EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1693256
Filing Year: 2021
Filename: 1693256_10-K_2021_0001558370-21-001620.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Select Energy Services, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “Select,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a leading provider of comprehensive water-management and chemical solutions to the oil and gas industry in the United States (“U.S.”). We also develop, manufacture and deliver a full suite of chemical products for use in oil and gas well completion and production operations. As a leader in the water solutions industry, we place the utmost importance on safe, environmentally responsible management of oilfield water throughout the lifecycle of a well. Additionally, we believe that responsibly managing water resources through our operations to help conserve and protect the environment in the communities in which we operate is paramount to our continued success.
Within the major shale plays in the U.S., we operate through three primary segments: Water Services, Water Infrastructure and Oilfield Chemicals.
Our Water Services segment, which contributed approximately 53% of our 2020 revenue and 60% of our 2019 revenue, provides the complex services needed to support new oil and gas well completions as well as ongoing production over the life of the well, including water transfer, flowback and well testing, water containment, fluids hauling, water monitoring and water network automation, as well as various on-site rental equipment and accommodation offerings. Through our patented WaterONE™ automation services and our AquaView® software platform, our Water Services segment also provides extensive technology solutions that enable 24/7 monitoring and visibility for our customers into all of their water-related operations, including hydrographic mapping, water volume and quality monitoring, remote pit and tank monitoring, leak detection, asset and fuel tracking and automated-equipment services. We believe these technologies help our customers lower their operating costs, increase safety and reduce the environmental footprint of their operations.
Our Water Infrastructure segment, which contributed approximately 21% of our 2020 revenue and 17% of our 2019 revenue, develops, builds and operates semi-permanent and permanent infrastructure solutions to support both new oil and gas well development as well as ongoing production activity, including water sourcing, recycling and disposal of water as well as the associated logistics. As our customers transition from appraisal to full-field development, our fixed infrastructure offerings can provide economies of scale that help reduce their capital expenditures and lease operating expenses over the life of the field. Water Infrastructure operations provide for both the delivery of and the takeaway and reuse of water enabled by a network of water sources, permanent pipeline infrastructure, semi-permanent pipeline infrastructure, fixed and mobile treatment and recycling facilities, earthen pits and saltwater disposal wells (“SWDs”).
Our Oilfield Chemicals segment, which contributed approximately 26% of our 2020 revenue and 21% of our 2019 revenue, develops, manufactures and provides a full suite of completion and production chemical products, water treatment solutions and services utilized in hydraulic fracturing, stimulation, cementing and related well completion and production processes. Our completion chemicals are sold primarily to leading pressure-pumping service companies and E&P companies in the U.S., to support well stimulation and completion. Our production chemicals are used by oil and gas companies to enhance well performance and reduce production costs throughout the life of a well. Our well chemical services provide customized water treatment and flow assurance solutions across the completion and production lifecycle. Additionally, through our FluidMatch™ solutions, we provide comprehensive testing and analysis of our customer’s application conditions, product chemistry and key performance requirements for oil and gas well completion fluid-system design. This process may include water profiling, application and fluid assessment, treatment assessment, product selection, optimization and customization.
Industry and Company Overview
Over the past two decades, advancements in horizontal drilling and completions technologies have led to a significant and sustained growth in oil and natural gas production in the U.S. Advances in drilling and completion technology have propelled U.S. shale-oil production from about 500,000 barrels per day in 2010 to more than seven million barrels per day currently. While U.S. shale oil production has declined from the peak levels of more than nine million barrels per day seen before the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. shale oil production has increased as a percentage of total global oil supply in the past year to approximately 8% of total global oil supply. Additionally, U.S. shale gas production has increased from about 15 billion cubic feet per day in 2010 to about 70 billion cubic feet per day currently, or more than 18% of global supply. This growth has dramatically impacted fundamental global supply and demand dynamics and has resulted in a generally balanced to over-supplied market in recent years. While demand for oil and natural gas has increased over the last ten years, demand is cyclical and subject to many factors. Over the course of 2020, the market was significantly impacted by demand declines driven by the economic disruption resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand for our services is largely influenced by the level of drilling and completion activity by E&P companies, which in turn depends largely on the current and anticipated profitability of developing oil and natural gas reserves. More specifically, demand for most of our services is driven primarily by the number of new well completions and the timing and type of well completions.
Water is essential to the development and completion of unconventional oil and gas wells, where producers rely on hydraulic fracturing to stimulate the production of oil and gas from low permeability subsurface rock formations. The modern hydraulic fracturing process involves the injection of large volumes of water and proppant (typically sand) together with chemicals, under high pressure, through a cased and cemented wellbore into targeted subsurface formations thousands of feet below ground to fracture the surrounding rock. Modern hydraulic fracturing involves complex, engineered, environmentally conscious solutions to produce oil and gas from tight geological formations in a cost effective manner.
