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Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | 12. Commitments and Contingencies Our business is governed by laws and regulations, including those directed to the oilfield service industry, 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. In the United States these governmental authorities include the U.S. Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Controls, state environmental agencies and many others. We are unaware of any material liabilities in connection with our compliance with such laws. New laws, investigations, regulations and enforcement policies may result in additional, presently unquantifiable, or unknown, costs or liabilities. From time to time, the Company is involved in various claims, regulatory agency audits, investigations and legal actions involving a variety of matters. The Company maintains insurance that covers claims such as third-party personal injuries or property damage arising from risks associated with the business activities of the Company, such as premises liability, product liability, personal injury, marine risk, property damage, and other such insurable losses. The Company carries substantial insurance to cover insurable risks above a self-insured retention. The Company believes, and the Company’s experience has been, that such insurance has been sufficient to cover any such material risks. The Company is also a party to claims, threatened and actual litigation, arbitration, and internal investigations of potential regulatory and compliance matters which arise both from legacy businesses that the Company has acquired over many years and from the Company’s current ordinary day-to-day business activities. These regulatory matters and disputes involve private parties and/or government authorities who may assert a broad spectrum of potential claims against the Company, including employment law claims, collective actions or class action claims under employment laws, intellectual property claims (such as alleged patent infringement, and/or misappropriation of trade secrets by the company), premises liability claims, environmental claims, product liability claims, warranty claims, personal injury claims arising from exposure to or use of allegedly defective products or from activities of the Company, alleged regulatory violations, alleged violations of anti-corruption and anti-bribery, trade, customs or other laws and other commercial and/or regulatory claims seeking recovery for alleged actual or exemplary damages or fines and penalties. Such claims involve various theories of liability which include negligence, breach of contract, strict liability, product liability, and other theories of liability. For some of these contingent claims and potential liabilities, the Company’s insurance coverage may not apply, or exclusions to coverage or legal impediments may apply. In such instances, settlement or other resolution of such claims, individually or collectively, could have a material financial or reputational impact on the Company. As of December 31, 2023, the Company recorded reserves in an amount believed to be sufficient, given the estimated range of potential outcomes, for contingent liabilities believed to be probable. These reserves include costs currently and reasonably estimated to be incurred for reclamation of a closed barite mine and product liability claims, 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 believed to be not probable, but which are reasonably possible. The Company sets accruals in accordance with GAAP based on its best judgment about the probable results of disputed claims, regulatory enforcement actions, tax and other governmental audits, and other contingencies. The litigation process, as well as the outcome of regulatory oversight is inherently uncertain, and our best judgment concerning the probable outcome of litigation or regulatory enforcement matters may prove to be incorrect. No assurance can be given as to the outcome of these matters. 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. Because of the uncertainty and risk inherent to litigation, arbitration, audits, governmental investigations, enforcement actions, and similar matters, the Company’s actual liabilities incurred may materially 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 the Company’s 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 for which it may be difficult to predict the ultimate outcome. At any given time, the Company may be a plaintiff or defendant in disputes involving disputed intellectual property rights. The Company is currently pursuing litigation against several companies involving royalties due under licenses for technology related to drill bits. This technology resulted in a portfolio of patents related to leaching technology, a revolutionary technology owned by the Company that improves the performance of drill bits and other products utilizing certain synthetic diamond parts. The Company previously sued several drill bit manufacturers for patent infringement and those lawsuits were resolved by a series of licensing agreements with various drill bit manufacturers. To settle and end litigation or to avoid litigation, the licensees were provided access to the portfolio of leaching patents owned by the Company in exchange for a royalty payment, as defined in each license agreement. The license agreements each provide that they terminate on the date of the last to expire of the patents in the licensed portfolio. Having obtained the benefit of these licenses for more than a decade, all of the drill bit manufacturer licensees unilaterally stopped making royalty payments even though all of the patents in the portfolio have not expired. These