Politics in Oil and Gas Industry: Corporate Governance and CSR Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the oil and gas industry, using Transocean Ltd as a primary example. It examines the company's commitment to high standards of corporate governance, including a review of key documents such as the code of integrity, organizational regulations, and corporate governance guidelines. The report details the functions of various committees, including the Corporate Governance Committee, Audit Committee, Finance Committee, Compensation Committee, and Health Safety and Environment Committee, outlining their roles and responsibilities. Furthermore, it explores Transocean's CSR initiatives, encompassing governance, community engagement, environmental practices, and employee relations, and highlights the company's performance in environmental disclosure and energy sector rankings. The report offers a comprehensive overview of Transocean's approach to corporate governance and social responsibility, offering insights into its operations, risk management, and stakeholder engagement.

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POLITICS IN THE OIL AND GAS
INDUSTRY
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Table of Contents
1.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................2
2.1 Corporate Governance...............................................................................................................3
2.3 Documents of Corporate Governance....................................................................................3
2.4 Charters of Committee of the Company................................................................................4
2.4.1 Corporate Governance Committee..................................................................................4
2.4.2 Audit Committee.............................................................................................................5
2.4.3 Finance Committee..........................................................................................................5
2.4.4 Compensation Committee...............................................................................................6
2.4.5 Health Safety and Environment Committee....................................................................7
3.1 Corporate Social Responsibility................................................................................................8
3.1.1 Governance.........................................................................................................................8
3.1.2 Community..........................................................................................................................8
3.1.3 Environment........................................................................................................................9
3.1.4 Employees...........................................................................................................................9
4.1 Boardroom Organization and Management of Transocean Ltd..............................................11
4.1.1 Proactive and Reactive Measures.....................................................................................11
5.1 Reputation Management by Transocean Ltd...........................................................................12
5.1.1 Taking Proactive Actions..................................................................................................12
5.1.2 Being in Control................................................................................................................12
5.1.3 Enhancement of Experiences of the Customers................................................................13
5.1.4 Establishment of Trust of Customers in Every particular Location of the Company.......13
6.1 Management of Reputation at a Glance...................................................................................13
6.1.1 Asking for Reviews from Loyal Customers.....................................................................14
7.1 Recommendation and conclusion............................................................................................14
8.1 References................................................................................................................................15

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1.1 Introduction
Transocean Ltd is one of the international providers of offshore contract related drilling services
across the globe for both gas and oil wells. It was established on 18th, August 2008. Its main role
entailed contracting various drilling rigs and therefore they are the major oil producer in the
world. It is situated in Vernier Switzerland. Additionally, it has more than 20 offices across the
world, and these are located in different countries such as India, Norway, Canada and United
States of America among others (Crawford, 2015 p.985).
The company works in a single global market where it offers the contract drilling
services. Also, it is clear that the equipment used for drilling by the Transocean Company can be
used both for development and drilling purposes. However, it carries out both the categories of
drilling (Zheng and Smith, 2017 p.240). There are various drilling units used by the company,
and they include, high specification jackups, ultra-deepwater floaters, deepwater floaters, mid
floaters and riser and environment floaters.
2.1 Corporate Governance
The company is committed towards an upholding of corporate governance which are of high
standard and also other conduct of business activities. The directors of the board regularly
reviews the documents relating to corporate governance including the governance practices of
the company (D’Northwood, 2017 p.480). Also, the corporate governance committee is
responsible for the review of the different practices of governance by the company. There has
therefore been certain new trends and developments such as private ordering, globalization,
technology and shareholder activism among others and this is typically in corporate governance
field which have all been taken into account by Transocean Limited Company.

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2.3 Documents of Corporate Governance
There are numerous documents which outlines the different practices of corporate governance in
the company and they include, tax principles statements, modern slavery act statement, code of
integrity, organizational regulations, articles of association and corporate governance guidelines
(Kan, 2018 p.180). Apart from the above mentioned documents, there are also other documents
such as gender pay gap regulations, FIRST shared values and the mission statement.
2.4 Charters of Committee of the Company
There are various committees of the company with a variety of roles to perform with the aim of
ensuring that Transocean has good corporate governance. Such committees include the following
as discussed in the paper below;
2.4.1 Corporate Governance Committee
The directors of the board of Transocean Ltd is entrusted with the appointment of the members
of the corporate governance committee. The committee has different roles to play in the
company, and this entails the following;
 Identification of qualified persons who are set to be members of the board of directors.
 Establishing a set of principles which are used by the board of directors of the firm
 Providing recommendations on the structure, reporting, and operations of the board of
directors
 Oversees the annual review of the performance of the board of directors.
 Providing advice on the nominees of the board of directors to seek elective posts in the
general meeting of the particular shareholders of the company.
 Recommends on the assignments to the directors of the board of the company by the
committee.