The volume of water required to economically produce tight oil and gas reserves in the U.S. has grown dramatically in recent years and water and water-related services now comprise a meaningful portion of our customers’ drilling and completion budgets. For example, in 2010, the completion of a typical horizontal well could require roughly 75,000 barrels of water, but today, current horizontal well completion designs can call for in excess of 500,000 barrels for a single well. Our customers’ current, state-of-the-art multi-well pad development plans can require in excess of five million barrels to complete all of the wells on the pad. Significant mechanical, logistical, environmental and safety issues related to the transfer, blending and subsequent containment of such large volumes of water have increased both the total cost of water and related services and the complexity and importance of the services required. This trend has
shifted many of our customers’ operational focus away from traditional small, local water service providers, to larger regional and national players like us, who have the expertise, technology and scale to provide high-quality, reliable, comprehensive and environmentally sound water-management solutions for the full extent of the water lifecycle.
These logistical challenges are typically met through a combination of temporary and permanent solutions utilizing pipe and hose infrastructure, combined with the development of a large-scale portfolio of water rights and impoundments, which significantly reduces the cost and environmental footprint compared to legacy solutions such as tank truck and frac tank operations. For a single representative multi-well pad that requires five million barrels of water, we can utilize our pipe and hose infrastructure solutions and eliminate the rough equivalent of 38,500 tank truck loads from the roads. This significantly reduces the capital expenditure costs for our customers while dramatically improving the safety of our operations, and reduces the environmental impact of our customers’ operations by limiting spills and diesel exhaust emissions, as well as the community impact of heavy vehicle traffic.
We also develop and source completion chemicals that are a key part of the U.S. production growth story. Completion chemicals are blended with water to improve the transport and placement of proppant in targeted zones within the producing formation. The induced fractures near the wellbore allow hydrocarbons to flow into the wellbore for extraction. Our team of chemists and research and development personnel work directly with our customers to support the optimization of their fracturing fluid systems through our FluidMatch™ solutions. Through laboratory and application experience, we apply our expertise in fracturing chemistry to develop, manufacture and supply a wide range of specialized and customizable products to our customers for their fracturing fluid systems.
Further, up to fifty percent of the water pumped into the well during the hydraulic fracturing process returns as “flowback” during the first several weeks following the well completion process, and a large percentage of the remainder, plus pre-existing water in the formation, is recovered as produced water over the life of the well. The total volumes of flowback and produced water are even greater than the volumes used for new well completions-by some estimates, the U.S. oil and gas industry today produces over 20 billion barrels of water per year and this volume is likely to grow. This flowback and produced water must be captured, contained and then either treated and recycled for reuse in subsequent fracturing jobs or disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. We provide services that support the operator’s management of flowback and produced water for either reuse or disposal. Additionally, our customized chemical treatment programs help improve well productivity and reduce production costs, thereby extending the economic life of our customers’ oil and gas wells.
As produced water volumes have significantly grown in recent years, logistical advancements similar to those seen in the delivery of source water volumes for new well completions have been developed for managing these produced water volumes. Increasingly, the transportation of these produced water volumes has shifted away from traditional tank truck operations and onto gathering pipeline infrastructure for disposal or reuse. This significantly reduces the lease operating costs for our customers over the life of a well, while also reducing the environmental impact of our customers’ operations by limiting spills and diesel exhaust emissions and reducing truck traffic in our local communities. We believe the industry will increasingly turn to specialized water solutions companies like us to help cost-effectively manage produced water in an environmentally responsible way.
Recent Developments
COVID-19 Pandemic
The U.S. oil and gas industry has been and continues to be significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning during the latter stages of the first quarter of 2020 and through the second quarter of 2020, demand for our services significantly declined, followed by a modest and gradual increase in demand in the second half of 2020, although still significantly below 2019 levels.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and measures taken in response by governments and businesses worldwide to contain its spread, including quarantines, facility closures, travel and logistics restrictions, border controls, and stay-at-home and social distancing orders, have adversely impacted oil and gas prices and ultimately demand for our services.
While we have seen a recent increase in oil prices, we cannot predict how long these increases will last or when the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to demand for new oil and gas production will end.
