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Risk Concentration | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2013
Risk Concentration |
Risk Concentration | Note 22—Risk Concentration Interest rate risk—Financial instruments that potentially subject us to concentrations of interest rate risk include our cash equivalents, short-term investments, restricted cash investments, debt and capital lease obligations. We are exposed to interest rate risk related to our cash equivalents and short-term investments, as the interest income earned on these investments changes with market interest rates. Floating rate debt, where the interest rate may be adjusted annually or more frequently over the life of the instrument, exposes us to short-term changes in market interest rates. Fixed rate debt, where the interest rate is fixed over the life of the instrument and the instrument’s maturity is greater than one year, exposes us to changes in market interest rates when we refinance maturing debt with new debt. Our fixed-rate restricted cash investments associated with the Eksportfinans Loans and the respective debt instruments for which they are restricted, are subject to corresponding and opposing changes in the fair value relative to changes in market interest rates. From time to time, we may use interest rate swap agreements to manage the effect of interest rate changes on future income. We do not generally enter into interest rate derivative transactions for speculative or trading purposes. Interest rate swaps are generally designated as hedges of underlying future interest payments. These agreements involve the exchange of amounts based on variable interest rates and amounts based on a fixed interest rate over the life of the agreement without an exchange of the notional amount upon which the payments are based. The interest rate differential to be received or paid on the swaps is recognized over the lives of the swaps as an adjustment to interest expense. Gains and losses on terminations of interest rate swap agreements are deferred and recognized as an adjustment to interest expense over the remaining life of the underlying debt. In the event of the early retirement of a designated debt obligation, any realized or unrealized gain or loss from the swap would be recognized in income. Currency exchange rate risk—Our international operations expose us to currency exchange rate risk. This risk is primarily associated with compensation costs of our employees and purchasing costs from non-U.S. suppliers, which are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. We use a variety of techniques to minimize the exposure to currency exchange rate risk, including the structuring of customer contract payment terms and, from time to time, the use of currency exchange derivative instruments. Our primary currency exchange rate risk management strategy involves structuring customer contracts to provide for payment in both U.S. dollars and local currency. The payment portion denominated in local currency is based on anticipated local currency requirements over the contract term. Due to various factors, including customer acceptance, local banking laws, other statutory requirements, local currency convertibility and the impact of inflation on local costs, actual local currency needs may vary from those anticipated in the customer contracts, resulting in partial exposure to currency exchange rate risk. The currency exchange effect resulting from our international operations generally has not had a material impact on our operating results. In situations where payments of local currency do not equal local currency requirements, we may use currency exchange derivative instruments, specifically forward exchange contracts, or spot purchases, to mitigate currency exchange rate risk. A forward exchange contract obligates us to exchange predetermined amounts of specified foreign currencies at specified currency exchange rates on specified dates or to make an equivalent U.S. dollar payment equal to the value of such exchange. We do not enter into currency exchange derivative transactions for speculative purposes. We record designated currency exchange derivative instruments at fair value and defer gains and losses in other comprehensive income, recognizing the gains and losses when the underlying currency exchange exposure is realized. We record undesignated currency exchange derivative instruments at fair value and record changes to the fair value in current period earnings as an adjustment to currency exchange gains or losses. At December 31, 2012, we had cross-currency swaps that were designated as cash flow hedges of certain debt instruments denominated in Norwegian kroner. In March 2013, we terminated these cross-currency interest rate swaps and the underlying debt instruments. See Note 13—Derivatives and Hedging. Credit risk—Financial instruments that potentially subject us to concentrations of credit risk are primarily cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, trade receivables, notes and loans receivable and equity investment. We generally maintain our cash and cash equivalents in time deposits at commercial banks with high credit ratings or mutual funds, which invest exclusively in high-quality money market instruments. We limit the amount of exposure to any one institution and do not believe we are exposed to any significant credit risk. We derive the majority of our revenue from services to international oil companies, government-owned oil companies and government-controlled oil companies. Receivables are dispersed in various countries (see Note 23—Operating Segments, Geographic Analysis and Major Customers). We establish an allowance for doubtful accounts on a case-by-case basis, considering changes in the financial position of a customer, when we believe the required payment of specific amounts owed to us is unlikely to occur. Although we have encountered isolated credit concerns related to independent oil companies, we are not aware of any significant credit risks related to our customer base and do not generally require collateral or other security to support customer receivables. We hold investments in debt and equity instruments of certain privately held companies as a result of certain dispositions of assets and equity interests or as a result of arrangements with certain suppliers. We monitor the financial condition of the investees on an ongoing basis to determine whether a valuation allowance is required. Labor agreements—We require highly skilled personnel to operate our drilling units. We conduct extensive personnel recruiting, training and safety programs. At December 31, 2013, we had approximately 15,100 employees, including approximately 1,000 persons engaged through contract labor providers. Of our 15,100 employees, approximately 800 persons are working under operating agreements with Shelf Drilling and are expected to transition upon expiration of such operating agreements. Some of our employees working in Angola, the U.K., Nigeria, Norway, Australia and Brazil are represented by, and some of our contracted labor work under, collective bargaining agreements. Many of these represented individuals are working under agreements that are subject to annual salary negotiation. These negotiations could result in higher personnel expenses, other increased costs or increased operational restrictions as the outcome of such negotiations apply to all offshore employees not just the union members.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for any concentrations existing at the date of the financial statements that make an entity vulnerable to a reasonably possible, near-term, severe impact. This disclosure informs financial statement users about the general nature of the risk associated with the concentration, and may indicate the percentage of concentration risk as of the balance sheet date. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 16 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6327-108592 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 20 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6404-108592 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 825 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 20 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=28364263&loc=d3e13531-108611 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 18 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6351-108592 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 825 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 21 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=28364263&loc=d3e13537-108611 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 21 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6442-108592 + Details
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