Politics in the Oil and Gas Industry 5
2.4.1.1 Membership of the Committee
The committee is composed of three members since this is the minimum number required of the
members (Fraire and Fuentes, 2018 p.120). It is expected of the committee members to meet up
with the experience and independence requirements such as Rule 16b-3 of the securities
exchange act of 1934. The directors of the board is responsible for the appointment of the chair
and members of the committee, and this is by the recommendations of the committee. However
they can also be dismissed by the board of directors.
2.4.2 Audit Committee
The directors of the board of the company appoints the members of the audit committee. Such a
committee typically plays a key role to ensure that the following are done by the organization;
 The company complies with the regulatory and legal requirements
 The integrity of the company's financial statements are maintained
 The internal audit of the company functions normally, and it should be consistent with
the particular oversight function
 The performance, independence, and qualifications of the independent auditors of
Transocean Limited Company.
2.4.2.1 Membership of the Committee
According to the policies and practices of the corporate governance of the company, there should
be at least three members of the committee who are members of the board of directors. However
such directors must be independent. Further, a retired officer of the company is not allowed to
become an audit committee member (Rakhorst et al.2017 p.630). The board of directors appoints
both the members and chair and this is on the basis of the recommendation of the corporate
governance committee. However, the board can dismiss them in case of non-compliance with the
rules and regulations.

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2.4.3 Finance Committee
The directors of the board of the company is responsible for the appointment of the members of
the finance committee (Pröllochs and Feuerriegel, 2018 p.8). The company is appointed by the
board of directors to help it in the oversight role of capital structure, financial policies, and
financial strategies. Such an oversight role helps in ensuring that the fiscal policies, risk
management and values of the company are consistent with financial policies and strategies.
2.4.3.1 Membership of the Committee
Based on Transocean policies, the members of the committee should not be less than three and
that they should be appointed by the directors of the board on the basis of the recommendations
of the corporate governance committee.
2.4.4 Compensation Committee
It is considered one of the committees of the board of directors. It performs a number of
functions such as;
 Compliance with the regulatory and legal requirements in relation to the
executive, senior officer and board compensation. Such an adherence enables the
company in attracting, motivating and even retaining some of the qualified
persons within the company especially those who align the business performance
with the compensation of the company.
 Establishing an effective program compensation and also the benefits package for
a variety of individuals within the company such as certain senior officers, board
members, and the executive members.
2.4.4.1 Membership of the Committee
According to the policies and rules of the company, there should be a minimum of only three
members. Such members must meet all experience and independence requirements such as the

Politics in the Oil and Gas Industry 7
New York Stock Exchange (Akca and Çalışkan, 2018 p.30)). During the annual general meeting,
the committee members are elected by the particular shareholders, and this is typically on the
recommendations of the corporate governance committee. If there are certain vacancies within
the committee, the members are appointed by the board of directors, and this is usually from
amongst the board members. The board is also responsible for the appointment of the chair of the
committee based on the advice of the corporate governance committee.
2.4.5 Health Safety and Environment Committee
The board of directors of Transocean Company appoints the members of the above mentioned
committee (Trautman, 2016 p.275). Such a committee assists the members of the board to
oversee the management of risks in certain areas such as health, safety, and environment of the
company.
2.4.5.1 Membership of the Committee
Based on the company's policies and laws, there should be a minimum of three members of the
committee, and they are to be appointed by the board of directors on the recommendations of the
corporate governance committee. Besides, the appointment of the committee members, the board
can also dismiss the members in case of non-compliance with the existing rules and regulations.
The primary aim of the corporate social responsibility of the company is to ensure that their
activities carried out within the company are done in a manner which is considered as ethical. It
typically entails taking into consideration the economic, social and environmental factors to
benefit all the particular stakeholders. Based on the 2017 annual financial report, the company
was ranked as one of the top 50 firms across the world, and this was issued in the Carbon
Disclosure Project. In such a project the firms are ranked based on the climate change disclosure
(Arora and Lodhia, 2017 p.1290). When there is a high score displayed by a particular company,
it is an indication that such a company has good internal data management and it also
comprehends a variety of issues which have a great impact on the company. Additionally, the
company has been ranked among the top companies with a high score in the performance scoring
initiative, and this is typically in the energy sector. It was considered one of the top performing
companies in the energy sector. In regards to the 2017 annual report, the company's corporate
social responsibility was ranked in comparison with certain other companies as indicated below
in the figure;

