Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Property Plant and Equipment

v3.6.0.2
Property Plant and Equipment
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]  
Property, Plant and Equipment
Property, Plant and Equipment
The components of our property, plant and equipment balance are as follows:
 
December 31,
Dollars in Thousands
2016
 
2015
Property, Plant and Equipment, at cost:
 
 
 
Drilling Equipment
$
1,306,641

 
$
1,396,748

Rental Tools
516,144

 
521,662

Building, Land and Improvements
54,799

 
53,576

Other
111,142

 
114,465

Construction in Progress
25,357

 
21,770

Total Property, Plant and Equipment, at cost
2,014,083

 
2,108,221

Less: Accumulated Depreciation and Amortization
1,320,644

 
1,302,380

Property, Plant, and Equipment, Net
$
693,439

 
$
805,841


Depreciation expense was $136.3 million, $151.9 million and $142.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014, respectively.
Provision for Reduction in Carrying Value of an Asset
Asset impairment evaluations are, by nature, highly subjective. They involve expectations about future cash flows generated by our assets and reflect management’s assumptions and judgments regarding future industry conditions and their effect on future utilization levels, dayrates and costs. The use of different estimates and assumptions could result in materially different carrying values of our assets. We review the carrying amounts of long-lived assets for potential impairment when events occur, or circumstances change, which indicate the carrying values of such assets may not be recoverable. During the 2016 first quarter, events and circumstances indicated that carrying value of certain assets in our Rental Tools and International & Alaska Drilling segments might not be recoverable. However, our estimate of undiscounted cash flows indicated that the related carrying amounts were expected to be recovered. No further assessment of the recoverability of our assets was required for the year ended December 31, 2016. Should current market conditions worsen or persist for an extended period of time, it is possible that the estimate of undiscounted cash flows may change resulting in the need to write down those assets to fair value.
During the 2015 third quarter, as a result of the continued decline in oil prices and expected slower recovery, we performed a recoverability test for our respective asset groups. Based on the results of our recoverability test, the current carrying values of our asset groups are fully recoverable through our future estimated cash flows and thus were not subject to impairment at September 30, 2015. The determination of our forecasted cashflows for the respective asset groups included underlying assumptions and estimates with regard to dayrates, utilization, operating costs and capital expenditures associated with each rig based on its expected operating status (i.e. operating, stacked, etc.).
Although no impairment of our asset groups was identified as a result of our 2015 recoverability analyses, during the year ended December 31, 2015, we recorded $12.5 million of provisions for reduction in carrying value of assets. During the 2015 fourth quarter management made a decision to exit the Drilling Services business in Colombia. As of December 31, 2015, there were three-rigs in the country. One of the rigs was marketed for operations outside of Colombia, and for the remaining two rigs, components of the rigs that were useable elsewhere in our operations were re-deployed and the carrying value of the remaining components was written-off, resulting in a provision for reduction in carrying value of $4.8 million. In addition, during the 2015 fourth quarter, to adjust to the lower level of current and expected drilling activity, we performed a review of certain individual assets within our asset groups and recorded a $4.3 million provision for reduction in carrying value of assets primarily related to drilling equipment in our International & Alaska Drilling segment. During the 2015 second and third quarters, the Company wrote-off a combined $3.2 million related to certain international rental tools and drilling rigs that management concluded were no longer marketable and the carrying value of the rigs and equipment was no longer recoverable.
Disposition of Assets
During the normal course of operations, we periodically sell equipment deemed to be excess, obsolete, or not currently required for operations. Net losses recorded on asset disposition for the year ended December 31, 2016 were $1.6 million. Net gains recorded on assets dispositions for the year ended December 31, 2015 were $1.6 million. Activity in both periods included the results of asset sales; however, the net gains for 2015 were primarily the result of a gain from an insurance settlement received during the first quarter of 2015 related to previously realized asset losses. This gain was partially offset by losses incurred during the 2015 fourth quarter related to equipment retirements.