Valaris is the world's largest offshore drilling platform contractor. It is the world's largest offshore drilling company, with 74 drilling rigs, including 50 offshore jack-up drilling rigs and 16 drilling rigs. ships and 8 semi-submersible platform drilling rigs. Their main business is drilling and extracting oil.
Valaris was founded 45 years ago (1975) and is headquartered in London, England. In 2019, it was founded by American oil and gas drilling company Ensco Plc and offshore drilling contractor Rowan Company. (Rowan Companies Plc) merged.
Oil may face its greatest challenge ever
Valaris’ annual report states that the success of their business depends largely on the level of activity in the oil and gas industry, and that and fluctuations in natural gas prices can significantly affect the level of this activity.
It is true that oil and natural gas prices have historically been volatile. In 2014, oil prices reached a peak of US$100 per barrel, and then fell from the high level. This year, affected by the epidemic, crude oil futures even had negative prices in April. The latest data shows that the price of crude oil on the New York Stock Exchange is around US$40. Due to the high debt ratio of most companies in this field, more companies may face bankruptcy.
In addition, US shale oil companies have continued to collapse in recent months due to the double blow of the COVID-19 epidemic and low oil prices. Among them, major shale oil companies such as California Resources Corp have also declared bankruptcy. Halliburton Co (HAL), Schlumberger (SLB) and other service providers have canceled production of tens of billions of dollars worth of machinery and equipment, closed facilities and laid off thousands of workers.
According to a report by the US law firm Haynes and Boone, during the period of ultra-low oil prices, more than 50 US oil and gas companies have filed for bankruptcy, including 29 exploration and production companies. The debts of these US companies have At $49.69 billion, it is double the debt of energy companies that filed for bankruptcy last year.