一個鑽孔機預計在合約之間具有有意義的 GAAP，我們將對其進行熱堆以降低日常營運成本，就像我們目前在 GPS 上所做的那樣。5 和 DS 10。直到我們獲得下一份合約。

Moving to shallow water, the global jackup market remains healthy with contracted recounts, utilization and day rates all relatively stable marketed utilization for the global jackup fleet is currently 93% and average day rates for the key markets where we operate have remained firm.

轉向淺水區，全球自升式鑽井平台市場保持健康，合約重新計票、利用率和日費率均相對穩定，全球自升式鑽井平台船隊的市場利用率目前為93%，我們營運的主要市場的平均日費率維持強勁。

In the North sea day. Rates are in the mid 100 thousands and in niche markets where we have a strong presence such as Australia and Trinidad day. Rates are in the mid to high 100 thousands.

北海日。價格在 10 萬左右，並且在我們擁有強大影響力的利基市場（例如澳洲和特立尼達日）。價格在10萬左右。

Looking more broadly at the jackup market of the 27 rigs suspended in Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, eight of these rigs have already been recontracted elsewhere and one is expected to be scrapped of the remaining rigs. We expect that less than half are competitive internationally. We mentioned on our last conference call that Valaris Jackups 147 and 148 which were leased to Arrow had received contract suspension notices from Aramco together with Arrow, we elected to terminate these contracts and the rigs are now stacked in the UAE alongside Valaris 143.

更廣泛地審視沙烏地阿拉伯暫停的 27 座鑽井平台的自升式鑽井平台市場。今年早些時候，其中八個鑽井平台已在其他地方重新承包，預計剩餘鑽井平台中的一個將被報廢。我們預計只有不到一半具有國際競爭力。我們在上次電話會議上提到，租賃給Arrow 的Valaris 自升式鑽井平台147 和148 已收到阿美公司和Arrow 的合同暫停通知，我們選擇終止這些合同，這些鑽井平台現在與Valaris 143 一起堆放在阿聯酋。

We intend to keep these rigs preservation stacked until we see sufficiently attractive opportunities that warrant making the necessary investment to bring them back into our active fleet. We have five rigs leased to Arrow that are due to complete their existing contracts at the end of 2024 or in 2025. And we are in active discussions with Aramco about extending these rigs in the North Sea market. Conditions remain balanced with ALL20 active jackups in the UK. Danish and Dutch sectors currently contracted and just three rigs stacked in the region despite some long anticipated changes to the energy profits levy in the UK which were confirmed yesterday. In the new UK budget, we see continued customer interest in the region including multiyear opportunities that are expected to start in late 2025 or early 2026.

我們打算繼續保留這些鑽井平台，直到我們看到足夠有吸引力的機會，需要進行必要的投資，將它們帶回我們的活躍船隊。我們向 Arrow 租賃了 5 個鑽井平台，這些鑽井平台將於 2024 年底或 2025 年完成現有合約。我們正在與阿美公司積極討論在北海市場擴展這些鑽井平台的問題。英國 ALL20 活躍自升式鑽井平台的狀況保持平衡。儘管昨天確認了英國能源利潤稅的一些長期預期變化，但丹麥和荷蘭部門目前出現收縮，該地區僅有三座鑽井平台。在新的英國預算中，我們看到客戶對該地區的持續興趣，包括預計將於 2025 年底或 2026 年初開始的多年機會。

We have good contract coverage through 2025 for our North sea rigs and see customer demand that lines up well with our limited availability next year.

我們的北海鑽井平台擁有到 2025 年的良好合約覆蓋範圍，並且看到客戶需求與我們明年有限的可用性非常吻合。

Now I'll hand the call over to Matt to highlight our recent contract awards. Discuss the floater and jackup markets in more detail and provide some additional color on our contracting outlook.

現在我將把電話交給馬特，重點介紹我們最近授予的合約。更詳細地討論浮式鑽井平台和自升式鑽井平台市場，並為我們的承包前景提供一些額外的資訊。

Thanks Anton and good morning and afternoon. Everyone. I wanted to begin by stating that our team is focused on building contract backlog by securing attractive contracts at solid day rates and we see a few opportunities in late 2025 and a strong pipeline of projects commencing in 2026 and beyond that will further support. Valaris' expected earnings and cash flow growth since our second quarter earnings call, we've secured new contracts and extensions with associated contract backlog of approximately 257 million.

謝謝安東，早安，下午好。每個人。我首先想說的是，我們的團隊專注於透過以穩定的日費率獲得有吸引力的合約來建立合約積壓，我們在2025 年末看到了一些機會，並且在2026 年及以後開始的大量項目將進一步提供支援。自第二季財報電話會議以來，Valaris 的預期收益和現金流增長，我們已獲得新合約和延期，相關合約積壓約 2.57 億份。

These awards were primarily for our jackup fleet including a three year contract for Valaris 118 with BP Offshore Trinidad at a solid day rate. This contract strengthens our position in this attractive niche market where we currently have two jackups with long term work at day rates in the mid to high one hundreds. In addition, we secured a 300 day extension for Lori 117, offshore Mexico and added backlog to the 247 offshore Australia amongst our floaters. A customer recently exercised a six month priced option for the Velaris Ds nine. And we are either in active discussions or participating in ongoing tenders for several of our rigs. While these discussions and tenders can take time, we expect that these will be concluded between now and our next earnings conference call and we look forward to providing updates in due course, moving on to the opportunities we see in the market, the pipeline for work commencing primarily in 2026 remains strong. We have recently seen some programs awarded and a few other new opportunities arise. And as a result, we are still tracking approximately 30 long term floater opportunities that we expect will turn into contracts consistent with previous quarters. We continue to see the greatest number of opportunities for programs offshore Africa. We are currently tracking roughly a dozen long term opportunities which could lead to incremental demand requiring up to four additional rigs in the region. By the end of 2026 these opportunities include several multiyear programs with IOCS offshore Nigeria that have expected start dates in 2026.

這些合約主要針對我們的自升式鑽井船隊，包括與 BP Offshore Trinidad 簽訂的為期三年的 Valaris 118 合同，按固定日費率提供。該合約鞏固了我們在這個有吸引力的利基市場中的地位，目前我們擁有兩艘自升式鑽井平台，可長期作業，日費率在數百美元左右。此外，我們還為墨西哥近海的 Lori 117 獲得了 300 天的延期，並為澳洲近海的 247 浮標增加了積壓。一位客戶最近對 Velaris Ds 9 行使了六個月的價格選擇。我們正在積極討論或參與我們的多個鑽孔機的持續招標。雖然這些討論和招標可能需要時間，但我們預計這些討論和招標將在現在和下一次收益電話會議之間完成，我們期待在適當的時候提供最新信息，繼續討論我們在市場上看到的機會、工作管道主要從 2026 年開始仍然強勁。我們最近看到一些項目獲得了獎項，並且出現了一些其他新的機會。因此，我們仍在追蹤大約 30 個長期浮動動機會，我們預計這些機會將轉化為與前幾季一致的合約。我們繼續看到非洲近海計畫的機會最多。我們目前正在追蹤大約十幾個長期機會，這些機會可能會導致需求增加，需要在該地區增加多達四個鑽孔機。到 2026 年底，這些機會包括與 IOCS 尼日利亞近海合作的多個多年期項目，預計啟動日期為 2026 年。

We anticipate that we may see contract awards for at least one of these ongoing tenders before the end of the year with a further two expected to follow in early 2025.

