Mr Ralls previously served as executive vice president and COO of GlobalSantaFe. Prior to that, he was senior vice president and CFO of GlobalSantaFe, and held the same position with Global Marine, a predecessor company to GlobalSantaFe.

Mr Ralls currently serves on the board of directors of Complete Production Services and is chairman of its audit committee. Mr Ralls earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, US.