Transocean Ltd.
RIG
Energy
3
exclusion reasons
2 themes
This page is part of our public exclusion list — a transparency tool that shows which companies we screen out and why. It is not investment advice, and it is not an accusation. But it is subject to change as our understanding of the facts evolves.
Transocean Ltd. is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor based on revenue, providing ultra-deepwater and harsh-environment drilling services exclusively for oil and gas wells. Its entire business model is built on servicing fossil fuel exploration and extraction.
The company's operations have been linked to significant environmental misconduct. In 2013, Transocean Deepwater Inc. pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act for its role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, agreeing to pay $1.4 billion in civil and criminal penalties. Separately, the U.S. Department of Justice found that from at least 2002 through 2007, Transocean made illicit payments to Nigerian government officials to secure favorable customs treatment. The company provides no indication of transitioning its service portfolio away from fossil fuels.
Transocean Ltd. was the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which on April 20, 2010, experienced a blowout, explosion, and fire, resulting in the largest marine oil spill in history. The U.S. Department of Justice documented that the disaster led to the discharge of approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days. In 2013, Transocean Deepwater Inc. agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act. The company paid a total of $1.4 billion in civil and criminal penalties, including a $1 billion civil penalty to resolve alleged violations from the spill. A separate 2015 settlement required Transocean to pay an additional $211 million to businesses and individuals claiming economic damages.
The company has continued to face enforcement actions for environmental violations following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. In September 2023, a Transocean Ltd. unit agreed to pay $507,000 in civil penalties to settle U.S. government allegations over Gulf of Mexico pollution. This pattern of incidents and penalties underscores the systemic environmental risks associated with the company's core business of offshore drilling.
Research Sources
1 organization
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Companies appear on our exclusion list based on our investment judgment — not because they've done anything illegal. This is a difference of values and opinion, not an accusation of wrongdoing. Exclusion does not constitute a recommendation against investing in any company, and absence from the list does not constitute a recommendation to invest.
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