Basis of Presentation (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements of Seitel, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included.

Use of Estimates and Assumptions

In preparing the Company’s financial statements, a number of estimates and assumptions are made by management that affect the accounting for and recognition of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses.

Revenue Recognition

Revenues are primarily derived from licensing of seismic data to customers for fixed consideration. These seismic data licenses represent a single performance obligation and revenue is recognized when a contract with a customer exists and the Company satisfies its performance obligation to the customer either over time in the case of revenue from data acquisition or at a point in time for the majority of its revenue from non-exclusive licenses. If a contract contains multiple performance obligations (seismic data license and reproduction or data processing services), the Company allocates the transaction price to the related performance obligations based on their relative standalone selling prices typically using the residual approach. The Company does not adjust the amount of consideration per the contract for the effects of a significant financing component when the Company expects, at contract inception, that the period between the transfer of a promised good or service to a customer and when the customer pays for that good or service will be one year or less, which is in substantially all cases. Additionally, the Company does not typically extend payment terms beyond one year in its contracts with customers.

Contract Liabilities: The Company’s contract liabilities consist of billings in excess of revenue recognized and are included in deferred revenue in the consolidated balance sheets. The Company’s deferred revenue balance is comprised of (i) deferred revenue on data acquisition projects, (ii) data licensing contracts where selection of specific data had not yet occurred, (iii) data licensing contracts with data products not yet available and (iv) data licensing contracts where any other revenue recognition criteria has not yet been met. The deferred revenue will be recognized as work progresses on the data acquisition contracts, when selection of specific data is made by the customer, upon expiration of the data selection period specified in the data licensing contracts if full selection has not occurred, as the data products become available or as all of the revenue recognition criteria are met.

Remaining Performance Obligations: Remaining performance obligations represents the transaction price of executed acquisition contracts for which work has not been performed.

Revenue from Solutions

Revenue from Solutions is recognized as the services for reproduction and delivery of seismic data are provided to customers.

Trade Receivables: Trade receivables include amounts billed and currently due from customers and unbilled amounts typically arising from data acquisition contracts when revenue recognized exceeds the amounts billed to the customer, and right to payment is not just subject to the passage of time. Trade receivables are stated at their net estimated realizable value. The Company maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts to provide for the estimated amount of receivables that will not be collected.

Deferred Commissions: The Company’s incremental direct costs of obtaining a contract, which primarily consist of sales commissions, are recognized as expense as revenue is recognized on the corresponding contract. Therefore, sales commissions are deferred on licenses that have been invoiced for which payment is due or has been received, but that have not met the criteria needed for revenue recognition.

Revenue from Data Acquisition

The Company generates revenue when it creates a new seismic survey that is initially licensed by one or more of its customers to use the resulting data. The payments for the initial licenses, representing the fixed consideration stated per the contract, are sometimes referred to as acquisition underwriting or prefunding. Customers make periodic payments throughout the new survey creation period based on milestones stated per the contract, which generally correspond to costs incurred and work performed. These payments are non-refundable. Contracts signed up to the time the Company makes a firm commitment to create the new seismic survey are considered acquisition underwriting. Any subsequent license of the data while the survey is in progress or once it is completed is considered a resale license (see “Revenue from Non-Exclusive Data Licenses”).

The license price and acquisition services provided by the Company represent a single performance obligation as the data acquisition services are not distinct from the corresponding data license; therefore, acquisition underwriting revenue is recognized throughout the new survey creation period using the proportional performance method. The proportional performance amount at each reporting period is calculated using an input method based upon costs incurred and work performed to date as a percentage of total estimated costs and work required. Management believes that this method is the most reliable and representative measure of progress for its new survey creation projects and satisfaction of its performance obligation for recognition of its acquisition underwriting revenue. On average, the duration of the new survey creation process is approximately 12 to 18 months.

