Sentence 1: Many factors beyond our control affect oil and natural gas prices, including, but not limited to: the cost of exploring for, producing and delivering oil and natural gas; the discovery and development rate of new oil and natural gas reserves, especially shale and other unconventional natural gas resources for which we market our rigs; the rate of decline of existing and new oil and natural gas reserves; available pipeline and other oil and natural gas transportation capacity; the levels of oil and natural gas storage; the ability of oil and natural gas exploration and production companies to raise capital; economic conditions in the United States and elsewhere; actions by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries; political instability in the Middle East and other major oil and natural gas producing regions; governmental regulations, sanctions and trade restrictions, both domestic and foreign; domestic and foreign tax policy; the availability of and constraints in pipeline, storage and other transportation capacity in the basins in which we operate, including, for example, takeaway constraints experienced in the Permian Basin; weather conditions in the United States; the pace adopted by foreign governments for the exploration, development and production of their national reserves; the price of foreign imports of oil and natural gas; the strength or weakness of the United States dollar; the overall supply and demand for oil and natural gas; and the development of alternate energy sources and the long-term effects of worldwide energy conservation measures.
Sentence 2: Historically, the prices for oil and gas, and consequently, the levels of activity in the offshore oil and gas exploration, development and production sectors, have been subject to wide fluctuations in response to changes in the supply of and demand for oil and gas, market uncertainty and a variety of additional factors beyond our control, such as: general economic conditions; actions of the OPEC and other oil producing countries to control prices or change production levels; the price and availability of alternative fuels; assessments of offshore drilling prospects compared with land-based opportunities that do not generally require our services, including new or non-traditional sources such as oil sands and shale; the costs of exploration, development and production and delivery of oil and natural gas offshore; expectations about future supply and demand for oil and gas; advances in exploration, development and production technology; availability and rates of discovery of new oil and natural gas reserves in offshore areas, as well as on land; federal, state, local and international political conditions, and policies including those with respect to local content requirements and the exploration and development of oil and gas reserves; uncertainty or instability resulting from an escalation or additional outbreak of armed hostilities or other crises in the Middle East or other geographic areas, or acts of terrorism in the U.S. or elsewhere; technological advancements affecting exploration, development and production of oil and gas and energy consumption; weather conditions, natural disasters, pandemics and other similar phenomena; government regulation, including environmental regulation and drilling regulation, permitting and concessions; regulation of drilling activities and the availability of drilling permits and concessions and environmental regulation; and the ability of oil and natural gas companies to generate funds or otherwise obtain capital required for offshore oil and gas exploration, development and production and their capital expenditures budgets.
Semantic similarity (0-5): 3