Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

General

v2.4.0.6
General
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012
General
1. General

In the opinion of the management of Parker Drilling Company (Parker Drilling), the accompanying unaudited consolidated condensed financial statements reflect all adjustments of a normally recurring nature which are necessary for a fair presentation of: (1) Parker Drilling’s financial position as of September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, (2) Parker Drilling’s results of operations for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, and (3) Parker Drilling’s cash flows for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2012 and 2011. Results for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2012 are not necessarily indicative of the results that will be realized for the year ending December 31, 2012. The financial statements should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Nature of Operations — Parker Drilling, together with its subsidiaries (the Company), is a provider of contract drilling and drilling-related services. Additionally, our rental tools business specializes in providing equipment such as drill pipe, tubing, high-torque connections, blowout preventers (BOPs) and drill collars for use in drilling, work-over and production applications within the drilling sector of the energy industry.

We have extensive experience and expertise in drilling geologically difficult wells and in managing the logistical and technological challenges of operating in remote, harsh and ecologically sensitive areas both in the U.S. and internationally. Additionally, our international drilling business provides operations and management services, such as labor, maintenance, and logistics for operators who own their own drilling rigs, but choose Parker Drilling to operate the rigs for them. At September 30, 2012, our combined U.S. and international marketable rig fleet consisted of 15 barge drilling rigs and 24 land rigs located in the United States and countries in Latin America and the Eastern Hemisphere. Our Technical Services business includes engineering and related project services during the concept development, pre-FEED (Front End Engineering and Design), and FEED phases of customer-owned drilling facility projects. As these projects mature, we strive to continue providing the same services during the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) phase.

Segment Reporting — As of December 31, 2011, we re-aligned our reporting segments to be consistent with changes made within our organization. We have six operating segments:

 

   

Rental Tools

 

   

U.S. Barge Drilling

 

   

U.S. Drilling

 

   

International Drilling

 

   

Technical Services

 

   

Construction Contract

As of December 31, 2011, we added the U.S. Drilling segment, represented primarily by our two Arctic Alaska Drilling Units (AADU) rigs in Alaska. Our U.S. Barge Drilling segment, previously referred to as the U.S. Drilling segment, represents our U.S. Gulf of Mexico barge business and remains unchanged. We aligned our international operations more closely with the management structure. Our previous three international geographic regions (Americas, CIS/AME, and Asia Pacific) are now two – Latin America and Eastern Hemisphere. Each region includes all drilling-related operations, whether conducted using a Parker-owned rig or a customer-owned rig pursuant to an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contract. Our technical services activities, which primarily include our engagement in engineering support initiatives, pre-FEED, FEED and EPCI projects that have the potential to evolve into future O&M opportunities, are now reported as an individual segment. Our Rental Tools and Construction Contract segments remain unchanged. Certain amounts presented in this Form 10-Q for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2011 have been revised to conform to the current period presentation.

Consolidation — The consolidated condensed financial statements include the accounts of Parker Drilling and subsidiaries over which we exercise control or have a controlling financial interest, including entities, if any, in which the Company is allocated a majority of the entity’s losses or returns, regardless of ownership percentage. If a subsidiary of Parker Drilling has a 50 percent interest in an entity but Parker Drilling’s interest in the subsidiary or the entity does not meet the consolidation criteria described above, then that interest is accounted for under the equity method.

Reclassifications — Certain reclassifications have been made to prior period amounts to conform with the current period presentation. These reclassifications did not have a material effect on our consolidated condensed statements of operations, consolidated condensed balance sheets or consolidated condensed statements of cash flows.

Use of Estimates — The preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting policies generally accepted in the United States (U.S. GAAP) requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect our reported amounts of assets and liabilities, our disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and our revenue and expenses during the periods reported. Estimates are typically used when accounting for certain significant items, such as allowance for doubtful accounts, legal or contractual liability accruals, mobilization and deferred mobilization, revenue and cost accounting for projects that follow the percentage of completion method, self-insured medical/dental plans, income taxes and valuation allowance, and other items requiring the use of estimates. Estimates are based on a number of variables which may include third party valuations, historical experience and assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. Due to the inherent uncertainty involved with estimates, actual results may differ from management estimates.

Revenue Recognition — We recognize revenues and expenses on dayrate contracts as drilling progresses. Revenues from rental activities are recognized ratably over the rental term. Mobilization fees received and related mobilization costs incurred are deferred and amortized over the term of the contract period. Construction contract revenues and costs are recognized on a percentage of completion basis utilizing the cost-to-cost method.

Reimbursable Costs — We recognize reimbursements received for out-of-pocket expenses as revenues and account for out-of-pocket expenses as direct operating costs. Such amounts totaled $12.1 million, and $11.9 million during the third quarters of 2012 and 2011, respectively, and $29.8 million and $46.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Concentrations of Credit Risk — Financial instruments, which potentially subject us to concentrations of credit risk, consist primarily of trade receivables. We generally do not require collateral on our trade receivables.

At September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, we had deposits in domestic banks in excess of federally insured limits of approximately $10.8 million and $10.2 million, respectively. In addition, as of September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, we had uninsured deposits in foreign banks of $31.9 million and $38.4 million, respectively.

Our customer base consists primarily of major, independent, national and international oil and gas companies and integrated service providers. We depend on a limited number of customers. Our two largest customers constituted 10.6 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively, of our total year-to-date revenues as of September 30, 2012. Each of our segments depends on a limited number of key customers and the loss of any one or more key customers could have a material adverse effect on a segment.

 

Construction Contract For the periods reported, our construction contract business included only the Liberty drilling rig construction project for BP. In November 2010, BP informed us that it was suspending construction on the project to review the rig’s engineering and design, including its safety systems. The Liberty rig construction contract was a fixed fee and reimbursable contract accounted for on a percentage of completion basis. As of December 31, 2011, we had recognized $335.5 million in revenues and $11.7 million of margin on the contract.

The Liberty rig construction contract expired on February 8, 2011 prior to completion of the rig. Before expiration of the construction contract, BP identified several areas of concern relating to design, construction and invoicing for which it asked us to provide explanations and documentation, and we did so. Although we provided BP with the requested information, we do not know when or how these issues will be resolved with our client.

After expiration of the construction contract, the Company and BP continued activities to preserve and maintain the rig under the “pre-operations” phase of our operations contract, which was entered into in August 2009 and expired on July 1, 2011. A consulting services agreement was reached between us and BP effective July 1, 2011. Under the consulting services agreement, we assisted BP with technical support in a review of the rig’s design, the creation of a new statement of requirements for the rig, and the transition of documentation and materials to BP. All work under the consulting agreement has been completed and we are engaged with BP on construction contract close-out resolution. In June 2012, BP publicly announced that it had made the decision to suspend the Liberty project indefinitely. We do not know whether or how that decision may impact our discussions with BP related to contract close-out.

Capitalized Interest — Interest from external borrowings is capitalized on major projects until the assets are ready for their intended use. Capitalized interest is added to the cost of the underlying assets and is amortized over the useful lives of the assets in the same manner as the underlying assets. Capitalized interest reduces net interest expense in the consolidated condensed statements of operations. We capitalized interest costs primarily related to the construction of the two new AADU rigs of $2.5 million and $5.0 million during the third quarters of 2012 and 2011, respectively, and $7.9 million and $14.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively.