[Vision2020] Transocean Rewards Executives Despite Gulf Spill

[Ron Force]

Transocean rewards executives despite Gulf oil spill 
April 3, 2011 - 9:04AM 
Transocean Ltd. has given its executives pay raises,  bonuses and stock options 
after the company's "best year" for safety,  despite a deadly oil platform 
explosion and massive leak in the Gulf of  Mexico.
"Notwithstanding the tragic loss of life in the Gulf of  Mexico, we achieved an 
exemplary statistical safety record as measured  by our total recordable 
incident rate and total potential severity  rate," Transocean said in a filing 
Friday to the US Securities and  Exchange Commission (SEC).
"As measured by these standards, we recorded the best  year in safety 
performance in our company's history, which is a  reflection on our commitment 
to achieving an incident-free environment,  all the time, everywhere."

Nine of the 11 people killed in the April 20, 2010,  explosion on the BP-leased 
Deepwater Horizon platform were Transocean  employees. Seventeen other people 
were wounded.
After the explosion, more than 205 million gallons of oil  gushed into the Gulf 
of Mexico, fouling US shorelines, scaring off  tourists and closing rich shrimp 
and fishing grounds.
Transocean, the world's largest offshore oil and gas  drilling contractor, filed 
its annual report to the SEC and invited  shareholders to its annual general 
meeting May 13 in Switzerland, where  the company is based.
"Although in 2010 we made significant progress in  achieving our strategic and 
operational objectives for the year, these  developments were overshadowed by 
the April 20, 2010 fire and  explosion," the company said.
The firm decided to reward its executives, according to a  compensation policy 
"based on their ability to achieve annual  operational objectives that further 
our long-term business objectives  and to create sustainable long-term 
shareholder value in a  cost-effective manner."
Top executives received a base salary increase averaging  3.8 percent, excluding 
the chief executive officer, "whose base salary  reflected his promotion into 
the CEO role."
They received performance bonuses of 44.8 percent of the maximum stipulated in 
their contract.
In addition, they were given stock options "ranging from  $1.2 million to $5.4 
million designed to satisfy competitive market  concerns and reward individual 
performance during fiscal 2010," the  company's report stated.
Transocean claims that BP is solely responsible for the explosion and oil spill, 
but BP sees the responsibilities as shared.© 2011 AFP


      
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