我們預計，在今年年底之前，我們可能會看到至少其中一項正在進行的招標獲得合同，另外兩項預計將在 2025 年初獲得合約。

We also see long term demand in several other countries offshore Africa, including Egypt, Ghana and Mozambique in Namibia. We anticipate the significant exploration success over the past couple of years will lead to long term development programs commencing later in the decade, offshore Brazil. Petrobras recently awarded two long term contracts for its Hunko program. Petrobras has a further two tenders in process for up to an additional seven rigs for which we expect to see contract awards confirmed in the coming months. These programs will keep many rigs occupied into 2028 and 2029 demonstrating the longevity of customer demand in Brazil. This positive long term outlook is further supported by reports that petrobras' new five year plan could see an 8% increase in CapEx and a greater focus on maintaining oil and gas production.

我們也看到非洲其他幾個近海國家的長期需求，包括埃及、加納和納米比亞的莫三比克。我們預計過去幾年的重大勘探成功將導致在本十年晚些時候在巴西近海啟動長期開發計劃。巴西國家石油公司 (Petrobras) 最近為其 Hunko 專案授予了兩份長期合約。巴西國家石油公司還有另外兩項招標正在進行中，涉及最多七個鑽井平台，我們預計將在未來幾個月內確認合約授予。這些計劃將使許多鑽井平台在 2028 年和 2029 年保持使用狀態，證明了巴西客戶需求的持久性。有報導稱，巴西國家石油公司的新五年計畫可能會增加 8% 的資本支出，並更加重視維持石油和天然氣生產，這進一步支持了這種積極的長期前景。

In addition, Brazil's National Petroleum Agency recently announced plans to add three new presalt areas to its 2025 bidding rounds further reinforcing the country's focus on exploring and developing its prolific presalt resources.

此外，巴西國家石油局最近宣布計劃在 2025 年招標中增加三個新的鹽下區域，進一步加強該國對勘探和開發豐富的鹽下資源的重視。

In summary, we expect Brazil to continue to be the largest market for benign environment floaters with potential for incremental demand through a combination of Petrobras and IOC programs moving to the Gulf of Mexico. We expect this market to remain fairly balanced with demand largely met by existing supply in the region. While we do not expect the Gulf of Mexico to be a meaningful driver of incremental demand. Recent contracting activity in the basin has been positive with the number of drillship fixtures, rig years awarded and day rates all higher through the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, outside of the major floater markets, we see incremental demand from Surinam supported by total energy's recent F ID which is expected to require two floaters for multiyear programs starting in 2026. We have also seen an uptick in demand in Southeast Asia with several operators looking at opportunities that could require incremental rigs in the region with one long term program expected to be awarded before the year end.

總之，我們預期巴西將繼續成為良性環境浮式浮標的最大市場，透過巴西國家石油公司和國際石油公司移至墨西哥灣的計畫相結合，有可能增加需求。我們預計該市場將保持相當平衡，需求主要由該地區現有供應滿足。雖然我們預計墨西哥灣不會成為需求增量的有意義的驅動力。該盆地最近的承包活動一直積極，到2024 年前9 個月，鑽井船固定裝置數量、授予的鑽機年數和日費率均高於去年同期，在主要浮式浮式平台市場之外，我們看到需求增量來自蘇利南的項目得到了 Total Energy 最近的 FID 的支持，預計從 2026 年開始的多年計劃將需要兩個浮動項目。我們也看到東南亞的需求上升，一些營運商正在尋找可能需要在該地區增加鑽機的機會，其中一個長期計劃預計將在年底前授予。

As Anton noted the global jackup market remains healthy in the major benign environment regions. We have seen Southeast Asia, China and India all adding rigs so far this year offset by a decline in the contracted rig count in the Middle East, primarily driven by the decrease in Saudi Arabia in the North Sea market conditions remain balanced and we are currently tracking around 10 opportunities for work with IO CS or independent operators that are expected to start in late 2025 or early 2026. These are mostly new energy projects and plugin abandonment campaigns as well as a few oil and gas programs that are well suited for our rigs in the region. The expected firm duration of these opportunities is more than 1.5 years on average, which is a good sign for the continued health of this market. I'm now going to review our outlook for rigs with 2025 availability starting with our floaters. The VR Ds 10 finished its contract in early August. After more than six years of continuous work offshore Nigeria, the rig had excellent operational performance for its customer during this time and we feel very positive about its prospects for future work that is expected to commence in late 2025 or early 2026.

正如安東所指出的那樣，全球自升式鑽井平台市場在主要良性環境地區仍然保持健康。我們看到東南亞、中國和印度今年迄今都增加了鑽井平台數量，但被中東合約鑽井平台數量的下降所抵消，這主要是由於沙烏地阿拉伯在北海的減少造成的，市場狀況保持平衡，我們目前正在追蹤大約10 個與IO CS 或獨立營運商合作的機會，預計將於2025 年底或2026 年初開始。這些主要是新能源項目和插件廢棄活動以及一些非常適合我們在該地區的鑽井平台的石油和天然氣項目。這些機會的預期穩定持續時間平均超過 1.5 年，這是該市場持續健康發展的好兆頭。我現在將回顧我們對 2025 年可用鑽機的展望，首先是我們的浮式鑽機。VR Ds 10 於 8 月初完成了合約。經過六年多在尼日利亞海上的連續工作，該鑽井平台在此期間為客戶提供了出色的營運性能，我們對其未來工作的前景非常樂觀，預計將於 2025 年底或 2026 年初開始。

The DS 12 and DS 18 are both expected to complete their current contracts in 2025 with DS 12 expected to continue its current program with BP offshore Egypt into February and the Ds 18 contracted to Chevron in the Gulf of Mexico until August. We are pursuing opportunities for both rigs that could commence in 2025 and 2026. Also in the Gulf of Mexico DPS five completed its contract with E&I in July and is currently idle. We are in active discussions regarding opportunities for the rig in the Gulf of Mexico and other regions.

DS 12 和DS 18 預計將於2025 年完成目前的合同，其中DS 12 預計將在埃及近海繼續其與BP 的當前項目至2 月，而DS 18 則與墨西哥灣的雪佛龍簽訂合同至8 月。我們正在尋找可能在 2025 年和 2026 年啟動的兩個鑽井平台的機會。同樣在墨西哥灣，DPS 5 艘於 7 月完成了與 E&I 的合同，目前處於閒置狀態。我們正在積極討論墨西哥灣和其他地區鑽井平台的機會。

We are focused on building a meaningful work program for the rig next year that generates solid EBITA and cash flow.

我們明年的重點是為該鑽機制定一個有意義的工作計劃，以產生穩定的息稅折舊攤提前利潤和現金流。

But if we are unable to do so, we will consider removing the rig from our active fleet in Australia. MS One is due to finish its current contract in the second quarter and we are in active discussions for work commencing in the second half of 2025.

但如果我們無法做到這一點，我們將考慮將該鑽機從我們在澳洲的現役船隊中移除。MS One 將於第二季度完成當前合同，我們正在積極討論 2025 年下半年開始的工作。

That would suit a moored rig like the MS one, our other floater in Australia DPS. One could work into the third or fourth quarter of next year depending on whether the customer exercises its option. After that opportunities, we see today for a dynamically positioned rig like the DPS one in country are expected to start in mid 2026. In terms of our jackup fleet, we have only two jackups operating in the benign environment regions outside the Middle East with meaningful availability in 2025 Valaris 247 in Australia and Valaris 106 in Indonesia. We have good visibility into additional work for these rigs either through new programs or the expected exercise of options in the Middle East. We are in ongoing discussions with the ACO regarding extensions for five rigs that are due to complete their existing lease terms at the end of 2024 or in 2025.