The degree to which the pandemic impacts our financial condition and results of operations and the global economy depends on developments beyond our control, which are highly uncertain and difficult to predict, including the severity and duration of the pandemic, the extent and effectiveness of containment actions, the availability and application of effective vaccines against COVID-19, effectiveness of government stimulus programs, potential future resurgence of COVID-19 or related strains, how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating activity can resume, and the severity and duration of the global economic downturn that has resulted from the pandemic. See Item 15, Note 4-Impairments and Other Costs for additional discussion on the impact of COVID-19 on our operations and financial condition.
Permian Basin Recycling Facility Projects
We were recently awarded two new produced water recycling facility contracts serving key customers in the Permian Basin. Once completed, these state-of-the-art facilities will allow us to leverage our expertise in frac chemistry and fluid optimization to provide customers with a consistent water quality standard for use in completion activities. These investments will bring our total centralized produced water recycling capacity in the Permian Basin to approximately 250,000 barrels of water per day, which is supplemented by our mobile recycling technologies and capabilities that are currently supporting nearly 150,000 barrels per day of active produced water recycling projects.
We have commenced construction on the first facility, a new fixed infrastructure produced water recycling facility project serving the core of the Midland Basin in both Martin and Midland Counties, Texas. The Company expects to invest approximately $5 million in this facility, which should be fully operational by the end of the first quarter of 2021. This project is supported by a long-term contract with a leading, large independent operator in the Midland Basin for the purchase and delivery of recycled produced water. This facility will support the recycling of up to 50,000 barrels of water per day while providing 2 million barrels of recycled water storage capacity. Additional incremental capacity beyond the contracted volumes creates an additional opportunity for growth with the contracted customer, as well as the opportunity to further commercialize the facility to support the needs of other operators in the area.
We are also developing a centralized produced water recycling facility for a major integrated operator in Loving County, Texas in the Delaware Basin. This facility is designed to recycle up to 30,000 barrels of produced water per day and will be supported by 1 million barrels of adjacent recycled water storage capacity. We expect this facility to also be fully operational by the end of the first quarter of 2021. This project supplements the Company's sizable existing footprint of water storage, distribution and recycling infrastructure in the Delaware Basin.
Human Capital
As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately 2,000 employees and no unionized labor. We believe we have good relations with our employees.
We consider our employees vital to our success and are focused on attracting, developing and retaining the most qualified employees at all levels of our business. In particular, the quality of our customer service depends significantly on employee satisfaction and retention. We strive to create a productive and collaborative work environment for our employees.
To attract talent and meet the needs of our employees, we offer a competitive benefits package for regular, full-time employees including health benefits such as medical, dental and vision, welfare benefits such as life and accident insurance, and a qualified defined contribution plan to all eligible employees. We also provide our employees with resources for professional development including training, feedback and performance reviews from supervisors. Our human capital measures and objectives focus on several areas including, but not limited to, human rights and social responsibility, safety of our employees, employee development and training, and operational execution.
● Human Rights: Select is committed to conducting business in a manner that respects all human rights. Select is committed to promoting and encouraging respect for people and fundamental freedoms for all without distinctions of any kind such as race, color, sex, language, religion, or political or other opinions. We are committed to partnering with personnel, business parties and other stakeholders directly linked to our operations that share our commitment to these same principles. We demonstrate this commitment in our employment practices, including through our Code of Conduct, our Equal Employment Opportunity Employer Policy, and our Anti-Harassment Policy, as well as through our policies on safety and security for our employees. Select supports diversity and inclusion by regularly reviewing its organizational culture with an eye towards instituting policies, procedures and practices to support such efforts. Additionally, our human resource department tracks and reviews metrics on the sex, age, and ethnicity of our employees to help ensure that current employees and prospective employees are treated fairly. Select provides several ways for individuals to raise concerns anonymously, including the 24-hour Employee Hotline, Whistleblower Hotline and Health Safety Security & Environment (“HSSE”) Hotline, which promotes quick and confidential remediation without fear of retaliation.
● Safety: Select maintains a culture of safety, which we believe preserves the environment and our relationships with the communities in which we operate. We place a strong emphasis on the safe execution of our operations, including safety training for our employees and the development of a variety of safety programs designed to make us a market leader in safety standards and performance. In addition, our safety recognition program incentivizes employees throughout our organization to focus on conducting operations in accordance with our strict safety standards. Further, we work closely with federal, state, local and tribal governments and community organizations to help ensure that our operations comply with legal requirements and community standards. Lastly, when our employees identify a heightened safety risk, we respond quickly to mitigate the risk through communication, coordination and, if appropriate, a change in policy, procedures and training. We believe that our customers select their operational partners based in part on the quality of their safety and compliance records, and therefore, we will continue to make investments to be a market leader in this area. Select also empowers operational personnel with stop work authority (“SWA”) as a tool for helping ensure safety. Our SWA policy empowers our employees to stop work whenever they identify unsafe work conditions. When SWA is employed, operations cease until the risk is addressed and both the employee and management agree that it is safe to resume work.
