Velarion · Company Intelligence
Compensation Brief
Fiscal year 2025 · Filings through 2026-05-13

Helix Energy Solutions Group (HLX)

Fiscal year 2025 executive and director compensation, incentive-plan design, equity activity, and governance — every figure in this brief is traceable to its exact location in the company’s SEC filing — the document, the section, the page, and the table, linked directly.

$5,067,269
Owen Kratz total, FY2025
20th
CEO pay percentile vs peers
57:1
CEO-to-median pay ratio
94.62%
Say-on-pay support, latest vote
Companies that benchmark against HLX
10 companies name HLX as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses HLX in its own benchmarking peer group, as disclosed in each company's most recent proxy statement within the last two proxy seasons. Two companies are therefore absent by design: one that named HLX in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.

01

Summary Compensation Table — fiscal year 2025

Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Owen Kratz$800,000$0$3,838,519$0$420,000$0$8,750$5,067,269
President and Chief Executive Officer
Erik Staffeldt460,00001,578,0550161,00008,7502,207,805
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Scotty Sparks460,00001,466,0990161,000002,087,099
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Ken Neikirk420,00001,012,9490147,00008,7501,588,699
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

A dash means the company reported no figure in that column; 0 means it reported zero. Figures are as printed in the filing, without adjustment.

Three-year trend — total compensation per named executive

Named executive officerFY2025 totalFY2024 totalFY2023 totalΔ FY20242025
Owen Kratz$5,067,269$5,675,840$7,023,160−608,571
Erik Staffeldt2,207,8052,704,514
Scotty Sparks2,087,0992,320,2692,836,687−233,170
Ken Neikirk1,588,6991,756,5262,198,129−167,827

Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.

02

Equity transactions since the proxy statement was filed

No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.

03

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
Scotty SparksPSU2025-01-011,19073,766147,532$778,600
Scotty SparksRSU2025-01-0173,766687,499
Ken NeikirkPSU2025-01-0182250,966101,932537,946
Owen KratzPSU2025-01-013,115193,133386,2662,038,519
Owen KratzRSU2025-01-01193,1331,800,000
Ken NeikirkRSU2025-01-0150,966475,003
Erik StaffeldtPSU2025-01-011,28179,399158,798838,056
Erik StaffeldtRSU2025-01-0179,399739,999
03b

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
Scotty Sparks$687,499$778,600$053.1%
Ken Neikirk475,003537,946053.1%
Owen Kratz1,800,0002,038,519053.1%
Erik Staffeldt739,999838,056053.1%

% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.

04

Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Erik StaffeldtRSU29,359$184,081
Scotty SparksRSU31,053194,702
Erik StaffeldtPSU63,230396,452
Owen KratzPSU243,9021,529,266
Scotty SparksRSU73,766462,513
Owen KratzPSU175,0971,097,858
Scotty SparksPSU93,157584,094
Erik StaffeldtPSU88,076552,237
Scotty SparksPSU73,766462,513
Scotty SparksPSU66,877419,319
Ken NeikirkPSU50,966319,557
Ken NeikirkPSU46,206289,712
Erik StaffeldtRSU42,154264,306
Ken NeikirkRSU21,455134,523
Erik StaffeldtRSU79,399497,832
Scotty SparksRSU44,585279,548
Ken NeikirkRSU50,966319,557
Owen KratzRSU193,1331,210,944
Owen KratzPSU193,1331,210,944
Owen KratzRSU116,732731,910
Owen KratzRSU81,301509,757
Erik StaffeldtPSU79,399497,832
Ken NeikirkPSU64,363403,556
Ken NeikirkRSU30,804193,141
05

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

Helix's compensation program is based on the philosophy that our executive management team should be aligned with our shareholders, and that our executives should be incentivized and rewarded for performance that advances our business goals and the creation of sustainable value in all business cycles, leading to shareholder value creation.

CEO STI target (% of salary)150%
CEO LTI target (% of salary)
Independent consultantWTW (Willis Towers Watson)
Clawback policyTrue
Anti-hedgingTrue
Anti-pledgingFalse
06

Say-on-pay — recent advisory votes

Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20262026-05-13116,003,8016,593,429410,19394.62%Passed
20252025-05-14118,962,7158,415,187303,89993.39%Passed
20242024-05-15120,093,6195,856,571514,95395.35%Passed
20232023-05-17115,460,9247,917,080828,46193.58%Passed
20222022-05-18121,874,4432,052,564782,86698.34%Passed
20212021-05-19121,178,5931,684,514291,44798.63%Passed

Rows are labeled by annual-meeting year, with the meeting date beside each; the vote held in a given year acts on the prior fiscal year's compensation.

