Financial Instruments and Risk Management

At December 31, 2017, we held $106 million of investments in fixed income securities with maturities ranging from less than one year to November 2020, of which $69 million are classified as “Other current assets” and $37 million are classified as “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets. At December 31, 2016, we held $92 million of investments in fixed income securities. These securities consist primarily of corporate bonds and other debt instruments, are accounted for as available-for-sale and are recorded at fair value based on quoted prices for identical assets in less active markets, which are categorized within level 2 on the fair value hierarchy.

We have an interest-bearing promissory note with our primary customer in Venezuela. At December 31, 2017, the carrying amount of this note was $32 million compared to its par value of $175 million. At December 31, 2016, the carrying amount of this note was $70 million compared to its par value of $200 million. Fair market value was measured based on pricing data points for similar assets in an illiquid market and categorized within level 3 on the fair value hierarchy. We had been using an effective interest method to accrete the carrying amount to its par value as it matures with accretion income being recorded through “Interest expense, net of interest income” on our consolidated statements of operations. During the fourth quarter of 2017, we changed our accounting for our promissory note from held-to-maturity to available-for-sale and will no longer accrete the value of the note going forward. Instead, we are required to mark the note to its fair market value on a quarterly basis with any unrealized gains and losses included as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss. See Note 3 for additional information about our promissory note from our primary customer in Venezuela.

The carrying amount of cash and equivalents, receivables and accounts payable, as reflected in the consolidated balance sheets, approximates fair value due to the short maturities of these instruments.

The carrying amount and fair value of our total debt, including short-term borrowings and current maturities of long term debt, is as follows:



	December 31, 2017								December 31, 2016
Millions of dollars	Level 1		Level 2		Total fair value		Carrying value		Level 1		Level 2		Total fair value		Carrying value
Total debt	$	3,285	$	9,172	$	12,457	$	10,942	$	753	$	12,812	$	13,565	$	12,384

Our debt categorized within level 1 on the fair value hierarchy is calculated using quoted prices in active markets for identical liabilities with transactions occurring on the last two days of period-end. Our debt categorized within level 2 on the fair value hierarchy is calculated using significant observable inputs for similar liabilities where estimated values are determined from observable data points on our other bonds and on other similarly rated corporate debt or from observable data points of transactions occurring prior to two days from period-end and adjusting for changes in market conditions. Our total fair value and carrying value of debt decreased in 2017 compared to 2016 primarily due to the early extinguishment of $1.4 billion of senior notes. Additionally, differences between the periods presented in our level 1 and level 2 classification of our long-term debt relate to the timing of when transactions are executed. We have no debt categorized within level 3 on the fair value hierarchy based on unobservable inputs.

We are exposed to market risk from changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates. We selectively manage these exposures through the use of derivative instruments, including forward foreign exchange contracts, foreign exchange options and interest rate swaps. The objective of our risk management strategy is to minimize the volatility from fluctuations in foreign currency and interest rates. We do not use derivative instruments for trading purposes. The fair value of our forward contracts, options and interest rate swaps was not material as of December 31, 2017 or December 31, 2016. The counterparties to our derivatives are primarily global commercial and investment banks.

Foreign currency exchange risk

We have operations in many international locations and are involved in transactions denominated in currencies other than the United States dollar, our functional currency, which exposes us to foreign currency exchange rate risk. Techniques in managing foreign currency exchange risk include, but are not limited to, foreign currency borrowing and investing and the use of currency exchange instruments. We attempt to selectively manage significant exposures to potential foreign currency exchange losses based on current market conditions, future operating activities and the associated cost in relation to the perceived risk of loss. The purpose of our foreign currency risk management activities is to minimize the risk that our cash flows from the purchase and sale of products and services in foreign currencies will be adversely affected by changes in exchange rates.

We use forward contracts and options to manage our exposure to fluctuations in the currencies of certain countries in which we do business internationally. These instruments are not treated as hedges for accounting purposes, generally have an expiration date of one year or less and are not exchange traded. While these instruments are subject to fluctuations in value, the fluctuations are generally offset by the value of the underlying exposures being managed. The use of some of these instruments may limit our ability to benefit from favorable fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

Derivatives are not utilized to manage exposures in some currencies due primarily to the lack of available markets or cost considerations (non-traded currencies). We attempt to manage our working capital position to minimize foreign currency exposure in non-traded currencies and recognize that pricing for the services and products offered in these countries should account for the cost of exchange rate devaluations. We have historically incurred transaction losses in non-traded currencies.

The notional amounts of open foreign exchange derivatives were $633 million at December 31, 2017 and $603 million at December 31, 2016. The notional amounts of these instruments do not generally represent amounts exchanged by the parties, and thus are not a measure of our exposure or of the cash requirements related to these contracts. As such, cash flows related to these contracts are typically not material. The amounts exchanged are calculated by reference to the notional amounts and by other terms of the contracts, such as exchange rates.

Interest rate risk

We are subject to interest rate risk on our existing long-term debt and some of our long-term investments in fixed income securities. Our short-term borrowings and short-term investments in fixed income securities do not give rise to significant interest rate risk due to their short-term nature. We had fixed rate long-term debt totaling $10.4 billion at December 31, 2017 and $12.2 billion at December 31, 2016. We also had $37 million of long-term investments in fixed income securities at December 31, 2017 with maturities that extend through November 2020.

We maintain an interest rate management strategy that is intended to mitigate the exposure to changes in interest rates in the aggregate for our debt portfolio. We use interest rate swaps to effectively convert a portion of our fixed rate debt to floating LIBOR-based rates. Our interest rate swaps, which expire when the underlying debt matures, are designated as fair value hedges of the underlying debt and are determined to be highly effective. These derivative instruments are marked to market with gains and losses recognized currently in interest expense to offset the respective gains and losses recognized on changes in the fair value of the hedged debt. During the first quarter of 2017, we terminated a series of our interest rate swaps with a notional amount of $1.4 billion in conjunction with our early redemption of senior notes. We included the gain from the swap termination in our calculation of early debt extinguishment costs. See Note 6 for further information. As of December 31, 2017, we had one remaining interest rate swap relating to one of our debt instruments with a total notional amount of $100 million. The fair value of our interest rate swaps as of December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 are included in “Other assets” in our consolidated balance sheets and were immaterial. The fair value of our interest rate swaps are categorized within level 2 on the fair value hierarchy and were determined using an income approach model with inputs, such as the notional amount, LIBOR rate spread and settlement terms that are observable in the market or can be derived from or corroborated by observable data.

Credit risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject us to concentrations of credit risk are primarily cash equivalents, investments in fixed income securities, trade receivables and a promissory note we hold with our primary customer in Venezuela. It is our practice to place our cash equivalents and investments in fixed income securities in high quality investments with various institutions. Our revenue is generated from selling products and providing services to the energy industry. Our trade receivables are from a broad and diverse group of customers and are generally not collateralized. As of December 31, 2017, 42% of our net trade receivables were from customers in the United States. As of December 31, 2016, 27% of our net trade receivables were from customers in the United States and 15% were from customers in Venezuela. We maintain an allowance for bad debts based upon several factors, including historical collection experience, current aging status of the customer accounts and financial condition of our customers. See Note 3 for further information.

We do not have any significant concentrations of credit risk with any individual counterparty to our derivative contracts. We select counterparties to those contracts based on our belief that each counterparty’s profitability, balance sheet and capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is unlikely to be materially adversely affected by foreseeable events.