這適合像 MS 那樣的繫泊鑽機，MS 是我們在澳洲 DPS 的另一個浮標。可能會持續到明年第三或第四季度，具體取決於客戶是否行使選擇權。在這些機會之後，我們今天看到像 DPS 這樣的動態定位鑽機預計將於 2026 年中期在該國啟動。就我們的自升式鑽井平台船隊而言，我們只有兩艘自升式鑽井平台在中東以外環境良好的地區運營，並於 2025 年投入使用，分別是澳洲的 Valaris 247 和印尼的 Valaris 106。透過新計劃或預期在中東執行的選擇，我們對這些鑽井平台的額外工作有很好的了解。我們正在與 ACO 就五台鑽機的延期事宜進行持續討論，這些鑽機將於 2024 年底或 2025 年完成現有租賃條款。

Lastly, we have strong contract coverage in 2025 for our North sea jackups with less than one year of availability across our nine rig active fleet, aside from some short term gaps as rigs transition between contracts or complete planned out of service periods. We expect our active North Sea fleet to be fully sold out in 2025. In summary, we continue to focus on building contract backlog and capitalizing on the robust pipeline of opportunities that will support our expected earnings and cash flow growth. I will now hand the call over to Chris to take you through the financials.

最後，我們的北海自升式鑽井平台在2025 年擁有強大的合約覆蓋範圍，除了合約之間的鑽井平台過渡或完全計劃停用期間出現的一些短期間隙外，我們的九個活躍鑽井平台的可用性不到一年。我們預計我們現役的北海船隊將在 2025 年全部售罄。總而言之，我們繼續專注於建立合約積壓並利用強大的機會管道，以支持我們的預期收益和現金流成長。現在我將把電話轉給克里斯，讓他向您介紹財務狀況。

Thanks Matt and good morning and afternoon. Everyone in my prepared remarks, I'll begin with an overview of the third quarter results and then walk through our outlook for the fourth quarter starting with our third quarter results. Revenue was $643 million up from $610 million in the prior quarter and adjusted EBIDA was $150 million up from $139 million in the prior quarter.

謝謝馬特，早安，下午好。在我準備好的發言中，我將首先概述第三季的業績，然後從第三季的業績開始概述我們對第四季的展望。營收為 6.43 億美元，高於上一季的 6.10 億美元，調整後的 EBIDA 為 1.5 億美元，高於上一季的 1.39 億美元。

Adjusted EBIDA increased in the third quarter, primarily due to a full quarter of operations for Valaris Ds seven following its contract start up late in the second quarter and higher average daily revenue for the floater fleet primarily related to DS 16 which started a new higher day rate contract late in the second quarter.

第三季調整後的EBIDA 有所增加，主要是由於Valaris Ds 7 的合約在第二季末啟動後整個季度的運營，以及主要與DS 16 相關的浮動船隊平均每日收入的增加，該船隊開始了新的更高的一天第二季末的利率合約。

These items were partially offset by lower utilization for DPS 5 and DS 10 which completed contracts during the third quarter and out of service time and repair cost for the 249 due to leg repairs.

這些項目被第三季完成合約的 DPS 5 和 DS 10 利用率下降以及 249 由於支線維修而停運和維修成本所部分抵銷。

Our third quarter, Ebida came in better than our guidance. Primarily due to our strong operating performance.

我們第三季的埃比達業績好於我們的指導。主要是由於我們強勁的經營業績。

Third quarter CapEx came in at $82 million which is slightly lower than our guidance due to timing as some spin shifted from the third quarter to the fourth quarter.

第三季資本支出為 8,200 萬美元，略低於我們的指導，原因是一些旋轉從第三季轉移到了第四季。

We ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $392 million. And our $375 million revolving credit facility remains fully available providing total liquidity of $767 million.

本季結束時，我們的現金和現金等價物為 3.92 億美元。我們的 3.75 億美元循環信貸額度仍然完全可用，提供總流動性 7.67 億美元。

During the quarter, we generated $193 million of cash flow from operations which benefited from a partial unwind of the working capital build in the prior quarter.

本季度，我們從營運中產生了 1.93 億美元的現金流，這得益於上一季營運資本建設的部分放鬆。

This was partially offset by capital expenditures providing $111 million of free cash flow.

這被提供 1.11 億美元自由現金流的資本支出部分抵銷。

We repurchased $100 million of shares in the third quarter at an average price of $57 per share in total. We have repurchased $300 million of shares since we started our program last year and we still have $300 million of remaining capacity under our share repurchase authorization.

我們在第三季以每股 57 美元的平均價格回購了 1 億美元的股票。自去年啟動計畫以來，我們已回購了 3 億美元的股票，根據股票回購授權，我們仍有 3 億美元的剩餘產能。

Moving now to our fourth quarter outlook. We expect total revenues in the range of $570 million to $590 million down from $643 million in the third quarter.

現在轉向我們的第四季展望。我們預計總營收在 5.7 億至 5.9 億美元之間，低於第三季的 6.43 億美元。

Revenues are expected to decrease primarily due to lower utilization for the floater fleet, largely due to DS 10 and DPS five. They are expected to be idle in the fourth quarter, DS 15 completing its short contract with BP and reverting to its legacy contract with total energies which is at a lower day rate and lower amortized revenue for Valeras 247. As mobilization revenue and expense associated with its move from the North Sea to Australia was largely recognized in the third quarter.

預計收入下降的主要原因是浮式船隊的使用率較低，這主要是由於 DS 10 和 DPS 5 造成的。預計它們將在第四季度閒置，DS 15 完成與 BP 的短期合同，並恢復其總能量的舊合同，Valeras 247 的日費率較低，攤銷收入也較低。由於與從北海轉移到澳洲相關的動員收入和費用在第三季基本得到確認。

We expect contract drilling expense of $400 million to $410 million down from $462 million in the third quarter is expected to decrease primarily due to lower amortized mobilization expense associated with the 247. As I just mentioned, lower expense for DS four as its costs are being capitalized during its shipyard upgrade project prior to the start of its next contract with Petrobras later in the fourth quarter and lower cost for the DS 10 and DPS five. As we transition the rigs to warm stack mode, we anticipate G and a expense of approximately $30 million compared to $31 million in the third quarter.

我們預計合約鑽井費用將從第三季的 4.62 億美元降至 4 億美元至 4.1 億美元，預計下降的主要原因是與 247 相關的攤銷動員費用降低。正如我剛才提到的，DS 4 的費用較低，因為在第四季度晚些時候與巴西國家石油公司簽訂下一份合約之前，其造船廠升級項目已將其成本資本化，而DS 10 和DPS 5 的成本較低。當我們將鑽機轉換為熱堆模式時，我們預計 G 和費用約為 3000 萬美元，而第三季為 3100 萬美元。

Adjusted EBIDA is expected to be $135 million to $155 million compared to $150 million in the third quarter.

調整後的 EBIDA 預計為 1.35 億至 1.55 億美元，而第三季為 1.5 億美元。

This provides an expected full year 2024 EBIDA of approximately $490 million at the midpoint of our fourth quarter guidance range.