Under the contracts related to the new survey, the Company creates new seismic data designed in conjunction with its customers and specifically suited to the geology of the area using the most appropriate technology available. The Company outsources the substantial majority of the work required to complete data acquisition projects to third-party contractors. The Company’s payments to these third-party contractors comprise the substantial majority of the total estimated costs of the projects and are paid throughout the new survey creation period. A typical survey includes specific activities required to complete the survey creation, each of which has value to the customers. Typical activities, that often occur concurrently, include:

• permitting for land access, mineral rights, and regulatory approval;

• surveying;

• drilling for the placement of energy sources;

• recording the data in the field; and

• processing the data.

The customers paying for the initial licenses to the data created from a new survey have access to and receive legally enforceable rights to any resulting product of each activity described above. The customers also receive access to and use of the newly acquired, processed data.

The customers’ access to and use of the results of the work performed and of the newly acquired, processed data is governed by a master license agreement, which is a separate agreement from the acquisition contract. The Company’s acquisition contracts require the customer either to have a master license agreement in place or to execute one at the time the acquisition contract is signed. The Company typically maintains sole ownership of the newly acquired data, which is added to its library, and is free to license the data to other customers.

Revenue from Non-Exclusive Data Licenses

The Company recognizes a substantial portion of its revenue from licensing of data that has already been created and is available for delivery. This seismic data license represents a single performance obligation that is typically recognized at a point in time. The revenue is sometimes referred to as resale licensing revenue, late sales or shelf sales.

These sales fall under the following four basic forms of non-exclusive license contracts, each of which is subject to the terms and conditions contained in a customer’s master license agreement.

• Specific license contract—The customer licenses specific data from the data library, including data currently in progress, at the time the contract is entered into and holds this license for a long-term period.

• Library card license contract—The customer initially receives only the right to access a certain amount of data. The customer selects which data to access and hold long-term under its license agreement. The length of the selection period under a library card contract is limited in time and varies from customer to customer.

• Review and possession license contract—The customer receives the right to review a certain quantity of data for a limited period of time. During the review period, the customer may select specific data from that available for review to hold long-term under its license agreement. Any data not selected for long-term licensing must be returned to the Company at the end of the review period.

• Review only license contract—The customer obtains rights to review a certain quantity of data for a limited period of time, but does not obtain the right to select specific data to hold long-term.

The Company’s non-exclusive license contracts specify the following:

• that all customers must also have in place or execute a master license agreement that governs the use of all data received under each non-exclusive license contract;

• the specific payment terms, generally ranging from 30 days to 12 months, and that such payments are non-cancelable and non-refundable;

• the actual data that is accessible by the customer; and

• that the data is licensed in its present form, as is, where is, and that the Company is under no obligation to make any enhancements, modifications or additions to the data unless specific terms to the contrary are included.

Non-exclusive licenses are provided to each customer as a right to use the seismic data licensed as it exists at contract execution. Therefore, revenue from the non-exclusive licensing of seismic data is typically recognized at the point in time when the following criteria are met:

• the Company has an approved agreement with the customer;

• the transaction price is determinable;

• collection of consideration (transaction price) is probable;

• the customer has selected the specific data or the contract has expired without full selection; and

• the data is currently available for delivery.

Copies of the licensed data are available to the customer immediately upon request.

For licenses that have been invoiced for which payment is due or has been received, but that have not met the aforementioned criteria, revenue is deferred. This normally occurs under the library card, review and possession or review only license contracts because the data selection may occur over time.

In situations where the non-exclusive license provided to the customer is for seismic data in progress and the resale licensing customer is granted the same legally enforceable rights and access to and use of the results of the acquisition work performed as the original acquisition underwriting clients, effective January 1, 2018, the Company recognizes such resale revenue over time during the remaining survey creation period using the proportional performance method, instead of when the data is available for delivery. This change is due to the adoption of ASU 2014-09 as discussed in Note A - “Basis of Presentation.”

