Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Management Estimates

Management estimates — The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from such estimates.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue recognition — Revenues from the Company’s contract drilling, pressure pumping, directional drilling, oilfield rentals, equipment servicing and electrical control and automation activities are recognized as services are performed. All of the wells the Company drilled in 2019, 2018 and 2017 were drilled under daywork contracts. Revenue from sales of products are recognized upon customer acceptance. Revenue is presented net of any sales tax charged to the customer that the Company is required to remit to local or state governmental taxing authorities.

Reimbursements for the purchase of supplies, equipment, personnel services, shipping and other services that are provided at the request of the Company’s customers are recorded as revenue when incurred. The related costs are recorded as operating expenses when incurred.

On January 1, 2018, the Company adopted the new revenue guidance under Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, using the modified retrospective method for contracts that were not complete at December 31, 2017. The adoption of the new accounting standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements, and a cumulative adjustment was not recognized. See Note 3 for additional information.

Leases

Leases — The Company enters operating leases for operating locations, corporate offices and certain operating equipment. As of December 31, 2019, the Company does not have any finance leases. 

On January 1, 2019, the Company adopted the new lease guidance under Topic 842, Leases, using the modified retrospective approach to each lease that existed at the date of initial application as well as leases entered into after that date. The Company has elected to report all leases at the beginning of the period of adoption and not restate its comparative periods. This standard does not apply to leases to explore for or use minerals, oil, natural gas and similar non-regenerative resources, including the intangible right to explore for those natural resources and rights to use the land in which those natural resources are contained. See Note 12 for additional information.  

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable — Trade accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount. The allowance for doubtful accounts represents the Company’s estimate of the amount of probable credit losses existing in the Company’s accounts receivable. The Company reviews the adequacy of its allowance for doubtful accounts at least quarterly. Significant individual accounts receivable balances and balances which have been outstanding greater than 90 days are reviewed individually for collectability. Account balances, when determined to be uncollectible, are charged against the allowance.

Inventories

Inventories — Inventories consist primarily of sand and other products to be used in conjunction with the Company’s pressure pumping activities and materials used in its directional drilling and equipment servicing business. Such inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market, with cost determined using the average cost method.

Other Current Assets

Other current assets — Other current assets includes reimbursement from the Company’s workers compensation insurance carrier for claims in excess of the Company’s deductible in the amount of $39.0 million and $35.6 million at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment — Property and equipment is carried at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is provided on the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives. The method of depreciation does not change whenever equipment becomes idle. The estimated useful lives, in years, are shown below:

	Useful Lives
Equipment	1.25-15
Buildings	15-20
Other	3-12

Long-lived assets, including property and equipment, are evaluated for impairment when certain triggering events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying values may not be recoverable over their estimated remaining useful life.

Maintenance and Repairs

Maintenance and repairs — Maintenance and repairs are charged to expense when incurred. Renewals and betterments which extend the life or improve existing property and equipment are capitalized.

Disposals

Disposals — Upon disposition of property and equipment, the cost and related accumulated depreciation are removed and any resulting gain or loss is reflected in the consolidated statement of operations.

Oil and Natural Gas Properties

Oil and natural gas properties — Working interests in oil and natural gas properties are accounted for using the successful efforts method of accounting. Under the successful efforts method of accounting, exploration costs which result in the discovery of oil and natural gas reserves and all development costs are capitalized to the appropriate well. Exploration costs which do not result in discovering oil and natural gas reserves are charged to expense when such determination is made. Costs of exploratory wells are initially capitalized to wells-in-progress until the outcome of the drilling is known. The Company reviews wells-in-progress quarterly to determine whether sufficient progress is being made in assessing the reserves and economic viability of the respective projects. If no progress has been made in assessing the reserves and economic viability of a project after one year following the completion of drilling, the Company considers the well costs to be impaired and recognizes the costs as expense. Geological and geophysical costs, including seismic costs, and costs to carry and retain undeveloped properties are charged to expense when incurred. The capitalized costs of both developmental and successful exploratory type wells, consisting of lease and well equipment and intangible development costs, are depreciated, depleted and amortized using the units-of-production method, based on engineering estimates of total proved developed oil and natural gas reserves for each respective field. Oil and natural gas leasehold acquisition costs are depreciated, depleted and amortized using the units-of-production method, based on engineering estimates of total proved oil and natural gas reserves for each respective field.

The Company reviews its proved oil and natural gas properties for impairment whenever a triggering event occurs, such as downward revisions in reserve estimates or decreases in expected future oil and natural gas prices. Proved properties are grouped by field and undiscounted cash flow estimates are prepared based on management’s expectation of future pricing over the lives of the respective fields. These cash flow estimates are reviewed by an independent petroleum engineer. If the net book value of a field exceeds its undiscounted cash flow estimate, impairment expense is measured and recognized as the difference between net book value and fair value. The fair value estimates used in measuring impairment are based on internally developed unobservable inputs including reserve volumes and future production, pricing and operating costs (Level 3 inputs in the fair value hierarchy of fair value accounting). The Company reviews unproved oil and natural gas properties quarterly to assess potential impairment. The Company’s impairment assessment is made on a lease-by-lease basis and considers factors such as management’s intent to drill, lease terms and abandonment of an area. If an unproved property is determined to be impaired, the related property costs are expensed. Impairment expense related to oil and natural gas properties of approximately $2.2 million, $1.0 million and $4.3 million was recorded for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Goodwill

Goodwill — Goodwill is considered to have an indefinite useful economic life and is not amortized. The Company assesses impairment of its goodwill at least annually as of December 31, or on an interim basis if events or circumstances indicate that the fair value of goodwill may have decreased below its carrying value.

