Financial Instruments and Risk Management

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Financial Instruments and Risk Management [Abstract]

Financial Instruments and Risk Management

Note 12. Financial Instruments and Risk Management

At December 31, 2011, we held $150 million of short-term, United States Treasury securities with maturities that extend through February 2012 compared to $653 million of short-term, United States Treasury securities at December 31, 2010. These securities are accounted for as available-for-sale and recorded at fair value, based on quoted market prices, in "Investments in marketable securities" on our consolidated balance sheets. The carrying amount of cash and equivalents, investments in marketable securities, receivables, and accounts payable, as reflected in the consolidated balance sheets, approximates fair value due to the short maturities of these instruments. We have no financial instruments measured at fair value using unobservable inputs.

The fair value of our long-term debt was $6.2 billion as of December 31, 2011 and $4.6 billion as of December 31, 2010, which differs from the carrying amount of $4.8 billion as of December 31, 2011 and $3.8 billion as of December 31, 2010, on our consolidated balance sheets. As of December 31, 2011, $3.6 billion of the fair value of our long-term debt and as of December 31, 2010, $4.2 billion of the fair value of our long-term debt were calculated using quoted prices in active markets for identical liabilities. As of December 31, 2011, $2.6 billion of the fair value of our long-term debt and as of December 31, 2010, $422 million of the fair value of our long-term debt were calculated using significant observable inputs for similar liabilities.

We are exposed to market risk from changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates. We selectively manage these exposures through the use of derivative instruments, including forward exchange contracts and interest rate swaps. The objective of our risk management strategy is to minimize the volatility from fluctuations in foreign currency and interest rates. We do not use derivative instruments for trading purposes. The fair value of our forward exchange contracts and interest rate swaps was not material as of December 31, 2011. The counterparties to our forward exchange contracts and interest rate swaps are global commercial and investment banks.

Foreign currency exchange risk

We have operations in many international locations and are involved in transactions denominated in currencies other than the United States dollar, our functional currency, which exposes us to foreign currency exchange rate risk. Techniques in managing foreign currency exchange risk include, but are not limited to, foreign currency borrowing and investing and the use of currency derivative instruments. We attempt to selectively manage significant exposures to potential foreign currency exchange losses based on current market conditions, future operating activities, and the associated cost in relation to the perceived risk of loss. The purpose of our foreign currency risk management activities is to minimize the risk that our cash flows from the sale and purchase of services and products in foreign currencies will be adversely affected by changes in exchange rates.

We use forward exchange contracts to manage our exposure to fluctuations in the currencies of the countries in which we do the majority of our international business. These forward exchange contracts are not treated as hedges for accounting purposes, generally have an expiration date of one year or less, and are not exchange traded. While forward exchange contracts are subject to fluctuations in value, the fluctuations are generally offset by the value of the underlying exposures being managed. The use of some of these contracts may limit our ability to benefit from favorable fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

Forward exchange contracts are not utilized to manage exposures in some currencies due primarily to the lack of available markets or cost considerations (non-traded currencies). We attempt to manage our working capital position to minimize foreign currency exposure in non-traded currencies and recognize that pricing for the services and products offered in these countries should account for the cost of exchange rate devaluations. We have historically incurred transaction losses in non-traded currencies.

The notional amounts of open forward exchange contracts were $268 million at December 31, 2011 and $356 million at December 31, 2010. The notional amounts of our forward exchange contracts do not generally represent amounts exchanged by the parties, and thus are not a measure of our exposure or of the cash requirements related to these contracts. As such, cash flows related to these contracts are typically not material. The amounts exchanged are calculated by reference to the notional amounts and by other terms of the contracts, such as exchange rates.

Interest rate risk

We are subject to interest rate risk on our long-term debt. Our marketable securities and short-term borrowings do not give rise to significant interest rate risk due to their short-term nature. We had fixed rate long-term debt totaling $4.8 billion at December 31, 2011 and fixed rate long-term debt totaling $3.8 billion at December 31, 2010 with none maturing before May 2017.

We maintain an interest rate management strategy that is intended to mitigate the exposure to changes in interest rates in the aggregate for our investment portfolio. During the second quarter of 2011, we entered into a series of interest rate swaps relating to two of our debt instruments with a total notional amount of $1.0 billion at a weighted-average, LIBOR-based, floating rate of 3.57% as of December 31, 2011. We utilize interest rate swaps to effectively convert a portion of our fixed rate debt to floating rates. These interest rate swaps, which expire when the underlying debt matures, are designated as fair value hedges of the underlying debt and are determined to be highly effective. The fair value of our interest rate swaps are included in "Other assets" in our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2011. The fair value of our interest rate swaps was determined using an income approach model with inputs, such as the notional amount, LIBOR rate spread, and settlement terms that are observable in the market or can be derived from or corroborated by observable data. We did not have any interest rate swaps outstanding as of December 31, 2010. At December 31, 2011, we had fixed rate debt aggregating $3.8 billion and variable rate debt aggregating $1.0 billion, after taking into account the effects of the interest rate swaps.

Credit risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject us to concentrations of credit risk are primarily cash equivalents, investments in marketable securities, and trade receivables. It is our practice to place our cash equivalents and investments in marketable securities in high quality investments with various institutions. We derive the majority of our revenue from selling products and providing services to the energy industry. Within the energy industry, our trade receivables are generated from a broad and diverse group of customers, although a significant amount of our trade receivables are generated in the United States. We maintain an allowance for losses based upon the expected collectability of all trade accounts receivable.

We do not have any significant concentrations of credit risk with any individual counterparty to our derivative contracts. We select counterparties to those contracts based on our belief that each counterparty's profitability, balance sheet, and capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is unlikely to be materially adversely affected by foreseeable events.