這預計 2024 年全年 EBIDA 約為 4.9 億美元，處於我們第四季度指導範圍的中點。

This is at the lower end of our prior guidance as we no longer expect DS 10 nor DPS five to work for the remainder of the year total. CapEx in the fourth quarter is expected to be $120 million to $130 million.

這是我們之前指導的下限，因為我們不再期望 DS 10 或 DPS 5 在今年剩餘時間內發揮作用。第四季資本支出預計為 1.2 億至 1.3 億美元。

This is higher than CapEx in the third quarter due to spend related to the upgrade projects for Valaris DS four and 144 prior to their long term contracts offshore Brazil and Angola respectively, as well as the CapEx spend that I previously mentioned, shifting from the third quarter to the fourth quarter.

這高於第三季的資本支出，因為與 Valaris DS 4 和 144 分別在巴西和安哥拉海上簽訂長期合約之前的升級項目相關的支出，以及我之前提到的從第三季度轉向的資本支出季度到第四季。

Looking ahead to 2025 we plan to provide full year 2025 guidance on our fourth quarter earnings call when we expect to have better visibility on the outlook for rigs that are completing contracts next year.

展望 2025 年，我們計劃在第四季度財報電話會議上提供 2025 年全年指引，屆時我們預計將更了解明年即將完成合約的鑽機的前景。

I'll now hand the call back to Anton for some closing remarks.

現在我將把電話轉回給安東，讓其作總結發言。

Thanks Chris. I want to reiterate some of the key points we covered today.

謝謝克里斯。我想重申我們今天討論的一些要點。

First, thanks to the outstanding execution of the entire Valeras team. We delivered another good quarter with strong operating performance and financial results including solid free cash flow generation.

首先，感謝整個 Valeras 團隊出色的執行力。我們又實現了一個良好的季度，擁有強勁的營運業績和財務業績，包括穩定的自由現金流生成。

Second, while we have seen some customer demand deferred the pipeline of future opportunities in 2026 and beyond remains robust. We are focused on securing attractive long term contracts and prudently managing our fleet to support our earnings and cash flow growth.

其次，雖然我們看到一些客戶需求推遲了 2026 年及以後的未來機會，但仍然強勁。我們專注於獲得有吸引力的長期合約並謹慎管理我們的機隊以支持我們的收入和現金流成長。

Third, as expected, our free cash flow profile improved relative to the first half of the year and we repurchased $100 million of shares during the third quarter.

第三，正如預期的那樣，我們的自由現金流狀況相對於上半年有所改善，並且我們在第三季回購了 1 億美元的股票。

We remain committed to returning all future free cash flow to shareholders unless there is a better or more value creative use for it.

我們仍然致力於將所有未來的自由現金流返還給股東，除非有更好或更有價值的創意用途。

In summary, we believe that valaris is well positioned to benefit from the strength and duration of the structural upcycle and deliver long term value to our shareholders. We thank our employees, customers and investors for their support. We've now reached the end of our prepared remarks. Operator. Please open the line for questions.

總而言之，我們相信 valaris 處於有利地位，能夠從結構性升級週期的強度和持續時間中受益，並為我們的股東帶來長期價值。我們感謝員工、客戶和投資者的支持。我們準備好的發言現在已經結束了。操作員。請打開提問專線。

Thank you. We'll now begin the question and answer session to ask a question. You may press star then one on your touchtone phone.

謝謝。我們現在將開始問答環節來提出問題。您可以按按鍵式電話上的星號，然後按一個。

If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys to withdraw your question. Please press star and then two at this time, we'll pause momentarily to assemble our roster.

如果您使用免持電話，請在按按鍵撤回問題之前拿起聽筒。此時請按星號，然後按兩顆星，我們將暫停片刻以集合我們的名單。

Our first question comes from Eddie Kim from Barclays. Please go ahead.

我們的第一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的艾迪金。請繼續。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for all that market color. Yeah, just in light of the, the white space for next year and, and some deferred demand. Just wanted to ask about your expectations on the trajectory of day rates. We, we've been in kind of the high four hundreds for some time now. But for next year, I mean, should we expect some pressure for, for leading edge day rates to drift lower maybe into the the mid 400 s type of range before ramping up again in, in 26. Just curious how you're thinking about the day rate progression over the next 12 to 18 months.

嘿，早安。感謝所有市場色彩。是的，只是考慮到明年的空白以及一些延遲的需求。只是想問一下您對日費率軌蹟的期望。我們，我們進入前四百名已經有一段時間了。但對於明年，我的意思是，我們是否應該預期會面臨一些壓力，因為前沿日利率可能會下降到 400 年代中期的範圍，然後在 26 年再次上升。只是好奇您如何看待未來 12 至 18 個月的日費率進展。

And that's a, it's a good question. Let me, let me start off and then maybe Mac can add some color if he wants. Look, I think it's, it's gratifying to see that day rates have continued to increase kind of quarter over quarter through the year. I think we can see some variety in in day rights as we go forward to next year, especially with some white space. What we see is that customers are willing to pay solid day rates, you know, in the in the ranges, you're talking about mid to high four hundreds and into the five hundreds as we've seen and then we've recently contracted, for example, in 17 for high specification assets in the right market. So I think it's going to be a little bit dependent on, you know, the quality of the asset that's being contracted, the market's being contracted into. But we may see some variety especially after as people chase kind of bridge work or shorter term programs to bridge the longer term work.

這是一個很好的問題。讓我，讓我開始吧，然後如果 Mac 願意的話，也許他可以添加一些顏色。聽著，我認為，令人欣慰的是看到日費率在一年中逐季持續成長。我認為，隨著明年的到來，我們可以看到當天版權的一些變化，尤其是一些空白。我們看到的是，客戶願意支付固定的日費率，你知道，在這個範圍內，你所說的是中高四百到五百，正如我們所看到的，然後我們最近簽訂了合同例如， 17 表示合適市場中的高規格資產。所以我認為這將有點取決於，你知道，正在簽署的資產的質量，正在簽約的市場的質量。但我們可能會看到一些變化，尤其是當人們追求某種橋樑工作或短期專案來銜接長期工作時。

But we think the outlook for day rates are solid.

但我們認為日費率的前景是穩固的。

Got it, got it great to hear. And just my follow up is, is on the commentary around seeing some customer demand deferred. I is this both on Deepwater and shallow water work or, or was that more of a Deepwater comment? And, and separately, we highlighted the availability of production equipment and delayed F PSO S as some of the reasons why we're seeing these delays, any additional color you can provide on, on maybe when the bottlenecks in the shipyards for F PSO S is expected to lift. I guess the concern is that if these bottlenecks last longer than expected, that then it's possible that, you know, whitespace could extend beyond next year as well. So just any color on that would be great.

明白了，很高興聽到。我的後續行動是，關於看到一些客戶需求被推遲的評論。我是關於深水和淺水工作的，還是，或者這更多是關於深水的評論？並且，我們分別強調了生產設備的可用性和延遲的 F PSO S 作為我們看到這些延遲的一些原因，您可以提供任何其他顏色，也許當造船廠出現 F PSO S 瓶頸時預計會解除。我想人們擔心的是，如果這些瓶頸持續的時間比預期的長，那麼空白也可能會延續到明年之後。所以任何顏色都很棒。

A very fair question. I'd say it's more a more a deep water phenomenon. These kind of large long term developments, the yards are really, really busy, you know, F PSO S are, are taking longer to come out of the yard and there have been some delays and I think our customers are, you know, prudently managing their business and tying when the wells are drilled to when the production equipment and the F PSO S are, are ready to produce that. But, you know, as, as with a lot of things in the, in the supply chain, they become more even if delivery times, for example, of equipment start being extended and are sustained. It's about being more prepared and you know, aligning with the realistic timeline for production equipment to to to be developed. So we see it more as a, as a transitory issue than a than a than an ongoing issue because expecting that an F PSO will take a year or two longer because the yards are, are, are taking longer to build them and they're busy. You know, ultimately that supply chain gets stabilized as we saw, you know, kind of in our business with, with delivery of oil of oilfield equipment.