Revenue from Non-Monetary Exchanges

In certain cases, the Company will take ownership of a customer’s seismic data or revenue interest therein (collectively referred to as “data”) in exchange for a non-exclusive license to selected seismic data from the Company’s library or, in some cases, reproduction or data processing services. In connection with specific data acquisition contracts, the Company may choose to receive both cash and ownership of seismic data from the customer as consideration for the underwriting of new data acquisition. These transactions are referred to as non-monetary exchanges. A non-monetary exchange for data always complies with the following criteria:

• the data licensed to a customer is always distinct from the data received from that customer;

• the customer forfeits ownership of the data received by the Company; and

• the Company retains ownership in the data licensed.

In non-monetary exchange transactions, the Company records a data library asset for the seismic data received at the time the contract is entered into and recognizes revenue on the transaction in equal value in accordance with its policy on revenue from resale data licenses or data acquisition, or as services are provided by our Seitel Solutions business unit (“Solutions”), as applicable. The resale data license to the customer is in the form of one of the four basic forms of contracts discussed above. These transactions are valued at the fair value of the data received by the Company or the fair value of the license granted or services provided to the customer, whichever is more readily determinable.

Fair value of the data exchanged is determined using a multi-step process as follows:

• First, the Company considers the value of the data received from the customer. In determining the value of the data received, the Company considers the age, quality, current demand and future marketability of the data and, in the case of 3D seismic data, the cost that would be required to create the data. In addition, the Company applies a limitation on the value it assigns per square mile on the data received.

• Second, the Company determines the value of the license granted to the customer. Typically, the range of cash transactions by the Company for licenses of similar data during the prior six months are evaluated. In evaluating the range of cash transactions, the Company does not consider transactions that are disproportionately high or low.

Due to the Company’s revenue recognition policies, revenue recognized on non-monetary exchange transactions may not occur at the same time that the seismic data acquired is recorded as an asset.

Seismic Data Library

The Company’s seismic data library consists of seismic surveys that are offered for license to customers on a non-exclusive basis. Costs associated with creating, acquiring or purchasing the seismic data library are capitalized and amortized principally on the income forecast method subject to a straight-line amortization period of four years, applied on a quarterly basis at the individual survey level.

Costs of Seismic Data Library

For newly created data, the capitalized costs include costs paid to third parties for the acquisition of data and related permitting, surveying and other activities associated with the data creation activity. In addition, the Company capitalizes certain internal costs related to processing the created data and reprocessing existing data. Such costs include salaries and benefits of the Company’s processing personnel and certain other costs incurred for the benefit of the processing activity. The Company believes that the internal processing costs capitalized are not greater than, and generally are less than, those that would be incurred and capitalized if such activity were performed by a third party. Capitalized costs for internal data processing were $0.6 million for each of the three months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 and $1.2 million and $1.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

For data received through a non-monetary exchange, the Company capitalizes an amount equal to the fair value of the data received by the Company or the fair value of the license granted or services provided to the customer, whichever is more readily determinable. See Note B – “Revenue Recognition – Revenue from Non-Monetary Exchanges” for discussion of the process used to determine fair value.

For purchased seismic data, the Company capitalizes the purchase price of the acquired data.

Data Library Amortization

The Company amortizes each survey in its seismic data library using the greater of the amortization that would result from the application of the income forecast method to each survey’s revenue, subject to a minimum amortization rate, or a straight-line basis over four years, commencing at the time such survey is completed and available for licensing to customers on a non-exclusive basis.

The Company applies the income forecast method by forecasting the ultimate revenue expected to be derived from a particular data library component over the estimated useful life of each survey comprising part of such component. This forecast is made by the Company annually and reviewed quarterly. If, during any such review, the Company determines that the ultimate revenue for a library component is expected to be significantly different than the most recent estimate of total revenue for such library component, the Company revises the amortization rate attributable to future revenue from each survey in such component. The Company applies a minimum amortization rate of 70%. In addition, in connection with the forecast reviews and updates, the Company evaluates the recoverability of its seismic data library investment, and if required, records an impairment charge with respect to such investment. See discussion on “Seismic Data Library Impairment” below.

