Note 4 - Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, Plant and Equipment Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 4 — Property, Plant and Equipment

Our investment in property, plant and equipment consisted of the following at December 31:

(In thousands)	2014			2013
Land	$	11,736		$	10,085
Buildings and improvements		98,492			86,660
Machinery and equipment		188,987			179,685
Computer hardware and software		27,431			25,360
Furnitures and fixtures		5,466			4,829
Construction in progress		40,628			12,667
		372,740			319,286
Less accumulated depreciation		(146,860	)		(137,702	)
		225,880			181,584
Composite mats (rental fleet)		90,321			60,332
Less accumulated depreciation-mats		(32,840	)		(24,906	)
		57,481			35,426
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	283,361		$	217,010

Depreciation expense was $33.2 million, $29.4 million and $25.7 million in 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

In 2014, we incurred $28.8 million of capital expenditures to expand our mat manufacturing facility, located in Carencro, Louisiana. This expansion project is expected to be completed and placed into service in March of 2015. In addition, we recently announced two capital investment projects within the Fluids Systems segment. We are investing approximately $30 million to significantly expand existing capacity and upgrade the drilling fluids blending, storage and transfer capabilities in Fourchon, Louisiana, which serves the Gulf of Mexico deepwater market. This project is expected to be completed in early 2016. In addition, we are investing approximately $20 million in a new fluid blending facility and distribution center located in Conroe, Texas, which will support the increasing demand for our proprietary fluid technologies, including our Evolution systems. This project is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.