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Source (Arora and Lcorodhia, 2017 p.1290)
3.1 Corporate Social Responsibility
Transocean limited company provides a variety of levels of corporate social
responsibility, and this is as discussed below.
3.1.1 Governance
According to Werhane (2016 p.10), It takes into account the disclosure of the procedures,
concerns of the stakeholder's diversity and in dependence of the board, policies, executive
compensation, and an assessment of the ethical leadership culture including its adherence to the
above mentioned elements. According to the company, corporate governance is defined as the
values and structure of leadership which are used in the ascertainment of the ethics, performance
and corporate direction. The corporate governance also entails a variety of elements such as the
corporate practices and policies which aligns to the goals of sustainability. The principal goals of
sustainability in the company include proper engagement of the employees in the management of
the company, appropriate management of the stakeholders and integration of the sustainability
principles. The primary focus of governance entails ensuring that the management of the
company is committed towards corporate social responsibility and sustainability in all the
particular levels.
3.1.2 Community

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The community part seeks to ensure that the company is committed and effective in terms of its
operation at various levels that are a local, national and global community. It is typically a
reflection of the company's volunteerism, charitable giving, and citizenship towards a particular
society (Oudhuis and Tengblad, 2018 p.85). The community part of the corporate social
responsibility also contains the human rights record and its supply chain treatment. Apart from
the above mentioned aspects, it also entails the social and environmental effects of products and
services offered by the company including the technologies, processes, and establishment of the
sustainable products.
3.1.3 Environment
It takes into account all the interactions of the company with the environment, and this entails the
effects of the activities of the company on the earth's ecosystem and the use of natural resources
by the particular company. This particular category of corporate social responsibility assesses a
variety of factors such as the pollution prevention programs, corporate environmental
performance, mitigation of environmental footprint, energy efficient operations, adherence with
the regulations of the environment and the development of the renewable energy (Otusanya,
2016 p.70). There are also other elements that this particular category of corporate social
responsibility of Transocean. They include, programs which can be used for measuring and
engaging the various stakeholders to enhance environment, enforcement of the natural resource
conversation and efficiency programs, disclosure of certain environmental risk sources and also
the actions which can be taken minimize the exposure of the risks, energy efficient operations
and consolidation of the sustainability and responsiveness of environment with the directors of
the board and management of Transocean Ltd.
3.1.4 Employees

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The category of the employees entails a number of aspects such as the provision of information
on performance in diversity, programs, policies, compensation, benefits, labor relations and labor
rights, health and safety and training of the employees. It also assesses various elements in the
company in relation to the employees such as the proactive management initiatives, quality of
programs and policies and adherence with the national regulations and laws (Statman and
Glushkov, 2016 p.140). Apart from the above mentioned aspects, there are also certain elements
which this particular category of social responsibility analyses and they include, fair treatment of
all the employees, strong labor codes, inclusive diversity policies, employee health and safety
policies, robust training and programs and a comprehensive benefits. Other aspects which are
evaluated by the category are, positive safety performance record, safety management system
and industry and basic safety training offered by the company.
The diagram below illustrates how the different levels of the corporate social responsibility have
typically contributed to the ranking of Transocean Ltd with other firms among those producing
oil across the globe.
Source (Statman and Glushkov, 2016 p.140).

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In comparison with other companies, the following figure indicates the ranking in terms
of the percentage of the company with the other companies.
Source (Statman and Glushkov, 2016 p.140).
4.1 Boardroom Organization and Management of Transocean Ltd
The boardroom of the company is such that at the top level of the management is the chief
executive officer of the company who is also at the same time the president of the firm.
Currently, the president of the company is called Jeremy Thigpen. It is believed that he owns the
biggest fleet of offshore drilling rigs (Mills and Koliba, 2015 p.85). It has been two years since
he came to the company and he served as the chief financial officer.
The president is typically in charge of the management of the offshore contract drilling services
of the company for the gas and oil wells. Apart from the president, there are also numerous vice
presidents in charge of various functions such as administration, operations of the company,
asset and tax management, finance, general counsel, marketing, industry relations and
innovation, corporate control, technical services and operational integrity (McLeod, 2016 p.5).