● COVID-19: To protect Select’s workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken steps to support our people who are affected by the disease, manage work-from-home scheduling as appropriate, limit on-site visitors, and monitor and consistently communicate with those who are required to be at a work location, while also providing these employees with additional personal protective equipment. We empaneled a COVID-19 task force and created a COVID-19 rules of engagement instructional job aid that provides guidance on facemasks, social distancing, personal hygiene, engineering controls, administrative controls, specific rules for facilities and vehicles and a reporting mechanism.
● Employee Development: Select encourages managers and supervisors at all levels to have frequent, open and constructive dialogue with their direct reports about job performance and performance improvement. In addition, managers and employees are directed to connect on employee well-being, performance, development and growth opportunities utilizing our informal feedback program in which twice a year, each of our employees answer four simple questions relating to their recent performance in relation to our core values and then have a one-on-one meeting with their direct supervisor to discuss such performance. With these and related practices, we strive for a culture of continuous improvement. During 2020, we had both mid-year and year-end employee performance improvement reviews with a completion rate of 93%, despite challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
● Operational Execution: It is critical that all Select employees that serve our customers are qualified and trained for their roles, understand our policies and work procedures, and receive the work direction necessary to operate safely. Site managers create daily, weekly and monthly plans for coordination of tasks and personnel. Our employees use standard operating procedures and best practices to standardize effective and consistent execution. Further, we employ a comprehensive mentor program, where more experienced employees provide guidance and instruction to less experienced employees and use videos to train and develop our operational personnel.
Competitive Strengths
We believe our ability to combine and integrate the complexities of our water and chemical-related services through both temporary, job-specific services and longer-term solutions that include investments in infrastructure gives
us a competitive advantage and is the foundation of our business. We believe our broad geographic footprint, comprehensive suite of water services, inventory of water sources, advanced technology and semi-permanent and permanent pipeline infrastructure position us to be a leading provider of water solutions in all of the oil and gas plays that we serve. We have well-established field operations in what we believe to be core areas of many of the most active shale plays, basins and regions in the U.S., including the Permian, Bakken, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Marcellus, Utica, Rockies and Mid-Continent (“MidCon”) regions. Our broad footprint enables us to service the majority of current domestic unconventional drilling and completion activity. We estimate that over 80% of all currently active U.S. onshore horizontal rigs are operating in our primary service areas. We believe that the vast majority of rigs that will be deployed in the near- to medium-term will be situated in these areas. In particular, we have established a strong position in the Permian Basin, which is presently our largest operating region, accounting for approximately 46% of our revenue in 2020 and 47% of our revenue in 2019.
Our Water Services segment focuses on supplying the services and customized, job-specific solutions needed as our customers’ completion activities move from location to location across the geographic footprint of their acreage over time. These services include the transportation, logistics and storage solutions needed to support the delivery of water to the wellsite for new well completions, the flowback and well testing services needed to manage the initial production phases of the well and the logistics services needed to manage the long-term produced water volumes associated with oil and gas production over the life of the well. We believe we are a market leader in providing comprehensive water-related services to the industry and we have dedicated significant resources to developing technology solutions to manage the needs of the increasingly complex needs of our customers across the water lifecycle.
We have invested significantly in our patented WaterONE™ and AquaView® suite of proprietary hardware and software applications for measuring, monitoring and automating our water services throughout the well lifecycle. Our suite of automated solutions include automated water transfer pumps, manifolds, proportioning systems and telemetry meter trailers. WaterONE™ provides true automation to gather, analyze and act on data in real-time - all without human intervention - giving operators the ability to remotely set and maintain or improve the operational control of their frac and produced water-related requirements. When our monitoring systems detect that certain defined thresholds set by our customers are out of desired range, our equipment sends out an alert and then, through dynamic machine learning, takes action to keep operations running safely and smoothly. This can include actions such as raising a pump’s RPM to maintain desired flow rates, adjusting valves in a proportioning system to maintain the desired water quality in real time while blending fresh, brackish, produced or otherwise impaired water sources or shutting down the system and valves completely in the event of a detected failure. In addition to reducing the risk of spills and injuries, our automated operations increase efficiency across the water transfer supply chain, reducing the risk of pressure spikes and increasing associated fuel efficiency, thereby significantly reducing overall fuel emissions. Our automation capabilities provide a safer, more efficient and cost-effective transfer, treatment and containment of produced or other lower quality water sources.
