Charges and Credits

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Restructuring And Related Activities [Abstract]

2. Charges and Credits

Schlumberger recorded the following charges and credits in continuing operations during the first quarter of 2015:

As a result of the severe fall in activity in North America combined with the impact of lower international activity due to customer budget cuts driven by lower oil prices, Schlumberger decided to further reduce its headcount during the first quarter of 2015. Schlumberger recorded a $390 million charge during the first quarter associated with this headcount reduction as well as an incentivized leave of absence program.

During 2014, Venezuela enacted certain changes to its foreign exchange system such that, in addition to the official rate of 6.3 Venezuelan Bolivares per US dollar, there were two other legal exchange rates that could be obtained via different exchange rate mechanisms. These changes included the expansion of the SICAD I auction rate and the introduction of what was known as the SICAD II auction process. The SICAD I and SICAD II exchange rates were approximately 11 and 50 Venezuelan Bolivares to the US dollar, respectively, at December 31, 2014.

Although the functional currency of Schlumberger’s operations in Venezuela is the US dollar, a portion of the transactions are denominated in local currency. Prior to December 31, 2014, Schlumberger had historically applied the official exchange rate to remeasure local currency transactions and balances into US dollars.

Effective December 31, 2014, Schlumberger concluded that it was appropriate to apply the SICAD II exchange rate as it believed this rate best represented the economics of Schlumberger’s business activity in Venezuela. As a result, Schlumberger recorded a $472 million devaluation charge during the fourth quarter of 2014.

In February 2015, the Venezuelan government replaced SICAD II with a new foreign exchange market system known as SIMADI. The SIMADI exchange rate was approximately 192 Venezuela Bolivares to the US dollar as of March 31, 2015. As a result, Schlumberger recorded a $49 million devaluation charge during the first quarter of 2015, reflecting the adoption of the SIMADI exchange rate.

These changes result in a reduction in the US dollar reported amount of local currency denominated revenues, expenses and, consequently, income before taxes and net income in Venezuela. For example, if Schlumberger had applied an exchange rate of 192 Venezuelan Bolivares to the US dollar throughout 2014, it would have reduced Schlumberger earnings by approximately $0.09 per share.

The following is a summary of these charges:

	(Stated in millions)
	Pretax		Tax		Net		Classification
Workforce reduction	$	390		56	$	334	Restructuring & other
Currency devaluation loss in Venezuela		49		—		49	Restructuring & other
	$	439	$	56	$	383

There were no charges or credits recorded during the first quarter of 2014.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for restructuring and related activities. Description of restructuring activities such as exit and disposal activities, include facts and circumstances leading to the plan, the expected plan completion date, the major types of costs associated with the plan activities, total expected costs, the accrual balance at the end of the period, and the periods over which the remaining accrual will be settled.

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