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Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure Abstract |
Commitments and Contingencies | 12. Commitments and Contingencies Our business is governed by laws and regulations promulgated by U.S. federal and state governments and regulatory agencies, as well as international governmental authorities in the many countries in which we conduct business, including those related to the oilfield service industry. In the United States these governmental authorities include: the U.S. Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”), the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Controls, state and international environmental agencies and many others. We are unaware of any material unreserved liabilities in connection with our compliance with such laws. New laws, regulations and enforcement policies may result in additional, presently unquantifiable or unknown, costs or liabilities. The Company is involved in various claims, regulatory agency audits and pending or threatened legal actions involving a variety of matters. The Company maintains insurance that covers many of the claims arising from risks associated with the business activities of the Company, including claims for premises liability, product liability and other such claims. The Company carries substantial insurance to cover such risks above a self-insured retention. The Company believes, and the Company’s experience has been, that such insurance has been sufficient to cover such risks. See Item 1A. Risk Factors. The Company is also a party to claims, threatened and actual litigation, private arbitration, internal investigations of potential regulatory and compliance matters arising from ordinary day-to-day business activities in which parties, including government authorities, assert claims against the Company for a broad spectrum of potential claims and theories of liability, including: individual employment law claims, collective actions or class actions under employment laws, intellectual property claims, (such as alleged patent infringement, and/or misappropriation of trade secrets), premises liability claims, environmental, product liability claims, warranty claims, personal injury claims arising from allegedly defective products, negligence or other theories of liability, alleged regulatory violations, alleged violations of anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws and other commercial claims seeking recovery for alleged actual or exemplary damages or fines and penalties. For some contingent claims, the Company’s insurance coverage is inapplicable or an exclusion to coverage may apply. In such instances, settlement or other resolution of such contingent claims could have a material financial or reputational impact on the Company. The Company is exposed to customs and regulatory risk in the countries in which we do business or to which we transport goods. For example, the effects of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, known as Brexit, may have a negative impact on our results from operations. Uncertainty concerning the legal and regulatory risks of Brexit, include: (i) supply chain risks resulting from lack of trade agreements, potential changes in customs administrations or tariffs; (ii) revenue risk, loss of customers or increased costs; (iii) delays in delivery of materials to the Company or delay in delivery by the Company; and (iv) the need for renegotiation of agreements; and other business disruptions. In addition, trade regulations and laws may adversely impact our ability to do business in certain countries, e.g.: Iran, Syria, Russia and Venezuela. Such trade regulations can be complex and present compliance challenges which could result in future liabilities. As of December 31, 2019, the Company recorded reserves in an amount believed to be sufficient, given the range of potential outcomes, for contingent liabilities representing all contingencies believed to be probable. These reserves include all costs expected for reclamation of a closed barite mine and costs arising out of personal injury claims arising from a well blow out in McAlester, Oklahoma for which the Company supplied the mud engineer, as well as other circumstances involving material claims. The Company has assessed the potential for additional losses above the amounts accrued as well as potential losses for matters that are not probable but are reasonably possible. The litigation process as well as the final outcome of regulatory oversight is inherently uncertain, and our best judgement concerning the probable outcome of litigation or regulatory enforcement matters may prove to be incorrect in some instances. The total potential loss on these matters cannot be determined; however, in our opinion, any ultimate liability, to the extent not otherwise provided for, will not materially affect our financial position, cash flow or results of operations. These estimated liabilities are based on the Company’s assessment of the nature of these matters, their progress toward resolution, the advice of legal counsel and outside experts as well as management’s experience. Of course, because of uncertainty and risk inherent to litigation and arbitration, the actual liabilities incurred may exceed our estimated liabilities and reserves, which could have a material financial or reputational impact on the Company. In many instances, the Company’s products and services embody or incorporate trade secrets or patented inventions. From time to time, we are engaged in disputes concerning protection of trade secrets and confidential information, patents and other intellectual property rights. Such disputes frequently involve complex, factual, technical and/or legal issues which result in high costs to adjudicate our rights and difficulty in predicting the ultimate outcome. Because of the importance of the Company’s intellectual property to the Company’s performance, an adverse result in such disputes could materially and adversely impact our financial performance. Further, in some instances, direct or indirect consumers of our products and services, entities providing financing for purchases of our products and services or members of the supply chain for our products and services have become involved in governmental investigations, internal investigations, political or other enforcement matters. In such circumstances, such investigations may adversely impact the ability of consumers of our products, entities providing financial support to such consumers or entities in the supply chain to timely perform their business plans or to timely perform under agreements with us. We may, from time to time, become involved in these investigations, at substantial cost to the Company. We also are subject to trade regulations and other regulatory compliance in which the laws and regulations of different jurisdictions conflict or trade regulations may conflict with contractual terms. In such circumstances, our compliance with U.S. laws and regulations may subject us to risk of fines, penalties or contractual liability in other jurisdictions. Our efforts to actively manage such risks may not always be successful which could lead to negative impacts on revenue or earnings.

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