這是一個非常公平的問題。我想說這更像是深水現象。這些大型長期開發項目，造船廠真的非常非常繁忙，你知道，F PSO S 需要更長的時間才能從造船廠出來，並且出現了一些延誤，我認為我們的客戶，你知道，謹慎地管理他們的業務，並在鑽井時綁定，直到生產設備和F PSO S 準備好生產。但是，你知道，就像供應鏈中的許多事情一樣，即使設備的交貨時間開始延長並持續下去，它們也會變得更加困難。您知道，這是為了更充分的準備，與要開發的生產設備的實際時間表保持一致。因此，我們更多地將其視為暫時性問題，而不是一個持續存在的問題，因為預計F PSO 將需要一到兩年的時間，因為造船廠需要更長的時間來建造它們，而且它們正在忙碌的。你知道，最終供應鏈會變得穩定，正如我們在我們的業務中看到的那樣，隨著油田設備的石油交付。

Right. Right. Okay, great. Thanks for that caller. I'll turn it back.

正確的。正確的。好的，太好了。謝謝那個來電者。我會把它轉回來。

Sure. Absolutely.

當然。絕對地。

The next question comes from David Smith from Pickering Energy Partners. Please go ahead.

下一個問題來自 Pickering Energy Partners 的 David Smith。請繼續。

Hey, good morning and thank you for taking my questions.

嘿，早上好，謝謝你回答我的問題。

Morning morning, Dave.

早上好，戴夫。

Regarding the rigs that that have been warm stacked. Could you share some color on, on your ability to reduce the cost of, of that idle period, you know, kind of the timing and magnitude and you know how we should think about any, you know, catch up costs once that, that rig secures work.

關於已經熱堆放的鑽孔機。您能否分享一些關於您降低空閒期成本的能力，您知道，時間和幅度，您知道我們應該如何考慮任何，您知道，一旦發生這種情況，就可以彌補成本鑽機確保工作安全。

Sure, absolutely. Look, I can, I can, I think, I think about it this way. You know, so, so what are we going to do when we warm stack a rig? So one would be reducing manning. So down to, you know, to, to class required minimum manning to, to run the rig. There'd be some, some maintenance and projects and if possible, you would, you would bring the rig key side so you can reduce, you know, fuel costs. Now, that's not always possible, but where, where that is possible. So I think you can think of in terms of over a period of time, maybe about 90 days getting cost down to the kind of, you know, $60,000 range, and a, and a, and a similar ramp up. What that means for, for, you know, bringing the rig back to work, you know, very few of these programs. You don't contract a Deepwater rig and then go to work next week. So you certainly have enough, you know, enough time based on the way that the the contracting cycle works to, to ramp those rigs up for just about any opportunity that's available. What your, you know, cost to put that back, one would be ramping up the cruise and then also, you know, catching up on some of the maintenance as you minimize your spend during the warm stack period. And that's largely dependent on, you know, how long the rig would be warm stacked. But I'll think about that in terms of, you know, kind of the $5 million to $10 million number. You know, for a, for a reasonable warm stack period.

當然，絕對。你看，我可以，我可以，我想，我這樣想。你知道，那麼，當我們熱堆裝備時我們要做什麼？因此，我們需要減少人員配備。因此，您知道，到班級所需的最低人員配備，以運行鑽機。會有一些，一些維護和項目，如果可能的話，你會，你會帶來鑽孔機的關鍵部分，這樣你就可以減少，你知道的，燃料成本。現在，這並不總是可能的，但在哪裡、哪裡是可能的。所以我認為你可以考慮在一段時間內，也許大約 90 天，將成本降低到 60,000 美元的範圍，然後，然後，以及類似的上升。這意味著什麼，讓設備恢復工作，這些程序很少。你不會簽訂深水鑽井平台合同，然後下週就去工作。因此，根據合約週期的運作方式，您當然有足夠的時間來增加這些鑽孔機，以抓住任何可用的機會。你知道，恢復原狀的成本是，一方面要加快巡航速度，另一方面要趕上一些維護工作，因為你可以在熱堆期間最大限度地減少開支。這很大程度取決於鑽孔機熱堆疊的時間。但我會從 500 萬到 1000 萬美元的數字來考慮這個問題。你知道，對於一個合理的熱堆週期。

Yeah. And I&I would add, you know, for a ship, we're looking at about 60,000 a day for OpEx in warm stack mode like Anton said, it takes about three months to ramp down to that. So for example, on the DS 10, we expect to be exiting the year at that run rate level DPS five is about 50,000 a day. And again, expect to be kind of hitting that run rate level by the end of the year.

是的。我&我想補充一點，你知道，對於一艘船，我們在熱堆疊模式下每天的運營支出約為 60,000，就像安東所說，大約需要三個月的時間才能下降到這個水平。例如，在 DS 10 上，我們預計今年結束時的運行率水準 DPS 5 約為每天 50,000 次。再次，預計到今年年底將達到該運行率水準。

Appreciate that color. And I, I follow up is I think you touched on it with commentary for the DPS five. But you know, could, could you please talk about your process for evaluating whether or not the preservation stack a rig and, and you know how that relevant criteria might vary by asset class if it does?

欣賞那個顏色。我，我想跟進的是，我認為您在對 DPS 5 的評論中談到了這一點。但是您知道，可以，請您談談您評估保存是否堆疊鑽機的流程，並且您知道相關標準可能會因資產類別而異（如果確實如此）？

Okay. Yeah, good, good question. Very broadly. When we think about when you think about preservation stacking versus cold stacking it, you know, there is a cost to preserve equipment, you know, in the, in the mid single digit millions and then a longer and more attractive protracted period to to, to bring it out of out of cold stack. If you, you know, out of preservation stack, so that's not something that you necessarily want to do if you see a pipeline to future opportunity, which we do see as strong, you know, we talked about a robust pipeline of opportunities, especially as we head into 2026. So kind of the break even on, on, you know, preservation stacking and assets, you need to not have line aside to opportunities around the, you know, the the two year mark. So given what we see in the market, we think it makes sense to, to warm stack these rigs be prudent in, in, you know, cash management, capital management until we can see which we can see the long term, you know, accretive opportunities that these, that these rigs will have. What you don't want to do is to keep a rig at full operating costs, chasing short term, intermittent work with full operating costs. In between on the GPS five, you know, versus the ships which are generally have slightly longer term contracts, You know, that rig operates in a market where the, the contracts are by nature, generally shorter term. So the our view on that is we can put, you know, a, an EBITA positive cash generating program together for it in 2025. And have line of sight to that. We will absolutely, you know, keep it warm stacked and, and seek that work. But just by nature, I was talking about before chasing short term work with high operating costs in between. If we don't believe that is possible, that might be a candidate for, for preservation stacking, but that's going to depend on, on kind of the line of sight to, to opportunities over the next few months.