Politics in the Oil and Gas Industry 12
The other vice presidents are in charge of investor relations, human resource, sustainability and
community relations, global supply chain and auditing services.
Further, there are also the members of the board of directors, and they are about ten of
them who are tasked with various roles in the company (Tilba, 2016 p.300). The directors of the
board members are appointed to become members of different committee members such as audit
committee, compensation committee, corporate governance committee, finance committee, and
House committee.
4.1.1 Proactive and Reactive Measures
According to Chang (2015 p.465), the proactive measure entails actions which are used in
reducing the possibility of occurrence of an accident. Such measures mainly aim at decreasing
number of injuries, workers compensation claims and response time to encourage the safety of
the employees within the company. The proactive measures sued by the company entails,
sufficient employee training, monthly fire drills, evacuation drills, and accident safety and
prevention advocacy. The reactive measures, on the other hand, involve spontaneous actions in
response to a particular accident within the company (Garcés-Ayerbe et al.2016 p.1125).
5.1 Reputation Management by Transocean Ltd
Transocean Ltd uses the review trackers reputation management software which has enabled it to
appear online for numerous reviews by different consumers all over the world. It has therefore
been easy and simple for the company to manage its reputation. The reputation of the company is
a fundamental aspect which has to be managed properly by the employees including the top level
of management. A good reputation enables the company to position itself as a critical leader in
the offshore drilling industry. There are a variety of ways through which the company manages
its reputation, and this entails;
5.1.1 Taking Proactive Actions

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According to Seybert (2016 p.88), it entails the company seeking for numerous reviews usually
for most of their customer base. The company ensures that a positive reputation is developed at
the beginning of any particular business transactions and thus prevent certain adverse
experiences which may have a negative impact on their ratings by a variety of customers.
5.1.2 Being in Control
The company employs the review alerts which have been written by different customers. If there
are certain issues relating to the products and services of the company, they are resolved
immediately to establish a positive reputation (Dijkmans, Kerkhof, and Beukeboom, 2015 p.65).
Additionally, it utilizes the different feedbacks posted by a variety of customers in the online
platform to maintain a positive brand of the company.
5.1.3 Enhancement of Experiences of the Customers
Transocean Ltd has in the past been employing the reviews tracker reporting tool with the aim of
comprehending the different experiences of the customers. Thereafter the certain operational
changes can be made on the basis of the locations of complaints (Seybert, 2016 p.88). The pain
points of the customers are also identified and typically resolved before they become large-scale
complaints. Apart from the above mentioned ways of improving the customers’ experiences, the
other way entails, harnessing the different feedbacks of the customers by predicting the trends
and later innovating the company on the basis of changes in the expectations of the customers
across the world.
5.1.4 Establishment of Trust of Customers in Every particular Location of the Company
The company has installed a reputation management software which it uses to create and
establish long-term relationships of the customers. Such a trust is built through the provision of
immediate feedback to the particular reviews made on the firm by a variety of customers all over
the world (Aula and Heinonen, 2016 p.175). The firm communicates directly with the customers

Politics in the Oil and Gas Industry 14
who are usually offline and later respond to the complaints they make to them. Further, they
thank the reviews made by the public, and this is especially for taking their time to write such
positive reviews about the company. It, therefore, implies that the organization values their
customers and thus serve them to their satisfaction.
6.1 Management of Reputation at a Glance
Transocean Ltd typically uses a picture of every particular branch of the company to check the
ones who are doing well, and such a performance is measured in relation to the review trackers'
proprietary algorithm (Chondrogiannis et al.2019 p.240). It, therefore, receives summarized
information including the spot trends of the company's reputation at various levels such as local,
regional, national and international levels.
6.1.1 Asking for Reviews from Loyal Customers
The company usually sends a certain request for reviews to some of the most loyal customers
across the globe. Such an action is usually taken to increase the number of reviews of the
company in a variety of sites such as Facebook and Google (Doorley and Garcia, 2015 p.100).
The customers are typically directed to the review sites using the review trackers technique, and
this is mainly in certain sites which often need more reviews. The more reviews have enabled the
company to have strong ratings and increased reputation anywhere in the world.
7.1 Recommendation and conclusion
To conclude, Transocean is a leading oil producer in the world because of the effective
management who handles most of the tasks within the company. However, there are certain key
areas which the company needs to improve on to avoid being overpowered by the key
competitors in the industry. For example, it should give more attention to the customers’
complaints and responses to offer quality products and services to them.

Politics in the Oil and Gas Industry 15
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Analysis From Turkey–Women's Presence Level in Turkey's Boards. In Management
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Aula, P. and Heinonen, J., 2016. Evidence-Based Reputation Management. In The Reputable
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Chang, C.H., 2015. Proactive and reactive corporate social responsibility: antecedent and
consequence. Management Decision, 53(2), pp.451-468.
Chondrogiannis, M., Katsios, S., Belias, D., Velissariou, E., Papadimopoulos, I. and Koustelios,
A., 2019. Reputation Management in the Tourism Industry. In Yellow Tourism (pp. 235-245).
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Dijkmans, C., Kerkhof, P. and Beukeboom, C.J., 2015. A stage to engage: Social media use and
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