Within our AquaView® monitoring software systems, our solar-powered cellular and satellite-based remote-monitoring telemetry systems give our customers the ability to gain precise and accurate volumetric analyses of water sources and provide real-time data to our customers that is accessible 24/7 via computer, smart phone or tablet. Our Hydrographic Mapping Vessels (“HMVs”) use sonar, satellite, and compass technology to provide precise volumetric analyses of water sources. The HMVs are rapidly deployed, durable enough to handle flowback pits, and can navigate through tight spaces in natural ponds. Additionally, our AquaView® sensors give timely information about acid levels, water quality, temperature and flow rate to assure there is sufficient water at the right quality levels required by our customers and provide alarm notifications to prevent problems during the well completion. We believe that our investments in technology provide a significant competitive advantage for us relative to our smaller, regionally-focused competitors by delivering more reliable, efficient, and environmentally sound solutions, often at a lower overall cost.
Our Water Infrastructure segment develops water sources and the associated semi-permanent and permanent pipeline infrastructure to both meet our customers’ needs for source water for new well completions as well as their requirements for the gathering of flowback and produced water for either recycling for reuse or disposal. We believe that investments in infrastructure that serve multiple customers, when underwritten by longer-term contracts, lowers the cost of development for our customers, while reducing the overall environmental footprint and impact on the local communities. Additionally, the development of water infrastructure networks to serve multiple customers can improve
the economics of produced water recycling and therefore reduce the demand for fresh water required in oil and gas operations while also reducing required disposal volumes.
To meet the water demands of our customers, we have secured access to significant volumes of water in key unconventional development areas. Water sources are often difficult to locate, acquire and permit, particularly in the quantities and at the locations needed for multi-well pad development programs. We have secured permits or long-term access rights to more than two billion barrels of water annually from hundreds of sources, including surface, subsurface, municipal and industrial sources, including produced water. We have also invested in significant pipeline infrastructure to support the delivery of water from our water sources, consisting of over 1,300 miles of both above-ground and buried pipeline, including key systems in the Delaware Basin in New Mexico and Texas and the Bakken shale in the Williston Basin in North Dakota. We continue to focus our efforts on the development of non-potable sources as well as the infrastructure and solutions required for the treatment and reuse of produced water. We have developed and maintained extensive relationships with landowners as well as local, state, tribal and federal authorities to ensure that we can sustainably meet both the economic and operational needs of our customers while responding to the concerns of the local communities in which we operate. We believe that our extensive relationships and regulatory expertise will continue to constitute a competitive advantage in identifying and securing additional sources of water in a responsible and sustainable manner.
Water is vital to the health, economic, and social well-being of the communities where we live and work. In support of industry-wide efforts to reduce the demand for fresh water for hydraulic fracturing, we have a dedicated team of specialists focused on developing and deploying innovative water treatment and reuse services for our customers. We strive to fully understand local water issues, and to develop sustainable solutions with a shared commitment to conservation. Working collaboratively with our customers, we are actively building recycling facilities in the Delaware and Midland basins and will continue to focus on recycling opportunities in all of the areas that we operate. Longer term, we believe our focus on commercialized solutions that connect multiple operators to strategic infrastructure that provides for greater use of treated produced water for new well completions will reduce the use of fresh water for hydraulic fracturing. By doing so, we also strive to both reduce the portion of produced water being reinjected into SWD’s over time and to reduce the industry’s need for fresh water.
We believe that greater use of produced water to reduce fresh water consumption will require collaboration with all stakeholders as we together develop water infrastructure networks to meet the needs of multiple operators. In addition to investing in pipelines and related infrastructure, Select offers mechanical and chemical solutions for treatment of produced water, and other non-potable water sources customized for our E&P customers’ complex fracturing fluid systems. We believe our expertise in utilizing chemical technologies in the water reclamation and conditioning process, combined with our chemical expertise in fracturing fluid system design, gives us a competitive advantage. For example, we offer a wide spectrum of bacterial control, aeration, proportioning and recycling technologies to condition source water or reuse flowback and produced water for hydraulic fracturing.
Additionally, we invest in gathering infrastructure to collect produced water, and we operate produced water disposal facilities in major U.S. shale plays with a permitted capacity of approximately 200,000 barrels/day (“bbl/d”) with an additional 850,000 bbl/d of permitted capacity available for development to support the disposal of produced water that cannot be reused for new well completions. This disposal capacity is critical to support reuse capabilities, as it provides an alternative outlet during times when limited completions activity in an area may not support additional water reuse demand.