好的。是的，好，好問題。非常廣泛。當我們考慮保存堆放與冷堆放時，你知道，保存設備的成本達到數百萬，然後是更長、更有吸引力的持續時間，將其從冷堆中取出。如果你，你知道，超出了保存堆疊，所以如果你看到未來機會的管道，那麼這不是你一定想做的事情，我們確實認為這是強大的，你知道，我們討論了強大的機會管道，特別是當我們邁入 2026 年。因此，在保值堆積和資產方面實現收支平衡，您不需要為兩年大關周圍的機會留有餘地。因此，考慮到我們在市場上看到的情況，我們認為有必要對這些鑽機進行熱堆，在現金管理、資本管理方面保持謹慎，直到我們能夠看到哪些是長期的，你知道，這些鑽機將擁有的增值機會。您不想做的就是讓鑽孔機保持全額營運成本，以全額營運成本追求短期、間歇性的工作。在 GPS 5 之間，你知道，與通常簽訂稍微長期合約的船舶相比，你知道，該鑽井平台在一個市場上運營，合約本質上通常是短期的。因此，我們對此的看法是，我們可以在 2025 年制定一個 EBITA 正現金產生計劃。並且有視線。你知道，我們絕對會保持溫暖，並尋求這項工作。但就本質而言，我所說的是在追求短期工作之前以及其間的高營運成本。如果我們不認為這是可能的，那可能是保存堆疊的候選者，但這將取決於未來幾個月的視線類型。

I appreciate all the call. Thank.

我感謝所有的來電。感謝。

You. That's it for me.

你。對我來說就是這樣。

The next question comes from Frederick Stein from Clarkson Securities. Please go ahead.

下一個問題來自克拉克森證券公司的弗雷德里克斯坦。請繼續。

Hey, Anton, I'm I'm team. I hope you're well and thank you for taking my question.

嘿，安東，我是我的團隊。我希望你一切都好，並感謝你提出我的問題。

So I wanted to, you know that there's been some, some press around a certain potential merger between some of your peers the last couple of weeks. So I was just wondering if you were able to, you know, comment on poor place in the M&A world currently, if you know, you see opportunities, if you want to be part of anything, are you still happy being a mixed player? You know, anything that in point obviously, consolidation and, and the way forward?

所以我想，你知道，過去幾週，有一些媒體報導了一些同行之間可能進行的合併。所以我只是想知道你是否能夠，你知道，評論目前併購世界中的糟糕處境，如果你知道，你看到了機會，如果你想成為任何事情的一部分，你仍然高興成為一個混合參與者嗎？你知道，有什麼明顯的意義，整合和前進的方向嗎？

Absolutely.

絕對地。

Thanks for the question. Look, we, we still believe that there is room in this market for, for additional consolidation, you know, in, in the offshore drilling space in general. Some of the M&A that we've seen, you know, thus far has been drilling contractors looking to high grade their fleet or, or chase, you know, additional high spec capacity in order to gain a scaled fleet. You know, we already have the scale that we need to be competitive, you know, in this business with the largest, you know, the largest fleet of water and we're in a very fortunate position, you know, 12 of our 13 ships are our seventh gen you know, the assets that are preferred by customers. So we feel very good about our fleet position. You know, that being said, we will look at opportunities for M&A if it's a creative and, and value creative for our shareholders, we'll absolutely engage in it. But we, you know, we, we're certainly not in a position where, you know, we need to, we, you know, are compelled to pursue M&A to, you know, either high grade athlete or to gain the scale that you need to be a player in this market.

謝謝你的提問。看，我們仍然相信，在這個市場上，總體上在海上鑽井領域還有進一步整合的空間。到目前為止，我們看到的一些併購一直是鑽井承包商希望提高其船隊的等級，或者追求額外的高規格產能，以獲得規模化的船隊。你知道，我們已經具備了具有競爭力所需的規模，你知道，在這個行業，擁有最大的、你知道的、最大的水船隊，我們處於一個非常幸運的位置，你知道，我們13 艘船中的12 艘您知道，船舶是我們的第七代資產，是客戶首選的資產。所以我們對我們的機隊地位感覺非常好。你知道，話雖這麼說，我們會尋找併購機會，如果它對我們的股東來說是一種創造性的、有價值的創造性，我們絕對會參與其中。但我們，你知道，我們，我們當然不會處於這樣的境地，你知道，我們需要，我們，你知道，被迫進行併購，你知道，要么是高水平的運動員，要么是為了獲得規模你需要成為這個市場的參與者。

And that's, that's, that's very helpful. I guess that kind of brings me to the second part of it since you emerged from chapter 11, some years back now, you have reactivated quite a few assets and there are still some more high quality assets on the sideline of the 1113 and 14.

這非常有幫助。我想這讓我想到了第二部分，因為你從第 11 章中出現，幾年前，你已經重新激活了相當多的資產，並且在 1113 和 14 的邊緣仍然有一些更高質量的資產。

But given the, you know, utilization that that the market is, is currently facing and, and that you've already discussed the warm stacking of the DS 10. For example, are you able to give us some updated thinking on how you view those assets that are already on the sideline? And I guess what I'm the most interested in is called an updated timeline for the potential activation of the 1113 and 14. But also if the fact that, you know, is warm stacking some of the floaters and jackup for that matter will accelerate any, you know, scrapping or retiring of the less capable assets that are also already on the sideline.

但考慮到市場目前面臨的利用率，並且您已經討論過 DS 10 的熱堆疊。例如，您能否提供我們一些關於您如何看待那些已經處於觀望狀態的資產的最新想法？我想我最感興趣的是 1113 和 14 潛在啟動的更新時間表。但事實上，你知道，一些浮式浮式平台和自升式鑽井平台的熱堆放會加速任何能力較差的資產的報廢或退役，而這些資產也已經處於邊緣狀態。

Sure. You, you're absolutely right. And I didn't, you know, one of the things I missed on, on answering your previous question was, you know, we have organic growth built into our fleet with the 1,113 and 14, you know, the 33 highest spec seventh gen two bop assets sitting on the timeline, sitting on the sidelines, you know, we bought those those assets the 1,314 at very attractive prices and, you know, given the the pipeline of opportunities that we see 2,627 and, you know, and on, you know, we, we continue to believe that that those will be a creative purchases for our shareholders that there will be a place for those rigs in the market. You're absolutely right. We have some, some headwinds coming and some white space for next year and our priority is first keeping our our active fleet, you know, highly utilized, you know, I don't think I can answer the question as, as, as far as timing to bring, you know, 1,113, & 14 back to market, they will come back to market. You know, when the right opportunities are there to bring those back to market. I think that's the answer to your question.

當然。你，你說得完全正確。我沒有，你知道，在回答你之前的問題時，我錯過的一件事是，你知道，我們的機隊擁有有機增長，擁有 1,113 和 14，你知道，33 最高規格的第七代兩個國際收支平衡表資產坐在時間線上，坐在場外，你知道，我們以非常有吸引力的價格購買了1,314 這些資產，而且，你知道，考慮到我們看到的機會管道2,627，你知道，等等，你知道，我們仍然相信，這些對我們的股東來說將是一次創造性的購買，這些鑽孔機將在市場上佔有一席之地。你是絕對正確的。明年我們將面臨一些逆風和一些空白，我們的首要任務是首先保持我們的活躍機隊，你知道，高度利用率，你知道，我認為我無法回答這個問題，因為，到目前為止您知道，隨著將1,113 和14 重新推向市場的時機到來，它們將重新推向市場。你知道，當有合適的機會將這些產品帶回市場時。我想這就是你問題的答案。

You know, that's I, I am, I guess, you know, it's difficult to, you know, exactly pinpoint this, but I was, I guess, is it fair to assume that they will now come, you know, slightly later than previously anticipated because you, you're prioritizing your, your warm fits?