companies have asserted, among other reasons, that they are entitled to stop making these payments because they have not elected to manufacture products covered by the unexpired patents. Some of these companies stopped making payments after the expiration of what are allegedly the patents in the portfolio that they elected to use. Others paid for some period of time after that date but have since stopped payment. The Company believes that failure to pay the royalties is a breach of the license agreements at issue. The Company is in litigation with most of the licensees seeking a judicial determination that it is entitled to be paid royalties pursuant to the terms of the licenses. The parties’ legal filings to date can be found in two cases currently pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas: Grant Prideco, Inc., et al. v. Schlumberger Tech. Corp., et al., No. 4:23-cv-00730; and Halliburton Energy Serv, Inc. v. Grant Prideco, Inc., et al., No. 4:23-cv-01789. While the Company strongly believes that the royalties for which it has sued are due and owing pursuant to the terms of the licensing agreements, there is inherent risk with the related litigation and the Company makes no assurances as to the outcome of such litigation. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for discussion of the financial impact of royalties. The protection of intellectual property is important to the Company’s performance, and as such, an adverse result in the above dispute or any future dispute related to any of our intellectual property could result in materially adverse financial consequences such as a decline in sales of products protected by patents, which could materially and adversely impact our financial performance. From time-to-time consumers of our products and services or members of our supply chain become involved in litigation, governmental investigations, internal investigations, political or other enforcement matters, or other dispute proceedings. In such circumstances, such proceedings 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 proceedings, at substantial cost to the Company. The Company is exposed to customs and trade regulation risk in the countries in which we do business and countries from which or to which we import or export goods. Such trade regulations can be complex and conflicting, as different countries use trade regulation to promote conflicting policy objectives. Compliance with these laws and regulations presents challenges which could result in future liabilities (for example, when laws conflict between countries). The Company may face increased tariffs and trade costs, loss of revenue, loss of customers, fines, penalties, increased costs, the need for renegotiation of agreements, and other business disruptions. Trade regulations, supply chain regulations, and other regulatory compliance in different jurisdictions may conflict with one another or with contractual terms with our various counterparties. 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 and this could lead to negative impacts on revenue or earnings. In addition, trade regulations, export controls, and other laws adversely impact our ability to do business in certain countries, e.g., Iran, Syria, Russia, China and Venezuela. In response to additional sanctions enacted by governments in the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and other countries as a result of active armed conflict in Ukraine, we ceased new investments in Russia and have curtailed our activities there. During the third quarter of 2022, we sold our business in Belarus and entered into an agreement to sell our business in Russia. The sale is subject to various government approvals in Russia and other jurisdictions. The Russian government continues to enact new laws impacting the exit of western companies from Russia, including some instances of expropriation of western businesses. We may incur additional costs as a result of conditions in Russia if we are unable to complete the transaction to sell our Russian business on the terms of the agreements. Geopolitical events continue to pose supply chain risks even though the impacts of COVID-19 have largely dissipated . The Company’s ability to manufacture equipment and perform services could be impaired from such disruptions and the Company could be exposed to liabilities resulting from additional interruption or delay in its ability to perform due to materials shortages, inflationary pressures, and limited manpower. We may face loss of workers, labor shortages, litigation, fines and/or other adverse consequences resulting from ongoing labor impacts. The combined impact of supply chain and labor market disruptions along with the inflationary impacts of pandemic monetary and regulatory policies could have material adverse impacts on our financial results. Disputes may arise regarding application of force majeure and other contract provisions concerning allocation of responsibility among customers, the Company, and suppliers, resulting in material added cost and/or litigation. Our customers may attempt to cancel or delay projects, cancel contracts, or may invoke force majeure clauses. Our customers may also seek to delay or may default on their payments to us. As a result, the Company may be exposed to additional costs, liabilities and risks which could materially adversely impact our financial performance and results. These potential operational and service delays could result in contractual or other legal claims from our customers. At this time, it is not possible to quantify all these risks, but the combination of these factors could have a material impact on our financial results.

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