Daniel Rabun
Analyst · Simmons
Thanks, Sean, and good morning, everyone. Before Jay takes us to the financial results, I will discuss first quarter highlights and the state of our markets. Starting with our planned acquisition of Pride, we have received U.S. antitrust regulatory compliance. We've completed $2.5 billion public debt offerings at favorable rates that will finance the cash portion of the acquisition, and integration teams have been formed that are working towards a smooth transition. ENSCO 8503, our newest ultra deepwater rig commenced drilling operations in French Guiana for Telo during the first quarter. ENSCO 7500, our first deepwater rig with over a decade of proven operational experience was awarded a multi-year contract with Petrobras in Brazil. In February, Ensco ordered 2 ultra premium harsh environment jackups with options for 2 more as part of our high grading strategy. Customers have already expressed interest in contracting the rigs that are expected to be delivered in 2013. Our success as a company can only be achieved through high levels of customer satisfaction. In March, Ensco was ranked number 1 among offshore drillers for total customer satisfaction by EnergyPoint Research, an independent firm that measures customer satisfaction through an index of global oilfield suppliers. Ensco earned the number 1 position by taking top honors in 11 out of 16 categories, including total satisfaction; safety, health and environment; job quality and performance and reliability. We are honored that Ensco's employees have received independent acknowledgment for their hard work and dedication. This recognition is a testament to the experience and talent of our workforce. And high cores are especially gratifying given the heightened challenges that we face in terms of more complex drilling assignments and new regulations. This recognition was achieved by performing our daily operations in accordance with our disciplined operating systems, policies and procedures, and in the safe and reliable manner, our customers have come to expect from Ensco. I should also note that Pride received the top score in three separate categories. Now let me discuss the market. Global deepwater markets have many new business opportunities for work in 2011 and beyond. Work scopes range from a few wells to multiple years in West Africa, Brazil, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, Mexico and the Mediterranean. In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, we are encouraged that permits are being issued and several operators are now discussing new requirements for additional rigs commencing in 2011 and 2012. Should permitting continue to pick up pace in U.S. Gulf of Mexico and all planned work around the world is awarded in a timely manner, the ultra deepwater floater market should absorb new supply and be near full utilization. On the jackups side, in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, premium jackup utilization marketwide is in the mid 70% range. Ensco now has eight marketed jackups in the region, all of which are under contract. As noted in our last week status report, Chevron recently extended terms for two of our jackups for another six months each at higher day rates. Conversations with our customers indicate that utilization for our premium jackup fleets will continue to be very high and day rates may continue to inch higher. In Mexico, our 4 rigs are contracted to PEMEX with terms into 2012. PEMEX has opened tenders to call for 13 jackups and 1 semi and 8 of these are incremental. The contract terms vary from less than a year to just under 4 years. This demand is positive for the overall market. In the Middle East, market commentary indicates that the demand outlook is potentially improving for Saudi Aramco, as well as in the neutral zone in Abu Dhabi. If the market commentary proves to be accurate, it could represent one of the more meaningful increases in incremental demand worldwide. Other regional operators have outstanding requirements that may be awarded to stacked rigs in the region and high fit rigs that are outside the region. In the Mediterranean, we recently contracted ENSCO 85 in Tunisia, which has been a challenging market due to an oversupply rigs in the region. The Southeast Asia market, however, continues to be active and bidding activity has increased from the fourth quarter last year. It is encouraging that a number of inquiries and tenders were for standard duty jackups while at the same time, new build rigs have a been absorbed into the region. We expect bid activity will continue to escalate as tenders are issued for work in Indonesia and Malaysia for short and long term programs commencing this year. In the North Sea, first quarter contract awards increased 90% from the fourth quarter, and there were 21 new rigs fixtures. If all visible demand is filled, almost all idle jackups in the region are expected to return to work. As discussed on our last call, although Ensco has some gaps between contracts in the first half of this year, we are almost fully contracted for the back half of 2011. Now before I hand it over to Jay, let me make a few summary comments. The deepwater permitting situation in the U.S. Gulf has improved significantly, and global deepwater market demand is quite strong as evidenced by our ENSCO 7500 multiyear contract in Brazil and the ENSCO 8503 sublet in French Guiana. Jackups tender activity in the North Sea in Mexico has ramped up nicely, and our U.S. Gulf of Mexico jackups continue to add backlog. We continue to believe jackup utilization for Ensco will improve substantially throughout the year from first quarter levels, based largely on backlog already in place. If we see oil prices trade in the recent range, we believe that it will be very positive for rig utilization around world. We are on track for our planned acquisition of Pride, integration planning is going well and we continue to expect the significant benefits we previously have discussed in terms of cost savings, synergies and accretion. Now, I'll turn it over to Jay.