你知道，這就是我，我，我想，你知道，很難，你知道，準確地指出這一點，但我是，我想，假設他們現在會來，你知道，稍微晚一點，這是公平的嗎？

Absolutely. Absolutely. Our first priority is keeping the active flute active fleet, you know, highly utilized, you know, warm stacking is, is, you know, prudent cash management and fleet management in the interim. But we can bring those rigs back in a relatively accelerated time frame, kind of, you know, 90 days versus a reactivation from preservation stack, which is around a year. And there will be an opportunity to put, you know, 1,113 and 14. I think it is fair to say it's on a, on a, on a slightly, you know, delayed timeline for what we would have expected kind of six or nine months ago. I sorry, I didn't answer to the other part of your question. I think this may be an opportunity and I'm speaking for the market in general, you know, overall to potentially see some less capable assets come out of the market because it won't make sense to, to preservation stack or keep lower spec sixth generation assets you know, stacked for a protracted timeline. So I, I think we may see depending on, on, you know, on you know, how the next year or so develops, we may see some additional capacity coming out of the market from a from an overall market perspective.

絕對地。絕對地。我們的首要任務是保持活躍的長笛活躍艦隊，你知道，高度利用率，你知道，溫暖的堆疊是，是，你知道，在此期間需要謹慎的現金管理和艦隊管理。但我們可以在相對較快的時間範圍內恢復這些設備，例如 90 天，而從保存堆疊中重新啟動則需要一年左右。而且還有機會輸入 1,113 和 14。我認為可以公平地說，與我們六到九個月前的預期相比，它的時間表略​​有延遲。抱歉，我沒有回答你問題的其他部分。我認為這可能是一個機會，我所說的是整個市場，你知道，總體而言，可能會看到一些能力較差的資產退出市場，因為保存堆疊或保持較低規格是沒有意義的你知道的第六代資產，在很長的時間內累積起來。因此，我認為我們可能會看到，取決於明年左右的發展情況，從整體市場的角度來看，我們可能會看到市場出現一些額外的產能。

Super that, that's very helpful. Anton. Thank you for, for, for such a thorough answer. I'll, I'll leave it at that and have a good Day.

超級好，非常有幫助。安東.謝謝您如此徹底的回答。我會，我就這樣吧，祝你有美好的一天。

Absolutely. Thanks for your questions.

絕對地。感謝您的提問。

The next question comes from Kurt Khalid from Benchmark. Please go ahead.

下一個問題來自 Benchmark 的 Kurt Khalid。請繼續。

Hey, good morning, everybody.

嘿，大家早安。

One go.

一試。

I always appreciate the the color and the insights. So I'm kind of curious Anton, you know, as you have indicated, right? A little bit of a lull here that we're going through. So, you know, I is it, how would you think about the priority or the strategy, you know, with respect to these idle assets? Right? There, there was some commentary from one of your competitors on an earlier call about a very robust pipeline as I think you've also indicated post 2025. So are you, are you more interested in getting these assets back into the market? Are you willing to kind of sit tight for a little bit and let other people take a little bit of a lower rate and and you can get a better rate, you know, maybe late in 25 into into early 26. So kind of curious on, on how you guys are strategizing.

我總是欣賞色彩和見解。所以我有點好奇安東，你知道，正如你所指出的，對嗎？我們正在經歷一點平靜。所以，你知道，我就是這樣，你會如何考慮這些閒置資產的優先順序或策略？正確的？在那裡，您的一位競爭對手在之前的一次電話會議上發表了一些關於非常強大的管道的評論，我認為您也指出了 2025 年之後的情況。那麼您是否更有興趣讓這些資產重返市場？你是否願意稍微坐穩一點，讓其他人接受一點較低的利率，而你可以獲得更好的利率，你知道，也許是在 25 月底到 26 月初。很好奇你們是如何制定戰略的。

No, I I think the overall market comments are right, you know, from a, from a market fundamentals perspective, we we feel good about the the the pipeline of opportunities, you know, especially into 26 and beyond. You know, one of the reasons you need scale in this business is to be able to manage your fleet as a portfolio and given the opportunities, you know, have prudent fleet management, you know, during the interim period where there is some headwinds, you know, minimize costs, you know, lower operating costs, warm stack rigs, take people off them, manage the maintenance spend and wait for the right opportunity. You know, our view on it is we are looking at the right long term opportunities for our assets to support our earnings and cash flow growth over the next few years. If we can find, you know, bridge programs, meaningful bridge programs to those, we will put the rigs to work. That's what we are going to do. What we're not going to do is is, you know, be spending full operating costs chasing one. Well, you know, low value, not a creed of opportunities at the end of the, when you, when you add up the periods that your full operating cost plus what you're working doesn't make sense for the business and for our shareholders. So we're willing to put, you know, to put rigs on the sidelines at, at warm stack for the right long term opportunity with a bridge to that. And if those opportunities aren't there, then we're, we're, you know, we will manage the costs accordingly and we can do that because we have a scaled fleet and we have a number of rigs on long term contracts.

不，我認為整體市場評論是正確的，你知道，從市場基本面的角度來看，我們對機會的管道感覺良好，你知道，特別是進入 26 及以後。你知道，你在這個業務中需要規模的原因之一是能夠將你的車隊作為一個投資組合進行管理，並且考慮到機會，你知道，在存在一些逆風的過渡時期進行審慎的車隊管理，你知道，最大限度地降低成本，降低營運成本，溫暖堆疊鑽機，將人員從其上撤離，管理維護支出並等待合適的機會。您知道，我們的觀點是，我們正在為我們的資產尋找合適的長期機會，以支持我們未來幾年的收益和現金流成長。如果我們能夠找到橋樑項目，對這些項目有意義的橋樑項目，我們就會讓鑽孔機投入使用。這就是我們要做的。你知道，我們不會做的是花費全部營運成本去追逐一個。好吧，你知道，低價值，不是機會的信條，當你，當你把你的全部運營成本加上你正在工作的時間加起來，對企業和我們來說沒有意義時股東。因此，我們願意將鑽孔機放在場邊，放在溫暖的堆疊上，以獲得正確的長期機會，並為此架起一座橋樑。如果沒有這些機會，那麼我們將相應地管理成本，我們可以做到這一點，因為我們擁有規模化的船隊，並且擁有許多簽訂長期合約的鑽機。

Okay? Yeah, that's fair. I appreciate that. So maybe one, maybe one follow up for you then, you know, again, you know, given how, you know, the, you know, the stock is, has been trading over the past year, you would think that, you know, day rates are about to be cut in half and and utilizations going into the tank. But you know, again, it seems like all indications are that your customer base has a high degree of comfort, or conviction, you know, in, in what their economics are for these programs. So I'm kind of curious as to what, you know, what you guys can teach us that, that we don't know, or that the market doesn't know that you guys do that and your customers know that maybe it can shed some light on, on, on, on the prospects here, right? Because again, it looks like the stock is trading like the cycle is over.