Income Taxes

Income taxes — The asset and liability method is used in accounting for income taxes. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards and for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the year in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in the results of operations in the period that includes the enactment date. If applicable, a valuation allowance is recorded to reduce the carrying amounts of deferred tax assets unless it is more likely than not that such assets will be realized. The Company’s policy is to account for interest and penalties with respect to income taxes as operating expenses.

Stock-based Compensation

Stock-based compensation — The Company recognizes the cost of share-based payments under the fair-value-based method. Under this method, compensation cost related to share-based payments is measured based on the estimated fair value of the awards at the date of grant, net of estimated forfeitures. This expense is recognized over the expected life of the awards (See Note 11).

As share-based compensation expense recognized in the consolidated statements of operations is based on awards ultimately expected to vest, it has been reduced for estimated forfeitures, based on historical experience. Forfeitures are estimated at the time of grant and revised in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those estimates.

Statement of Cash Flows

Statement of cash flows — For purposes of reporting cash flows, cash and cash equivalents include cash on deposit and money market funds.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards — In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued an accounting standards update to provide guidance on the recognition of revenue from customers. Under this guidance, an entity will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects what it expects in exchange for the goods or services. This guidance also requires more detailed disclosures to enable users of the financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty, if any, of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. The Company adopted this new revenue guidance effective January 1, 2018, utilizing the modified retrospective method, and expanded its consolidated financial statement disclosures in order to comply with the update (See Note 3). The adoption of this update did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to provide guidance for the accounting for leasing transactions. The standard requires the lessee to recognize a lease liability along with a right-of-use asset for all leases with a term longer than one year. A lessee is permitted to make an accounting policy election to not recognize the lease liability and related right-of-use asset for leases with a term of one year or less. The provisions of this standard also apply to situations where the Company is the lessor. The Company adopted this new leasing guidance effective January 1, 2019 and expanded its consolidated financial statement disclosures in order to comply with the update (See Note 12). The adoption of this standard resulted in the recording of operating lease right of use assets of approximately $31.0 million and operating lease liabilities of approximately $35.8 million as of January 1, 2019.

In March 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to provide guidance for the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the related income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. The Company adopted this guidance effective January 1, 2017. The Company believes this guidance has caused and will continue to cause volatility in its effective tax rates and diluted earnings per share due to the tax effects related to share-based payments being recorded in the statement of operations. The volatility in future periods will depend on the Company’s stock price and the number of shares that vest in the case of restricted stock, restricted stock units and performance stock units, or the number of shares that are issued in the case of stock option exercises.

In August 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to clarify the presentation of cash receipts and payments in specific situations on the statement of cash flows. The requirements in this update are effective during interim and annual periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. The adoption of this update on January 1, 2018 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In May 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standards update that provided clarity on which changes to the terms or conditions of share-based payment awards require an entity to apply modification accounting provisions. The requirements in this update are effective during interim and annual periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. The adoption of this update on January 1, 2018 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In March 2018, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to update the income tax accounting in U.S. GAAP to reflect the SEC interpretive guidance released on December 22, 2017, when significant U.S. tax law changes were enacted with the enactment

of “H.R.1,” also known as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (“U.S. Tax Reform”). The adoption of this update in March 2018 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements, as the Company was already following the SEC guidance (See Note 13).

Recently Issued Accounting Standards — In June 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standards update on measurement of credit losses on financial instruments. This update improves financial reporting by requiring earlier recognition of credit losses on financing receivables and other financial assets in scope by using the Current Expected Credit Losses model (CECL). The CECL model utilizes a lifetime expected credit loss measurement objective for the recognition of credit losses on financial instruments at the time the asset is originated or acquired. This update will apply to receivables arising from revenue transactions such as contract assets and accounts receivables. This update is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. The Company will adopt this new guidance on January 1, 2020 and does not expect this new guidance will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to align the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. The capitalized implementation costs of a hosting arrangement that is a service contract will be expensed over the term of the hosting arrangement. The amendments in the update are effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. The guidance allows adoption using a retrospective or prospective method. The Company will adopt this new guidance on January 1, 2020 prospectively with respect to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption.

In August 2018, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to eliminate certain disclosure requirements for fair value measurements for all entities, require public entities to disclose certain new information and modify certain disclosure requirements. The FASB developed the amendments to Topic 820 as part of its broader disclosure framework project, which aims to improve the effectiveness of disclosures in the notes to financial statements by focusing on requirements that clearly communicate the most important information to users of the financial statements. This update is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. The Company will adopt this new guidance on January 1, 2020 and does not expect this new guidance will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In December 2019, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to simplify the accounting for income taxes. The amendments in the update are effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted.  The Company plans to adopt this guidance on January 1, 2021 and is currently evaluating the impact of adoption on its consolidated financial statements.

During the third quarter of 2019, the Company identified and recorded out-of-period adjustments primarily related to the accounting for inventory in its directional drilling segment. The Company concluded that these adjustments were not material to the consolidated financial statements for any of the current or prior periods presented. The net adjustment is reflected as a $6.6 million increase to “Loss before income taxes” in the consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019.