Say-on-pay — history, company's computation

Meeting yearMeeting dateApproval — company's computation
20262026-05-1394.62%a
20252025-05-1493.39%b
20242024-05-1595.35%c

a. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

b. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

c. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

Approval percentages are the company's own reported computations under its own stated standard, not recomputed by Velarion. Where a company does not state a standard, none is assumed.

07

CEO pay ratio

Ratio (CEO : median employee)57 : 1
CEO total compensation$5,067,269
Median employee compensation$88,825
08

Director compensation — fiscal year 2025

DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
William L. TransierIndependent · Board Chair · Audit$256,250$150,000$0$0$406,250
John V. LovoiIndependent · Audit · Compensation (Chair)145,244150,00000295,244
Amy H. NelsonIndependent · Audit (Chair)129,294150,00000279,294
T. Mitch LittleIndependent · Compensation125,000150,00000275,000
Paula HarrisIndependent · Compensation90,000178,12800268,128
Diana GlassmanIndependent · Audit111,929150,00000261,929
Owen KratzEmployee director00000
09

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$70,000
Annual equity retainer$150,000
Per board meeting fee
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)20,000 / 20,000 / 20,000
Stock ownership guideline
09b

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$857,717
Equity awards (grant-date value)$928,128
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$1,785,845

Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.

10

Disclosed peer group — fiscal year 2025

The compensation peer group as the company disclosed it in its own proxy — the reference set behind the percentile above.

CLB Core Laboratories Inc.RIG Transocean Ltd.PUMP ProPetro Holding Corp.AROC Archrock, Inc.WFRD Weatherford International plcRES RPC, Inc.NOV NOV Inc.FET Forum Energy Technologies, Inc.OII Oceaneering International, Inc.OIS Oil States International, Inc.XPRO Expro Group Holdings N.V.PTEN Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.WTTR Select Water Solutions, Inc.HP Helmerich & Payne, Inc.TTI TETRA Technologies, Inc.NR Newpark Resources, Inc.NBR Nabors Industries Ltd.
10a

Peer reciprocity

Of the companies Helix Energy Solutions Group names as compensation peers, which name it back in their own disclosed peer groups. A peer set the market reciprocates reads differently from one selected in a single direction.

Core Laboratories Inc. (CLB) Transocean Ltd. (RIG)37 ProPetro Holding Corp. (PUMP) Archrock, Inc. (AROC) Weatherford International plc (WFRD)38 RPC, Inc. (RES) NOV Inc. (NOV)39 Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. (FET) Oceaneering International, Inc. (OII)40 Oil States International, Inc. (OIS) Expro Group Holdings N.V. (XPRO)41 Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (PTEN)42 Select Water Solutions, Inc. (WTTR)43 Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (HP)44 TETRA Technologies, Inc. (TTI) Newpark Resources, Inc. (NR) Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR)45

Reciprocity shown where the peer's own current proxy has been read — each mark is cited in the register to that peer's filing. A dash means the peer's current proxy was read and names no reciprocal group including Helix Energy Solutions Group.

10b

Chief executive pay against the peer group

Most recent fiscal-year chief executive compensation at each disclosed peer, taken from that company's own proxy statement.

RankCompanyFYChief executiveSalaryStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveTotal
1Nabors Industries Ltd.2025Anthony Petrello$1,750,000$5,352,354$0$2,049,275$29,636,103
2Weatherford International plc2025Girishchandra Saligram1,254,8089,969,03501,735,29613,022,298
3NOV Inc.2025Clay Williams1,000,0009,576,940899,2081,129,49212,713,187
4Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.2025William Hendricks1,300,0008,497,99102,264,33012,077,321
5Helmerich & Payne, Inc.2025John Lindsay1,179,9095,749,95701,559,0169,010,799
6Oceaneering International, Inc.2025Roderick Larson910,0002,027,79604,282,4257,735,670
7Expro Group Holdings N.V.2024Michael Jardon1,000,0005,246,0720690,6256,962,497
8Helix Energy Solutions Group2025Owen Kratz800,0003,838,5190420,0005,067,269
9Select Water Solutions, Inc.2025John Schmitz800,0003,245,5260681,3524,876,029
10RPC, Inc.2025Ben Palmer618,0001,388,26501,155,6603,192,075
Core Laboratories Inc.not in coverage universe
Transocean Ltd.not in coverage universe
ProPetro Holding Corp.not in coverage universe
Archrock, Inc.not in coverage universe
Forum Energy Technologies, Inc.not in coverage universe
Oil States International, Inc.not in coverage universe
TETRA Technologies, Inc.not in coverage universe
Newpark Resources, Inc.not in coverage universe

Each peer's compensation is from its most recently filed proxy; fiscal years differ by company. Each peer's figures come from its own filings; the subject company is highlighted. Peers whose chief executive compensation is outside our coverage universe are stated as such, never left blank.

