Abstract The paper that we wish to present concerns operator/contractor relationships. Specifically it will define the proper attitudes of both parties towards communications, bidding procedures, pre-spud conferences, contract per-formance, billing procedures and contract eval-uation. Information on the above will be derived from actual experience. This, paper will possibly differ from any presented in the past since it deals more in management philosophy rather than technical engineering data. The results to be shown in this paper will be that optimized operator/contractor relation-ships lead to greater efficiency and lower costs for the operator plus a more profitable operation for the contractor.