DRILLING MARKETS & LEADERSHIP
Valaris CEO: No matter how
industry evolves, people remain
at center of the drilling business
People-driven service delivery remains the
company’s key to success even as it ramps up
investments in AI, robotics and sustainbility
BY LINDA HSIEH, EDITOR & PUBLISHER
This year, Valaris is celebrating its 100-
year anniversary. It was in 1923 that
Charles Rowan and his brother, Arch, pur-
chased their first land rig to drill near
Corsicana, Texas. Together, the brothers
would form Rowan Drilling, which ulti-
mately merged with Ensco in 2019 to form
what is now Valaris.
Through M&As over the years, the two
companies built a rich heritage encom-
passing a multitude of other drilling busi-
nesses, like Pride, Atwood, Dual Drilling,
Penrod, Forasol Foramer, Marine Drilling,
Skeie Drilling, and even non-drilling busi-
nesses like LeTourneau, an equipment
manufacturer, and Era Aviation, a com-
mercial airline company.
In recognition of this milestone, DC
recently spoke with Anton Dibowitz, who
joined Valaris as President and CEO in
December 2021.
How do you think Valaris has evolved
over the past century?
Like a lot of other offshore drillers, we
started as a US-centric onshore drilling
company. As technology evolved, we start-
ed drilling in shallow water in the Gulf of
Mexico, before going deeper offshore and
expanding internationally. Our operations
now span six continents, and our fleet con-
sists of 11 drillships, five semisubmersibles
and 35 jackups, as well as two managed
deepwater units. We’ve come a long way.
In that time, technology has obviously
changed massively. Just in the 25 years
since I joined the industry, there have been
huge changes in the way we drill, the tech-
nologies we use to drill and the efficiency
with which we drill.
In more recent years, one of the ways
we’ve really evolved as a drilling con-
tractor is the extent to which we partner
with operators. We’re no longer just taking
instructions to drill the well – we’re also
bringing our expertise to the table much
earlier in the process. There’s now a huge
amount of integration between us and the
customer, which helps us to be more effi-
cient and, in turn, helps our customers to
be more efficient.
If you think about a dual-activity drill-
ship, the efficiency comes from “feeding
the beast,” if you will. What I mean is,
you can have highly sophisticated equip-
ment on the rig, but the logistics need to
be there, the people need to be there, the
supply chain needs to be there, and third-
party service companies need to be there.
By getting into the process a lot earlier and
acting as a problem solver for our custom-
ers, we’ve really achieved a step change
in the efficiency of our drilling operations.
Is there anything that you feel hasn’t
changed during the past 100 years?
People have always been at the center
of our business, and they continue to be.
How our people interface with technol-
ogy and equipment, as well as the safety
systems that our people use, have evolved
tremendously, but our fundamental focus
on people has not changed.
For example, a few years ago we start-
ed our BOLD program, which stands for
Building Organizational Leadership
Development. It’s about having open con-
versations about safety and being trans-
parent on near-misses.
While the drilling business is a capital-
intensive business, ultimately this is a
service business. We deliver service to
customers with capital-intensive assets,
but at the end of the day, it’s the people
who make the difference.
Even the most highly sophisticated ultra-deepwater drillships today still need well-
trained and competent crews to deliver a successful operation, said Anton Dibow-
itz, Valaris President and CEO. That won’t change even with automation.
40 How do you see Valaris evolving over
the coming years?
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