In short, Select intends to play an important role in the advancement of sustainable water solutions that are designed to align the needs of the oil and gas industry with the sustainability goals of all stakeholders.
On November 1, 2017, the Company completed a merger with Rockwater (the “Rockwater Merger”) and the Oilfield Chemicals segment continues to operate primarily under our subsidiary, Rockwater Energy Solutions, LLC (“Rockwater LLC”). Our Oilfield Chemicals segment develops, manufactures and delivers a full suite of completion chemical products utilized in hydraulic fracturing, stimulation, cementing and related well completion processes. Our Completion Chemicals product lines support the fluid systems utilized primarily in the completion and development of unconventional resources. These products include polymers that create viscosity, crosslinkers, friction reducers,
surfactants, buffers, breakers and other chemical technologies, and are provided to leading pressure pumping service companies and E&P operators in the U.S. The use of automated communications systems combined with direct-to-wellsite delivery ensures seamless product availability for our customers, while our chemical expertise enables us to deliver a customized suite of products to meet customers’ technical and economical product needs.
With our wide range of manufactured products and our expertise in fracturing chemistry, we believe we are well positioned to support our customers as fracturing chemistry evolves in the coming years in response to changes in technology and the evolution of frac water fluid systems. In addition to our chemical product offerings, we provide inventory management services, including procurement, warehousing and delivery services as well as a full suite of laboratory technologies and FluidMatch™ consultation services, including water analysis, quality control and assurance, additive compatibility analysis, solids analysis and stimulation recommendations. We have two primary manufacturing facilities in Texas, regional distribution centers and a logistics fleet supporting geographic regions in the Permian, MidCon, Bakken, Eagle Ford, Haynesville and Rockies. We introduced the first in-basin manufacturing facility of emulsion polymers (friction reducers) in our industry, strategically located in the Permian Basin, which provides the advantage of reducing our overall transportation costs of delivering finished goods to our customers within the basin.
Our production chemicals solutions are used by oil and gas companies to enhance well performance and reduce production costs throughout the life of a well. Our complete line of production enhancement and treating chemicals includes demulsification products, clay stabilizers, paraffin treating chemicals, pour point depressants, corrosion inhibitors, scale inhibitors, scale solvents, H2S scavengers, water treating chemicals, and bactericides. Our production enhancement capabilities include both products and problem well analysis and consultation, and custom formulation is available for any treating requirement.
Additionally, through our 2019 acquisition of a well chemical services business (“WCS”), we provide advanced water treatment solutions throughout the water lifecycle, as well as specialized stimulation flow assurance and integrity management, and post-treatment monitoring services. We deliver customized programs using proven chemical technologies and mobile equipment to treat virtually any oilfield water for reuse. Following our treatment applications, fluid samples are analyzed again to ensure the treatment is optimized to reduce overall chemical investment. We provide disinfection treatment with a smaller environmental footprint, lower power costs and manpower needs than alternative solutions. Our expertise allows us to advise our customers on the best economic and operational solutions to manage their water quality and chemical solutions needs across water qualities and fracturing fluid systems.
As mentioned under “⸺Human Capital” above, we maintain a culture focused on safety. With approximately 2,000 employees and operations spanning the U.S., we believe our commitment to foster a culture of safety and corporate responsibility is essential. Our employee base is made up of dedicated operational and technical professionals, including many with advanced degrees, professional licenses and project development experience, and diverse backgrounds in geology, geography, land management, petroleum, chemical and electrical engineering, computer science, environmental science, geographic information systems and regulatory affairs. In addition, we emphasize preserving the environment and our relationships with the communities in which we operate. We work closely with federal, state, local and tribal governments and community organizations to help ensure that our operations comply with legal requirements and community standards. Further, we believe being a good corporate steward is strategic to our leadership in the oil and gas industry, and will better allow us to develop solutions that both address the needs of our customers and contribute to sustainable business practices. Our solutions significantly decrease the quantity of trucks on the road, thereby reducing fuel use and emissions and limiting the traffic footprint in the communities in which we operate. We believe that our customers will select their service providers based in part on the quality of their safety and compliance records and their ability to support their long-term Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) goals and therefore, we will continue to make investments to be a market leader in these areas.
Description of Business Segments
We offer our services through the following three reportable segments: (i) Water Services, (ii) Water Infrastructure and (iii) Oilfield Chemicals.
Water Services Segment
Our Water Services segment consists of our services businesses, including water transfer, flowback and well testing, fluids hauling, water containment and water network automation, primarily serving E&P companies. Additionally, this segment includes the operations of our accommodations and rentals business.