好的？是的，這很公平。我很欣賞這一點。因此，也許會有一個，也許會有一個後續行動，你知道，再一次，你知道，考慮到該股票在過去一年中的交易情況，你會認為，你知道，日費率即將減少一半，並且利用率將進入儲罐。但你知道，似乎所有跡像都表明，你的客戶群對這些計劃的經濟效益有很高的信心或信念。所以我很好奇你們能教我們什麼，我們不知道，或者市場不知道你們這樣做，而你們的客戶知道也許可以闡明了這裡的前景，對嗎？因為同樣，看起來該股的交易就像週期已經結束一樣。

I agree, my markets a markets are fickle. But what I think, what we look at is that global demand for hydrocarbons continues to increase, you know, offshore production. And in particular, deep water is set to be a solid and increasing part of that based on, you know, compelling economics of these programs, the need for the demand for secure and affordable energy. And our, and our customers need to, to, you know, to find new reserves in order to replace depletion. So, you know, we feel really good about, you know, the strength and duration of the cycle and you know, our job is to, is to manage into and through, through this upcycle. So, you know, I don't want to speculate on why, why the stock moves back and forth. But I tend to agree with you. We feel we feel good about, about the future and we will, you know, manage to a market that is driven by, you know, macro fundamentals that we see as solid for our business.

我同意，我的市場是變化無常的。但我認為，我們所看到的是，全球對碳氫化合物的需求持續增加，你知道，海上生產。特別是，深水將成為其中一個堅實且不斷增長的部分，因為這些項目具有令人信服的經濟效益，以及對安全和負擔得起的能源的需求。我們和我們的客戶需要尋找新的儲備來彌補枯竭。所以，你知道，我們對週期的強度和持續時間感覺非常好，你知道，我們的工作就是管理進入並度過這個上升週期。所以，你知道，我不想猜測為什麼股票會來回波動。但我傾向同意你的觀點。我們對未來感覺良好，我們將管理一個由宏觀基本面驅動的市場，我們認為這些基本面對我們的業務是堅實的。

Okay, appreciate.

好的，欣賞。

It. Thank you.

它。謝謝。

Thanks.

謝謝。

The next question comes from Josh Jane from Daniel Energy Partners. Please go Ahead.

下一個問題來自 Daniel Energy Partners 的 Josh Jane。請繼續。

Thanks. Good morning. Anton. Just to follow up on that point a little bit. I think in your opening remarks, you talked about a $70 a barrel oil price and noted that 90% of offshore projects are still profitable at this low level and I wanted to dig in a bit there. That was for all of offshore, correct, not just deep water and then maybe any additional color on the price of which Deepwater projects speci specifically that are being contemplated would not move forward. I I know it's going to vary by region and operator, but maybe just some insights there would be helpful.

謝謝。早安.安東.只是為了跟進這一點。我想您在開場白中談到了每桶 70 美元的油價，並指出 90% 的海上項目在如此低的水平下仍然有利可圖，我想深入探討一下。這適用於所有近海項目，正確的，而不僅僅是深水項目，而且深水項目具體指定的價格上的任何其他顏色可能不會繼續推進。我知道它會因地區和運營商的不同而有所不同，但也許只是一些見解會有幫助。

No, absolutely. I mean, that number is for, for all offshore. I think if you go look at our invested, we have a, we have a slide in there about where, you know, at each price level where, where, where the production costs are and say, you know, the most significant, you know, the the band where the most significant amount of that production and it is well clear of $70 a barrel, you know, in the, you know, 2030 $40 range and a lot of these large developments that our customers are chasing are in that range, you know, the 2030. So there is, you know, plenty of, of clear space beyond where, where current, you know, even spot and, and long term rent is, you know, that justified the economics for these programs are compelling. They are compelling at, at that, at that price level.

不，絕對是。我的意思是，這個數字是針對所有離岸的。我想如果你看看我們的投資，我們有一張幻燈片，裡面有一張幻燈片，內容是在每個價格水平上，生產成本在哪裡，你知道，最重要的，你你知道，產量最高的區間是70 美元一桶，你知道，2030 年40 美元的區間，我們的客戶正在追求的許多大型發展都在這個範圍內。所以，你知道，除了目前的、你知道的、甚至是現貨和長期租金之外，還有大量的明確空間，證明這些項目的經濟效益是令人信服的。他們在那個價格水平上是引人注目的。

And then maybe just to address sort of, you know, you, you talked about warm stacking rigs a little bit and I just wanted to follow up on that on a capital equipment call this quarter. It was noted that some drillers who potentially had some pockets of utilization, softness might be taking advantage of some rig upgrades while rigs may not be working over the course of 2025. Could you speak to that at all? So sort of in addition to potentially, you know, progressive stacking a rig, given your confidence in the cycle in 26 and beyond other things you may be looking to do to certain rigs. As some of these projects that have been pushed to the right would be helpful. Thanks.

然後也許只是為了解決某種問題，你知道，你談到了一些溫暖的堆疊設備，我只是想在本季度的資本設備電話會議上跟進這一點。有人指出，一些可能有一定利用率的鑽井公司可能會利用一些鑽機升級，而鑽機可能在 2025 年期間無法運作。你能談談這個嗎？因此，除了潛在的，你知道的，漸進式堆疊裝備之外，考慮到你對 26 循環的信心，以及你可能希望對某些裝備做的其他事情。因為其中一些已被推到右側的項目會有所幫助。謝謝。

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think as you, as you as you ramp down, you know, you look to minimize your cost and minimize your cash spend. You know, you have about a 90 day ramp up period in order to, to, to get the rig back to work and you would take that opportunity to you know, to maybe do some stuff so that you don't have to stop the rig later down the line. You know, to put hard piping on, for example, for an MP D system. So you're ready to operate in MPD mode. You know, we are pursuing the E HSE, you know, upgrade so that we can run on, on less engines and lower the emissions of the rig. So you take the opportunity while, while you're working on a rig and, and, and ramping up to, to do prudent things that will serve you as you get back to work. I think that's a, that is a, you know, a fair assumption and something that we focus on MP D&E HSE upgrades would be, would be two that come to mind.

是的，絕對是。我的意思是，我認為當你逐漸減少時，你知道，你希望最大限度地降低你的成本並最大限度地減少你的現金支出。你知道，你有大約 90 天的準備期，以便讓鑽機恢復工作，你知道，你會利用這個機會做一些事情，這樣你就不必停止稍後再進行裝備。您知道，例如，為 MP D 系統安裝硬管道。這樣您就可以在 MPD 模式下操作了。您知道，我們正在追求 E HSE，您知道，升級，以便我們可以使用更少的引擎運行並降低鑽機的排放。因此，當你在鑽孔機上工作時，你要抓住這個機會，並且要謹慎行事，以便在你重返工作崗位時為你服務。我認為這是一個公平的假設，我們專注於 MP D&E HSE 升級，這就是我想到的兩個。

Okay. Thanks very much. I'll turn it back.

好的。非常感謝。我會把它轉回來。

Yeah, this concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to George for any closing remarks.

是的，我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給喬治，讓他發表閉幕詞。

Thanks Jason.

謝謝傑森。

And thanks thanks again to everyone on the call for your interest in Velaris. We look forward to speaking with you again when we report our fourth quarter, 2024 results. Have a great rest of your day.

再次感謝參加電話會議的所有人對 Velaris 的興趣。我們期待在報告 2024 年第四季業績時再次與您交談。祝您有個愉快的一天。

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。