10c

Incentive design against the same peers

CompanyAnnual incentive payoutLong-term vehicle mixPSU measures include TSRCompensation consultant
Helix Energy Solutions Group35%PSU 50 · RSU 50Yes — TSR relative to performance peer groupWTW (Willis Towers Watson)
Archrock, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Core Laboratories Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Expro Group Holdings N.V.55.25%PRSU 60 · RSU 40Yes — Total Shareholder Return (TSR)Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC
Forum Energy Technologies, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Helmerich & Payne, Inc.109.09%PSU 50 · RSU 50Yes — Total Stockholder Return (TSR)Willis Towers Watson
Nabors Industries Ltd.not disclosednot disclosedYes — Relative Total Shareholder Return (TSR)Pay Governance
Newpark Resources, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
NOV Inc.87%PSU 50 · RSU 40 · Options 10Yes — TSR (total shareholder return) goalMeridian Compensation Partners
Oceaneering International, Inc.124%PSU 50 · RSU 50Yes — Relative TSRMeridian
Oil States International, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.not disclosedPSU 50 · RSU 50Yes — Total Stockholder Return (TSR)Pay Governance LLC
ProPetro Holding Corp.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
RPC, Inc.187%RSU 75 · PSU 25NoMercer, LLC
Select Water Solutions, Inc.88.1%RSU 50 · PSU 50Yes — Relative Total Shareholder Return (TSR)Meridian Compensation Partners
TETRA Technologies, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Transocean Ltd.150%PSU 50 · RSU 50NoPay Governance LLC
Weatherford International plc92.3%PSU 75 · RSU 25NoLB&Co.

Read from each company's Compensation Discussion and Analysis: annual incentive payout as a percentage of target, the disclosed long-term vehicle mix, whether performance-share measures include a total shareholder return component, and the retained compensation consultant. “Not disclosed” appears only where the company's filing does not state the item.

11

Source register

Each figure's location is given both for the eye (section · page · table · row · column) and for a script (table/row/column index and exact character span in the filed document). Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.

