Receivables

As of December 31, 2016, 28% of our gross trade receivables were from customers in the United States and 15% were from customers in Venezuela. As of December 31, 2015, 26% of our gross trade receivables were from customers in the United States and 14% were from customers in Venezuela. Other than the United States and Venezuela, no other country or single customer accounted for more than 10% of our gross trade receivables at these dates.

Venezuela. We have continued to experience delays in collecting payments on our receivables from our primary customer in Venezuela. These receivables are not disputed, and we have not historically had material write-offs relating to this customer. Additionally, we routinely monitor the financial stability of our customers. During the second quarter of 2016, we executed a financing agreement with our primary customer in Venezuela in an effort to actively manage these customer receivables, resulting in an exchange of $200 million of outstanding trade receivables for an interest-bearing promissory note.

Our total outstanding net trade receivables in Venezuela were $610 million as of December 31, 2016, excluding the promissory note receivable discussed above, compared to $704 million as of December 31, 2015, which represents 15% and 14% of total company trade receivables for the respective periods. The majority of our Venezuela receivables are United States dollar-denominated receivables. Of the $610 million receivables in Venezuela as of December 31, 2016, $409 million has been classified as long-term and included within “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets.

As a result of market conditions in Venezuela and the continued delays in collecting payments on our receivables in the country, we began curtailing activity in Venezuela during the first quarter of 2016. See Note 14 and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Business Environment and Results of Operations” for additional information about the promissory note exchange.

The following table presents a rollforward of our allowance for bad debts for 2014, 2015 and 2016.



Millions of dollars	Balance at Beginning of Period		Charged to Costs and Expenses		Write-Offs			Balance at End of Period
Year ended December 31, 2014	$	117	$	26	$	(6	)	$	137
Year ended December 31, 2015	137		44		(36		)	145
Year ended December 31, 2016	145		50		(20		)	175