VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]

VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

Effective November 19, 2012, an agreement was entered into between a subsidiary of the Corporation and Kuukpik Corporation (“Kuukpik”) to form a separate legal entity (“Joint Venture”) for the purpose of performing contracts for the acquisition and development of geophysical and seismic data and for geophysical and seismic services and any and all related work anywhere on the North Slope of Alaska (onshore or offshore) for a period of five years. The Corporation's and Kuukpik’s percentage ownership interests in the Joint Venture are 49.0% and 51.0%, respectively. The sole source of revenue of the Joint Venture is contracts performed by the Corporation. Pre-award costs incurred on potential contracts by Kuukpik and the Corporation are absorbed by each party and not by the Joint Venture. The Joint Venture receives 10% of gross revenues of all North Slope of Alaska contracts performed by the Corporation, which is distributed to Kuukpik and the Corporation based on their relative ownership percentages. Risk of loss on a contract, including credit risk, is the Corporation's sole responsibility. Based on its power to influence the significant business activities of the Joint Venture and its responsibility to absorb contract losses, the Corporation was determined to be the primary beneficiary under GAAP and as such consolidates the Joint Venture. The results of the Joint Venture are combined with the Corporation and all intercompany transactions are eliminated upon consolidation. Amounts reflected for the Joint Venture in the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements consist of the balances reported under net income attributable to noncontrolling interest for the three month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 and noncontrolling interest on the March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 balance sheets.

Effective October 18, 2016, an agreement was entered into between the Corporation and SAExploration Nigeria Limited (“SAE Nigeria”) for the purpose of performing acquisition and development of geophysical and seismic data on a specific project in West Nigeria ("West Nigeria Project"). While the Corporation does not hold an ownership interest in SAE Nigeria, risk of loss on the West Nigeria Project, including credit risk, is the Corporation's sole responsibility. All profits from the West Nigeria Project remain with the Corporation. Based on its power to influence the significant business activities of SAE Nigeria during the completion of the West Nigeria Project, its responsibility to absorb contract losses and the proportion of SAE Nigeria's operations dedicated to the West Nigeria Project at this time, the Corporation was determined to be the primary beneficiary under GAAP and as such consolidates SAE Nigeria for the term of the West Nigeria Project. The results of SAE Nigeria are combined with the Corporation and all intercompany transactions are eliminated upon consolidation. The carrying amounts of assets and liabilities at March 31, 2017 reflected for SAE Nigeria in the unaudited condensed consolidation financial statements was $4,245. The assets are primarily in restricted cash and the liabilities in accounts payable.