Ans 3- Pros & Cons

 Chevron was the potential client and ultimately most supportive customer
throughout Pacific Drilling’s growth, they contract more than half of the company’s
drillships.
 There is a relationship with Chevron and based on the relationships they knew the
people they were dealing with and get comfortable that those people would be
committed to delivering the product & service quality.
 The collaboration with Chevron also yielded access to a technological innovation.
 Dual Gradient Drilling (DGD), a process that enabled an oil company to access
reservoirs that had previously been considered “undrillable”.
 Pacific drilling rigs were equipped with the capabilities that Chevron desired and
collaboration among the companies’ employees, both onshore & offshore.
 Working with Chevron to implement DGD also helped Pacific Drilling improve and
refine its operating and management systems.
 Pacific Drilling’s collaboration with Chevron led to a corporate emphasis on process
innovations and technological leadership.

Challenges-

 The technology, processes, and culture that pacific Drilling had developed were
significantly influenced by the company’s close collaboration with Chevron. There
was a concern that efficiency would be lost, even if only temporarily, when changing
to a different drilling partnership.
 The gains often did not translate to the same level of productivity gains in
partnerships with new drillers, which seemed to explain Chevron’s preference to
continue to contract Pacific Drilling.
 Chevron’s support was fundamental in Pacific Drilling’s success as a new entrant, but
its ability to grow as a more mature company was likely to be constrained by that
very same factor.
 Deepwater drillships were also challenged as other drillers upgraded their floater
fleets.
 The close relationship with its existing partners raised concerns that the driller had
become too closely linked to them to effectively translate its efficiency gains to new
producer partners.