● Water Transfer. We believe we are the largest provider of water transfer services to the industry. Our Water Transfer service line installs temporary above-ground pipeline systems that can be equipped with full automation to deliver water autonomously at high volumes and rates from a water source to water containment facilities (tanks and pits), or directly to the well. Our assets include more than 1,300 miles of layflat hose and temporary pipe and more than 1,000 high-rate water-transfer pumps and related equipment.
We install layflat hose as part of a flexible water transfer solution that can be customized to fit a specific project. Our layflat hose allows for quick, cost-effective deployment and removal of transfer assets with limited environmental disturbance and can be quickly redeployed for new projects, including projects in different geographic regions. Layflat hose has a significantly lower risk of spills than most other types of temporary jointed pipe as a result of the strength and durability of the hose as well as the secure nature of any coupling joints used to connect multiple sections of hose. Our layflat hose consists primarily of 10-inch and 12-inch diameter segments. Depending on the requirements of a project, layflat hose may run from a water source directly to a containment area, such as an above-ground pit or storage tank, or to a wellsite. Water can also be transferred from one containment area to another as part of managing a larger supply network. Our customers generally prefer layflat hose to alternative temporary piping options due to the cost-effectiveness, limited environmental impact, customizability and reduced risk of spills.
o Water Network Automation. Our proprietary and industry leading automation technologies provide integrated water transfer solutions with automated pump operation, automated valve control, automated blending and proportioning capabilities, automated manifolds, level monitoring and data collection with analytics. We are able to provide our customers with increased visibility into their water inventories and usage, improving their efficiency and decreasing their costs. Our technology also provides us with the unique ability to detect potential issues and prevent them from occurring, as well as to reduce manpower and equipment on certain jobs, in turn mitigating safety and environmental risks while reducing overall fuel emissions.
● Flowback and Well Testing. Our flowback and well testing services add value for our customers by providing well productivity data associated with our services, which include fracturing support, fracturing plug drill out, flaring operations, ventless flowback operations, sand management and production testing. We believe we are one of the largest providers of flowback and well testing services to the U.S. land industry and we are a seasoned operator within Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) emissions regulations, offering green completions through our mobile production facilities and electronic iron certifications through our proprietary Radio Frequency Identification System (“RFID”) system. Our green completions services utilize specialized, closed-loop tank ventilation combustion units that prevent the release of methane and vapors into the air during operations. This process safely contains and combusts flare gas, reducing the amount of emissions at the wellsite, going well beyond current EPA emissions regulations. These services require highly-trained personnel that specialize in our cutting-edge technologies and equipment.
To support these specialized services, our in-house, state-of-the-art well testing training facility provides hands-on, field-simulated stimulation training with our equipment in a controlled environment, reducing the potential for training errors and related safety incidents. Our specialized well testing equipment is outfitted with pressure transducers, Coriolis meters, and guided wave radars for efficient and accurate testing. Using our online reporting system, our customers can view real-time data for well pressures, differentials, and fluid levels. This allows for immediate changes to be made during production, better optimizing oil and gas production, reducing oil and gas reservoir damage and enabling operators to
quantify oil and gas reserves more effectively. Our traditional well testing and hydraulic equipment is also deployable in an extensive range of operational conditions: high and low temperature, high and low pressure, high hydrogen sulfide concentration, and high volume.
● Water Containment. We believe we are the largest provider of high-capacity aboveground water storage tanks (“ASTs”) in the U.S. We offer ASTs ranging in size from 4,500 to 60,000 barrels per tank, with remote monitoring capability in every major U.S. basin. Our ASTs provide a low-cost containment alternative to fracturing tanks. ASTs can be set up as part of our Water Treatment and Recycling service offerings, which can be bundled with our Water Transfer services. A 40,000 barrel AST can be delivered by three trucks and installed in one day, replacing the equivalent of eighty 500-barrel fracturing tanks and the associated truck traffic and emissions from the transportation of those fracturing tanks. Our modular tank design allows for twenty different tank configurations to meet each customer’s individual needs. We can also offer nested tanks for complete secondary containment.
● Fluids Hauling. Our Fluids Hauling group operates as Tidal Logistics Inc. (“Tidal Logistics”), our subsidiary. This business transports and stores water and various drilling, completion, and production fluids, utilizing our fleet of vacuum, winch and hydrovac trucks and related assets, such as fracturing tanks. Currently, we own and lease approximately 200 tractor trailers and body load trucks with operations across the Permian, MidCon, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, and Rockies regions.
