Forward-Looking Statements
This report contains various statements relating to future financial performance and results, including certain projections, business trends and other statements that are not historical facts. These statements constitute “Forward-Looking Statements” as defined in the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “budget,” “strategy,” “plan,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.
Forward-looking statements reflect our beliefs and expectations based on current estimates and projections. While we believe these expectations, and the estimates and projections on which they are based, are reasonable and were made in good faith, these statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, our actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what we have expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. Furthermore, from time to time, we update the various factors we consider in making our forward-looking statements and the assumptions we use in those statements. However, we undertake no obligation to correct, update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except to the extent required under federal securities laws. The following sets forth various assumptions we use in our forward-looking statements, as well as risks and uncertainties relating to those statements. Certain of these risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to be materially different from projected results contained in forward-looking statements in this report and in our other disclosures. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those described below under “Item 1A. – Risk Factors” and the following:
Finally, our future results will depend upon various other risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those detailed in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and the Securities Act. For additional information regarding risks and uncertainties, see our other filings with the SEC.
Item 1. Business
Weatherford International plc, a public limited company, together with its subsidiaries (“Weatherford,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our”), is an Irish multinational oilfield service company. Weatherford is one of the world’s leading providers of equipment and services used in the drilling, evaluation, completion, production and intervention of oil and natural gas wells. Many of our businesses, including those of our predecessor companies, have been operating for more than 50 years.
We conduct operations in over 100 countries and have service and sales locations in nearly all of the oil and natural gas producing regions in the world. Our operational performance is reviewed on a geographic basis and we report the following regions as separate, distinct reporting segments: North America, Latin America, Europe/Sub-Sahara Africa (“SSA”)/Russia and Middle East/North Africa (“MENA”)/Asia Pacific.
Our headquarters are located at Bahnhofstrasse 1, 6340 Baar, Switzerland and our telephone number at that location is +41.22.816.1500. Our internet address is www.weatherford.com. General information about us, including our corporate governance policies, code of business conduct and charters for the committees of our Board of Directors, can be found on our web site under the “Investor Relations” section. On our web site we make available, free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish them to the SEC. The public may read and copy any materials we have filed with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains a web site that contains our reports, proxy and information statements, and our other SEC filings. The address of that site is www.sec.gov.
The following is a summary of our business strategies and the markets we serve. We have also included a description of our products and services offered and of our competitors. Segment financial information appears in “Item 8. – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Note 22 – Segment Information.”
Strategy
Our primary objective is to build stakeholder value through profitable growth in our core product lines with disciplined use of working capital and a strong customer focus.
Principal components of our strategy include:
Markets
We are a leading provider of equipment and services to the oil and natural gas exploration and production industry. Demand for our industry’s services and products depends upon the number of oil and natural gas wells drilled, the depth and drilling conditions of wells, the number of well completions, the depletion and age of existing wells and the level of workover activity worldwide.
As a result of the maturity of the world’s oil and natural gas reservoirs, accelerating production decline rates and the focus on complex well designs, including deep-water prospects, technology has become increasingly critical to the marketplace. Clients continue to seek, test and use production-enabling technologies at an increasing rate. Technology is an important aspect of our products and services as it helps us provide our clients with more efficient tools to find and produce oil and natural gas. We have