J Michael Talbert News

The Board of Directors of the company elected Ian C. Strachan to serve as Chairman of the Board effective May 18, 2013. Mr. Strachan replaces J. Michael Talbert who was not re-elected at the company's annual general meeting held on May 17, 2013. Mr. Strachan has served as director of the company since December 1999. Most recently, he served as chairman of the Finance Committee of the company as well as serving on the Corporate Governance Committee of the company. The Board believes that Mr. Strachan has relevant senior management experience in the energy sector and other business sectors, including Chief Executive Officer and chairman positions in international companies. Mr. Strachan formerly served as chairman of Instinet Group Incorporated.

Transocean Ltd. announced that J. Michael Talbert has advised the Board of Directors that, if reelected at the company's upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) on May 17, he will retire from the board no later than the company's 2014 AGM. To facilitate an orderly transition of leadership, should Mr. Talbert be elected by the Board as Chairman following the upcoming AGM, he will step down as Chairman no later than the Board's November 2013 meeting, at which time a new, independent Chairman will be announced. Mr. Talbert, formerly CEO of Transocean from 1994 to 2002, has served on the Board of Directors since 1994. Mr. Talbert said, "I am honored to have served Transocean, and to have done so as a member of a very knowledgeable and experienced Board of Directors.

Transocean Ltd. commented on a report issued by proxy advisory service Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) regarding the company's Annual General Meeting, which will be held on May 17, 2013. "Transocean strongly disagrees with ISS's decision to reject only one of Icahn's three nominees, particularly due to their lack of relevant experience and their affiliations with Mr. Icahn. Transocean does not believe that Icahn or his nominees have offered a plan or strategy for the company other than the extraction of an unsustainable dividend that the company believes would be detrimental to shareholder value, and which ISS sensibly rejected.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) (SIX: RIGN) announced that the Board of Directors has named J. Michael Talbert as non-executive Vice Chairman of the Board, Arnaud A.Y. Bobillier as Executive Vice President, Asset and Performance, and Ihab Toma as Executive Vice President, Global Business, effective immediately. As non-executive Vice Chairman, Talbert is expected to succeed Robert E. Rose as Chairman of the Board of Directors when Rose retires at the end of his current director term at the company's 2011 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Bobillier will be responsible for the company's Engineering and Technical Support; Asset Management, Performance, Global Supply Chain and IT functions.

Transocean Sedco Forex is a leading international provider of deepwater and harsh environment contract drilling services for oil and gas wells. The company’s active fleet consists of 12 high-specification semisubmersibles, 29 second- and third-generation semisubmersibles, two Discoverer Enterprise-class drillships, four other drillships, 17 jackup rigs and three tenders. The company has under construction one Discoverer Enterprise-class drillship and three Sedco Express- class semisubmersibles. In addition, the fleet includes one mobile offshore production unit, six swamp barges and two land drilling rigs. In January 2001, the company completed the acquisition of R&B Falcon Corp., which operates a fleet of 139 marine-based drilling rigs. On Feb.

Transocean Offshore Inc. posted earnings for the second quarter that just beat expectations as low oil prices early in the year caused continued depressed exploration and production spending worldwide. Transocean reported net income for the second quarter of $56.4 million on revenues of $235.6 million. For the corresponding three months in 1998, Transocean reported net income of $69.7 million. Transocean Chairman and CEO J. Michael Talbert said although crude oil prices improved better than 30 percent during the second quarter of 1999, relative to average levels experienced during the initial three months of the year, the dayrates for its rigs fell in the second quarter.

Schlumberger Limited and Transocean Offshore Inc. have signed a definitive merger agreement under which the offshore contract drilling business of Schlumberger (Sedco Forex Offshore) will be spun off and promptly combined with Transocean Offshore in a merger of equals. The resulting company, Transocean Sedco Forex, will be the world's largest offshore drilling company and is projected to become the fourth largest oilfield service company in terms of market capitalization. The transaction, which should close by December 31, 1999, is anticipated to be modestly dilutive to Transocean Offshore's current earnings expectations for 2000 and accretive thereafter.

Oilfield service companies were not nearly as lucky as their oil producing counterparts. While net income in the oil producing industry was up over the 1998 third-quarter, oilfield service companies were still feeling the pain of the low oil prices from earlier in the year. While the stock market - the global business measuring stick - has generally been positive on the offshore oilfield sector throughout much of the year, there has been a relapse of sorts in October, as uncertainty surrounding OPEC output quotas has largely dampened the year's progress. In fact, a major tracker of offshore industry stocks, Warburg Dillon Read, in mid-October cut its ratings of four oilfield equipment and services companies.

Transocean Offshore Inc. has completed its merger with Sedco Forex, which was spun-off from Schlumberger Limited. The resulting company, Transocean Sedco Forex Inc., is now the world's largest offshore drilling contractor and third-largest oilfield services company in terms of equity market capitalization, based on closing market prices on Dec. 30. In the merger, approximately 109.6 million ordinary shares of Transocean Offshore are being issued to stockholders of Schlumberger. The number of new shares issued is equivalent to 0.1936 shares of Transocean Sedco Forex for each outstanding Schlumberger share. Following the merger, Schlumberger stockholders hold about 52% of the approximately 210.1 million outstanding shares of Transocean Sedco Forex.