Financial Instruments and Risk Concentration

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Financial Instruments and Risk Concentration [Abstract]

Financial Instruments and Risk Concentration

Note 11    Financial Instruments and Risk Concentration

We may be exposed to certain market risks arising from the use of financial instruments in the ordinary course of business. These risks arise primarily as a result of potential changes in the fair market value of financial instruments that would result from adverse fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, credit risk, interest rates, and marketable and non-marketable security prices as discussed below.

Foreign Currency Risk

We operate in a number of international areas and are involved in transactions denominated in currencies other than U.S. dollars, which exposes us to foreign exchange rate risk or foreign currency devaluation risk. The most significant exposures arise in connection with our operations in Venezuela and Canada, which usually are substantially unhedged.

At various times, we utilize local currency borrowings (foreign-currency-denominated debt), the payment structure of customer contracts and foreign exchange contracts to selectively hedge our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations in connection with monetary assets, liabilities, cash flows and commitments denominated in certain foreign currencies. A foreign exchange contract is a foreign currency transaction, defined as an agreement to exchange different currencies at a given future date and at a specified rate.

Credit Risk

Our financial instruments that potentially subject us to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments, oil and gas financing receivables, accounts receivable and our range-cap-and-floor derivative instrument. Cash equivalents such as deposits and temporary cash investments are held by major banks or investment firms. Our short-term and long-term investments are managed within established guidelines that limit the amounts that may be invested with any one issuer and provide guidance as to issuer credit quality. We believe that the credit risk in our cash and investment portfolio is minimized as a result of the mix of our investments. In addition, our trade receivables are with a variety of U.S., international and foreign-country national oil and gas companies. Management considers this credit risk to be limited due to the financial resources of these companies. We perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers, and we generally do not require material collateral. We do occasionally require prepayment of amounts from customers whose creditworthiness is in question prior to providing services to them. We maintain reserves for potential credit losses, and these losses historically have been within management’s expectations.

Interest Rate and Marketable and Non-marketable Security Price Risk

Our financial instruments that are potentially sensitive to changes in interest rates include our 5.375%, 6.15%, 9.25%, 5.0% and 4.625% senior notes, our range-cap-and-floor derivative instrument, our investments in debt securities (including corporate, asset-backed, mortgage-backed debt and mortgage-CMO debt securities) and our investments in overseas funds that invest primarily in a variety of public and private U.S. and non-U.S. securities (including asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities, global structured-asset securitizations, whole-loan mortgages, and participations in whole loans and whole-loan mortgages), which are classified as long-term investments.

We may utilize derivative financial instruments that are intended to manage our exposure to interest rate risks. The use of derivative financial instruments could expose us to further credit risk and market risk. Credit risk in this context is the failure of a counterparty to perform under the terms of the derivative contract. When the fair value of a derivative contract is positive, the counterparty would owe us, which can create credit risk for us. When the fair value of a derivative contract is negative, we would owe the counterparty, and therefore, we would not be exposed to credit risk. We attempt to minimize credit risk in derivative instruments by entering into transactions with major financial institutions that have a significant asset base. Market risk related to derivatives is the adverse effect on the value of a financial instrument that results from changes in interest rates. We try to manage market risk associated with interest-rate contracts by establishing and monitoring parameters that limit the type and degree of market risk that we undertake.

On October 21, 2002, we entered into an interest rate swap transaction with a third-party financial institution to hedge our exposure to changes in the fair value of $200 million of our fixed rate 5.375% senior notes due 2012, which has been designated as a fair value hedge. Additionally on that date, we purchased a LIBOR range-cap and sold a LIBOR floor, in the form of a cashless collar, with the same third-party financial institution to help mitigate and manage our exposure to changes in the three-month U.S. dollar LIBOR rate. This transaction does not qualify for hedge accounting treatment, and any change in the cumulative fair value of this transaction will be reflected as a gain or loss in our consolidated statements of income (loss). In June 2004, we unwound $100 million of the $200 million range-cap-and-floor derivative instrument. During the fourth quarter of 2005, we unwound the interest rate swap resulting in a loss of $2.7 million, which has been deferred and will be recognized as an increase to interest expense over the remaining life of our 5.375% senior notes due 2012. During the year ended December 31, 2005, we recorded interest savings of $2.7 million related to our interest rate swap agreement accounted for as a fair value hedge, which served to reduce interest expense.

The fair value of our range-cap-and-floor transaction is recorded as a derivative liability and included in other long-term liabilities. It totaled approximately $1.3 million and $3.4 million as of December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively. During 2011, 2010 and 2009, we recorded gains or (losses) of approximately $2.2 million, $(.1) million and $1.4 million, respectively, related to this derivative instrument; these amounts are included in losses (gains) on sales and retirements of long-lived assets and other expense (income), net in our consolidated statements of income (loss).