Diamond Offshore Drilling

Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc.

Company type	Public company
Traded as	NYSE: DO S&P 500 Component
Industry	Oil and Gas Industry
Headquarters	Houston, Texas, U.S.
Key people	James S. Tisch Chairman Marc G. Edwards President/CEO
Products	Offshore Drilling
Revenue	US$2.419 billion (2015)
Operating income	-US$294 million (2015)
Net income	-US$274 million (2015)
Total assets	US$7.165 billion (2015)
Total equity	US$4.113 billion (2015)
Number of employees	5,200 (December 31, 2014)
Parent	Loews Corporation (52%)
Website	www.diamondoffshore.com

Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. is a deepwater drilling contractor which provides drilling services to the oil and gas industry. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has major offices in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Scotland, Singapore and Norway.

Current Operations

As of 2015, Diamond Offshore Drilling operates 33 drilling rigs in all areas of the world. The fleet includes 24 semisubmersibles, 5 drillships, and 6 jackup rigs.

The company provides quarterly online updates on the status of each rig in its fleet.

In 2015, Petrobras accounted for 24% of the company's revenues. ExxonMobil and Anadarko Petroleum each accounted for 12% of the company's revenues.

History

Diamond Offshore's beginnings can be traced back to the earliest days of the offshore drilling industry. Its predecessor companies were ODECO, Zapata Corporation, and Diamond M Drilling Co.

Diamond Offshore’s roots date back to May 1953, when Alden J. (Doc) Laborde founded Ocean Drilling and Exploration Co. (ODECO) in New Orleans. Laborde had designed what was probably the first submersible drilling rig. After finding a financial backer in Charlie Murphy of Murphy Oil Co., a grateful Laborde built the rig in 1954 and named the unit Mr. Charlie in honor of his benefactor. Today, the Mr. Charlie is a museum and training facility in Morgan City, Louisiana.

After noticing the stability of submersible rigs when they were only partially submerged for relocation, Laborde designed and constructed the first purpose-built semi-submersible rig, Ocean Driller, in 1964. ODECO rigs continued to rack up “firsts” in the industry in the 1970s, with Ocean Viking discovering the giant Ekofisk oil field for Phillips Petroleum Company in the North Sea and Ocean Victory discovering the Piper and Claymore fields, also in the North Sea, for Occidental Petroleum.

In the early 1960s the onshore drilling company Brewster-Bartle went bankrupt. The banks that had become the owners of the company’s rigs contacted Don McMahon to take over the failed company. McMahon accepted the challenge and formed Diamond M Drilling Co. in 1964. He named the company after Diamond M Acres, his ranch near Simonton, Texas. McMahon took his company public in 1970 and expanded into offshore waters with the building and purchase of jack-up, barge, and semi-submersible rigs. In the early 1970s, Diamond M was one of the largest owners of barge rigs in the energy industry. The company continued to drill both on land and offshore. In the late 1970s, Western Oceanic tendered an offer to buy Diamond M. Unwilling to be purchased, Diamond sought and found a “white knight” in Kaneb Services, Inc.

In 1992, Diamond M Corporation purchased all of the outstanding stock of ODECO Drilling Inc. from ODECO Oil and Gas Co., a subsidiary of Murphy Oil. Shortly thereafter, Diamond M Corp. briefly changed its name to Diamond M-ODECO Drilling Inc. before becoming Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. in 1993. Diamond Offshore began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in October 1995 and acquired Arethusa (Offshore) Ltd. in April 1996.

Recent financial struggles

Since 2012, the company has retired or sold 12 rigs and recorded over $1.0 billion in impairment charges.

On February 8, 2016, the company discontinued payment of a quarterly cash dividend.