Matt Ralls News

The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) elected 14 industry leaders to its Board of Directors on April 21, 2016 during its Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. Gary Luquette, President and Chief Executive Officer, Franks International, N.V. Kirk Meche, President and Chief Executive Officer, Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc. Richard Morrison, Regional President Gulf of Mexico, BP America, Inc. W. Matt Ralls, Executive Chairman, Rowan Companies, Inc. Jeff Platt, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tidewater, Inc.

Rowan Companies exercises option to build a fourth GustoMSC P10,000 design ultra-deepwater drillship with Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. The cost for this rig, including commissioning, project management and spares, but excluding capitalized interest, is estimated to be approximately $620 million, with delivery scheduled for March 2015. Rowan plans to equip its drillships with 2,000 feet of additional riser to enable operations in water depths up to 12,000 feet upon delivery. Each drillship will also be equipped with a second BOP for minimizing non-productive time. The company will also incur operational training and personnel ramp-up costs in readying the drillships to commence well operations.

Keppel AmFELS LLC, a wholly owned US subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), has completed the delivery of its fourth EXL jack-up rig to a subsidiary of Rowan Companies, Inc. (Rowan) (NYSE: RDC) with a perfect safety record, four months ahead of schedule and within budget. The jack-up rig was christened Rowan EXL-IV yesterday by Ms. Mary J. Dunaway and Ms. Audra M. Williamson, daughters of Mr. Johnnie Huckabay, one of Rowan's senior rig managers. The rig was delivered on September 1, 2011 and is scheduled to depart Keppel AmFELS' yard in Brownsville, Texas in October 2011. Mr Matt Ralls, President and CEO of Rowan, said, "This latest EXL jack-up rig is a key addition to our fleet of high-specification rigs and will enable us to further grow our offshore drilling business.

Rowan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RDC) announced today that a subsidiary has entered into turnkey contracts for the construction of two ultra-deepwater drillships with a cost of approximately $605 million each. The drillships will be constructed by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. ("HHI") at its Ulsan shipyard, and are expected to be delivered in late 2013 and mid-2014. Matt Ralls, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Our long-stated strategy has been to focus on and diversify our offshore drilling business, and we are excited to take this first step into the ultra-deepwater sector.

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has delivered the KFELS N-Class jack-up rig, the Rowan Stavanger, to Rowan Companies, Inc. (Rowan) (NYSE: RDC) safely, on time and within budget. The second of three KFELS N-Class rigs being built for Rowan, this high-specification jack-up design is a product of Keppel's rich experience in constructing rigs for the North Sea region since 1985. The rig was named the Rowan Stavanger at Keppel FELS by Lady Sponsor, Mrs. Amy Ralls, spouse of Mr. Matt Ralls, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rowan. Rowan President and CEO Matt Ralls, said, "Our acquisition of Skeie Drilling and Production and three…

Rowan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RDC) announced that, effective January 1, 2009, its Board of Directors has named W. Matt Ralls as the company's new President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, succeeding D.F. McNease, who announced his retirement in late October 2008. Mr. Ralls, 59, most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of GlobalSantaFe Corporation, an international contract drilling company, from June 2005 until the completion of the merger of GlobalSantaFe with Transocean, Inc. in November 2007. Prior to that time Mr. Ralls served as Senior Vice President and CFO of GlobalSantaFe. He joined Global Marine, Inc.

GlobalSantaFe Corporation reported that executive vice president of finance and Administration Seals McCarty has elected to take early retirement from the company and will pursue other interests after a long and successful tenure with the organization. Effective immediately, chief financial wfficer Matt Ralls will report directly to President and Chief Executive Officer Sted Garber. McCarty's position will not be filled. McCarty, 56, was named to his current position, which included oversight of the company's finance, human resources, procurement and information technology departments, following the merger that formed GlobalSantaFe in November 2001. Prior to his recent position, McCarty was chief financial officer of Santa Fe International Corporation.

The course of corporate consolidation within the already tight offshore business took a dramatic turn over the holiday weekend, as Global Marine Inc. and Santa Fe International Corporation entered into a definitive agreement to merge in a stock-for-stock transaction that will create the world's second largest offshore drilling contractor. The new company, which will be named GlobalSantaFe Corporation, will be headquartered in Houston and will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "GSF". Based on Santa Fe's closing stock price on Friday, August 31, GlobalSantaFe would have a market value of approximately $6 billion.