Transocean is an offshore contract drilling company that owns and operates drilling rigs — primarily drillships and semisubmersibles — used to drill wells for oil and gas operators in deepwater and harsh-environment offshore locations. Transocean supplies the rigs, crews, and operational management; customers retain ownership of the wells and underlying reserves. Transocean earns revenue on a dayrate basis, where customers pay a fixed daily rate per contracted rig. Dayrates vary based on rig specification, contract term, and market conditions, with Transocean's top-tier eighth-generation drillships earning over $600K/day. As of early 2026, Transocean operates 27 mobile offshore drilling units — 20 ultra-deepwater drillships and 7 harsh-environment semisubmersibles — focused on technically demanding programs in the U.S. Gulf, Brazil, Norway, and West Africa. Transocean argues its competitive position rests on owning the highest-specification fleet in the industry, including the only rigs capable of 20,000 psi well control, which face essentially no competition for the most demanding deepwater programs. In February 2026, Transocean announced an all-stock acquisition of Valaris, a major offshore driller, which would more than double Transocean's scale and re-enter it into the jackup (shallow-water) market. Management expects the combined entity to have a pro forma backlog of nearly $11B and has identified more than $200M in cost synergies. Transocean carries significant debt and is prioritizing deleveraging, using free cash flow to retire debt ahead of scheduled maturities.