The greater of the income forecast or straight-line amortization policy is applied quarterly on a cumulative basis at the individual survey level. Under this policy, the Company first records amortization using the income forecast method. The cumulative amortization recorded for each survey is then compared with the cumulative straight-line amortization. If the cumulative straight-line amortization is higher for any specific survey, additional amortization expense is recorded, resulting in accumulated amortization being equal to the cumulative straight-line amortization for such survey. This requirement is applied regardless of future-year revenue estimates for the library component of which the survey is a part and does not consider the existence of deferred revenue with respect to the library component or to any survey.

The actual aggregate rate of amortization depends on the specific seismic surveys licensed and selected by the Company’s customers during the period and the amount of straight-line amortization recorded. The income forecast amortization rates can vary by component and, as of July 1, 2018, is 70% for all components. For those seismic surveys which have been fully amortized, no amortization expense is required on revenue recorded.

Seismic Data Library Impairment

The Company evaluates its seismic data library investment by grouping individual surveys into components based on its operations and geological and geographical trends, resulting in the following data library segments for purposes of evaluating impairments: (I) North America 3D onshore comprised of the following components: (a) Texas Gulf Coast, (b) Eastern Texas, (c) Permian, (d) Anadarko Basin in North Texas/Oklahoma, (e) Southern Louisiana/Mississippi, (f) Northern Louisiana, (g) Rocky Mountains, (h) Utica/Marcellus in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, (i) other United States, (j) Montney in British Columbia and Alberta, (k) Horn River in British Columbia, (l) Duvernay in Alberta and (m) other Canada; (II) United States 2D; (III) Canada 2D; (IV) Mexico; (V) Gulf of Mexico offshore; and (VI) international data outside North America. The Company believes that these library components constitute the lowest levels of independently identifiable cash flows.

The Company evaluates its seismic data library investment for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts may not be recoverable. The Company considers the level of sales performance in each component compared to projected sales, as well as industry conditions, among others, to be key factors in determining when its seismic data investment should be evaluated for impairment. In evaluating sales performance of each component, the Company generally considers five consecutive quarters of actual performance below forecasted sales to be an indicator of potential impairment.

The impairment evaluation is based first on a comparison of the undiscounted future cash flows over each component’s remaining estimated useful life with the carrying value of each library component. If the undiscounted cash flows are equal to or greater than the carrying value of such component, no impairment is recorded. If undiscounted cash flows are less than the carrying value of any component, the forecast of future cash flows related to such component is discounted to fair value and compared with such component’s carrying amount. The difference between the library component’s carrying amount and the discounted future value of the expected revenue stream is recorded as an impairment charge.

For purposes of evaluating potential impairment losses, the Company estimates the future cash flows attributable to a library component by evaluating, among other factors, historical and recent revenue trends, oil and gas prospectivity in particular regions, general economic conditions affecting its customer base and expected changes in technology and other factors that the Company deems relevant. The cash flow estimates exclude expected future revenues attributable to non-monetary data exchanges and future data creation projects.

The estimation of future cash flows and fair value is highly subjective and inherently imprecise. Estimates can change materially from period to period based on many factors, including those described in the preceding paragraph. Accordingly, if conditions change in the future, the Company may record impairment losses relative to its seismic data library investment, which could be material to any particular reporting period.

The Company did not have any impairment charges during the six months ended June 30, 2018 or 2017.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842)” with the objective of increasing transparency and comparability among organizations by requiring lessees to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for the present value of the rights and obligations created by all leases with terms of more than 12 months. The ASU will also require disclosures designed to give financial statement users information on the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. The amendments in this ASU are to be applied using a modified retrospective approach and will be effective for the Company as of January 1, 2019, but early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this new standard on its consolidated financial statements as of January 1, 2019 and believes that the most significant change will be to the Company’s balance sheet as its asset and liability balances will increase for operating leases that are currently off-balance sheet.

Other new pronouncements issued but not yet effective are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or liquidity.