#SupportsDocumentFiledAccessionLocation in document
1Section 01, Owen KratzDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 53. As printed: 5,067,269. Filing ↗machine: r2 · c22 · span 1194229–1194239
2Section 01, Erik StaffeldtDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 53. As printed: 2,207,805. Filing ↗machine: r8 · c22 · span 1217764–1217774
3Section 01, Scotty SparksDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 53. As printed: 2,087,099. Filing ↗machine: r5 · c22 · span 1206203–1206213
4Section 01, Ken NeikirkDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 53. As printed: 1,588,699. Filing ↗machine: r11 · c22 · span 1230043–1230053
5Section 03, Scotty Sparks PSUDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Grant of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t204 · r4 · c4 · span 1057177–1057183
6Section 03, Scotty Sparks RSUDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Grant of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t204 · r4 · c4 · span 1057177–1057183
7Section 03, Ken Neikirk PSUDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Grant of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t204 · r6 · c4 · span 1061267–1061273
8Section 03, Owen Kratz PSUDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Grant of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t204 · r3 · c4 · span 1055130–1055137
9Section 03, Owen Kratz RSUDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Grant of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t204 · r3 · c4 · span 1055130–1055137
10Section 03, Ken Neikirk RSUDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Grant of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t204 · r6 · c4 · span 1061267–1061273
11Section 03, Erik Staffeldt PSUDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Grant of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t204 · r5 · c4 · span 1059220–1059226
12Section 03, Erik Staffeldt RSUDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Grant of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t204 · r5 · c4 · span 1059220–1059226
13Section 07, pay ratioDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 57 : 1. Filing ↗machine: span 1663942–1663944
14Section 08, William L. TransierDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 406,250. Filing ↗machine: t127 · r7 · c13 · span 756720–756728
15Section 08, John V. LovoiDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 295,244. Filing ↗machine: t127 · r5 · c13 · span 751881–751889
16Section 08, Amy H. NelsonDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 279,294. Filing ↗machine: t127 · r6 · c13 · span 754533–754541
17Section 08, T. Mitch LittleDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 275,000. Filing ↗machine: t127 · r4 · c13 · span 749580–749588
18Section 08, Paula HarrisDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 268,128. Filing ↗machine: t127 · r3 · c13 · span 746926–746934
19Section 08, Diana GlassmanDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 261,929. Filing ↗machine: t127 · r2 · c13 · span 744583–744591
20Section 08, Owen KratzDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
21Section 06, 2026 voteForm 8-K2026-05-130000866829-26-000017Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 94.62% (votes for as printed: 116,003,801). Filing ↗
22Section 06, 2025 voteForm 8-K2025-05-140000866829-25-000012Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 93.39% (votes for as printed: 118,962,715). Filing ↗
23Section 06, 2024 voteForm 8-K2024-05-150000866829-24-000022Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 95.35% (votes for as printed: 120,093,619). Filing ↗
24Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed)ComputedcomputedΔ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.machine: formula: Δ = FY(n) − FY(n−1)
25Section 03b vehicle mix (computed)ComputedcomputedRSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).machine: formula: sums + PSU ratio
26Section 09b board cost (computed)ComputedcomputedCash 857,717 + equity 928,128 + all other 0 = 1,785,845, summed across the director compensation table rows.machine: formula: Σ = 1,785,845
27Nabors Industries Ltd., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-220001140361-26-016154CEO total compensation as printed in Nabors Industries Ltd.'s own proxy. As printed: 29,636,103. Filing ↗machine: r2 · c25 · span 1447823–1447833
28Weatherford International plc, Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-210001193125-26-166847CEO total compensation as printed in Weatherford International plc's own proxy. As printed: 13,022,298. Filing ↗machine: r3 · c27 · span 828253–828263
29NOV Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-148884CEO total compensation as printed in NOV Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 12,713,187. Filing ↗machine: t130 · r2 · c35 · span 574372–574382
30Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-130000889900-26-000020CEO total compensation as printed in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 12,077,321. Filing ↗machine: span 571078–571088
31Helmerich & Payne, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-01-220001104659-26-005786CEO total compensation as printed in Helmerich & Payne, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 9,010,799. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c42 · span 1420313–1420322
32Oceaneering International, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-020000073756-26-000073CEO total compensation as printed in Oceaneering International, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 7,735,670. Filing ↗machine: r2 · c14 · span 1452178–1452187
33Expro Group Holdings N.V., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2025-04-110001193125-25-078440CEO total compensation as printed in Expro Group Holdings N.V.'s own proxy. As printed: 6,962,497. Filing ↗machine: r3 · c34 · span 806814–806823
34Helix Energy Solutions Group (subject), Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-010001140361-26-012501CEO total compensation as printed in Helix Energy Solutions Group's own proxy. As printed: 5,067,269. Filing ↗machine: r2 · c22 · span 1194229–1194239
35Select Water Solutions, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-03-240001104659-26-033864CEO total compensation as printed in Select Water Solutions, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 4,876,029. Filing ↗machine: span 1041295–1041304
36RPC, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-03-180001104659-26-030766CEO total compensation as printed in RPC, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 3,192,075. Filing ↗machine: t142 · r9 · c14 · span 742140–742149
37Section 10a, Transocean Ltd. reciprocityDEF 14A0001104659-26-037805Transocean Ltd.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Helix Energy Solutions Group. Filing ↗
38Section 10a, Weatherford International plc reciprocityDEF 14A0001193125-26-166847Weatherford International plc's most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Helix Energy Solutions Group. Filing ↗
39Section 10a, NOV Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001193125-26-148884NOV Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Helix Energy Solutions Group. Filing ↗
40Section 10a, Oceaneering International, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0000073756-26-000073Oceaneering International, Inc. names Helix Energy Solutions Group in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). Filing ↗
41Section 10a, Expro Group Holdings N.V. reciprocityDEF 14A0001193125-25-078440Expro Group Holdings N.V. names Helix Energy Solutions Group in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). Filing ↗
42Section 10a, Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001628280-25-017335Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Helix Energy Solutions Group. Filing ↗
43Section 10a, Select Water Solutions, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001104659-26-033864Select Water Solutions, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Helix Energy Solutions Group. Filing ↗
44Section 10a, Helmerich & Payne, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001104659-26-005786Helmerich & Payne, Inc. names Helix Energy Solutions Group in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). Filing ↗
45Section 10a, Nabors Industries Ltd. reciprocityDEF 14A0001140361-26-016154Nabors Industries Ltd.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Helix Energy Solutions Group. Filing ↗