● Water Monitoring. Our Water Monitoring services support the full scope of our Water Services offerings and include hydrographic mapping services, remote pit and tank monitoring, generator monitoring, leak detection and automation-equipment monitoring services, including transfer pumps, manifolds, blending and proportioning systems and telemetry meter trailers. These services securely track water assets and measure information such as flow rates, temperature, pressure and water qualities such as acidity and salinity, providing real-time data through our customized portals and alert systems which are accessible 24/7 via computer, smart phone or tablet.
● Accommodations and Rentals. Our accommodations and rentals service line, operating under our subsidiary, Peak Oilfield Services, LLC, provides workforce accommodations and surface rental equipment supporting drilling, completion and production operations in the U.S. onshore oil and gas industry. The services provided include fully furnished office and living quarters, freshwater supply and wastewater removal, portable power generation and light plants, internet, phone, intercom, surveillance and monitoring services and other long-term rentals supporting field personnel.
Water Services Geographic Areas of Operation
We provide our Water Services offerings in most of the major unconventional shale plays in the continental U.S., as illustrated by a “✓” in the chart below.
Geographic Region
Services Provided
Permian
MidCon
Bakken
Eagle Ford
Marcellus /
Utica
Haynesville
Rockies
Water Transfer
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Flowback and Well Testing
✓
✓
-
✓
✓
✓
✓
Water Containment
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Fluids Hauling
✓
✓
-
✓
-
✓
✓
Water Monitoring
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Accommodations and Rentals
✓
✓
-
✓
✓
✓
✓
Water Services Customers
Our Water Services customers primarily include major integrated and independent U.S. and international oil and gas producers.
Water Services Competition
Our industry is highly competitive. Our customers typically award contracts after a competitive bidding process. Operational track record, the skill and competency of our people, pricing, safety, technology and environmental performance are key factors in the bid evaluation. Equipment availability, location, service breadth and technical specifications can also be significant considerations.
Certain large domestic and international oilfield services companies offer some water-oriented and environmental services, though these are generally ancillary to their core businesses. As a result, the water solutions industry is highly fragmented and our main competitors are typically smaller and often private service providers that focus on water solutions and logistical services across a narrow geographic area or service offering. We seek to differentiate ourselves from our competitors by delivering comprehensive, high-quality services and equipment, coupled with well-trained people and a commitment to superior execution and a safe working environment.
Water Infrastructure Segment
Our Water Infrastructure segment is operated primarily under our subsidiary, Select Energy Services, LLC (“Select LLC”), and provides water sourcing, recycling, gathering, transferring and disposal of water. Water Infrastructure operations are provided through or enabled by a network of permanent pipeline infrastructure, semi-permanent pipeline infrastructure, earthen pits, water sources and SWDs.
Water Infrastructure Service Lines
Our Water Infrastructure segment is divided into the following service lines:
● Water Sourcing. Our Water Sourcing service line provides water, permitting and, in some instances, necessary logistics required by our E&P customers to support their drilling and completion operations. Our sourcing efforts include identifying, developing and obtaining the right to use water from a variety of sources, including surface, subsurface, industrial, municipal and produced water. Through a portfolio of contracts with and permits from regulatory bodies, corporations and individual landowners, we have secured rights in excess of two billion barrels of water annually from hundreds of strategically-located sources.
o Water Treatment & Recycling. Our Water Treatment & Recycling business provides tailored solutions to fit specific customer water quality and delivery needs. We utilize both standard and proprietary processes and technology, including mechanical and chemical technologies, that provide high-quality, large volume throughput and cost-optimized solutions for our E&P customers. These solutions are largely designed for the recycling and reuse of flowback and produced water to meet a customer’s well completion water needs. We provide our customers with high-quality completion water volumes while reducing the need to source fresh water as well as reducing the need for disposal into SWDs. Our recycling operations consist of temporary, semi-permanent and permanent infrastructure, including above-ground and in-ground containment along with treatment processing assets and facilities, capable of recycling large volumes of produced water for reuse in the hydraulic fracturing process.
● Pipelines & Logistics. We have developed some of our larger, strategic water sources into comprehensive, permanent pipeline systems designed to provide water used for drilling, completion and production activity across a wide geography. In many instances, we also provide the associated logistics needed to deliver the water directly to our customers’ wellsites. We have
developed pipeline systems in the Northern Delaware Basin of the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico, the Bakken in North Dakota and the Haynesville in northern Louisiana.
o Permian: We have significant Permian Basin infrastructure, primarily in the Northern Delaware Basin in New Mexico, but also in the Southern Delaware Basin and the Midland Basin in Texas. The acquisition in March 2017 of Gregory Rockhouse Ranch, Inc. (the “GRR Acquisition”) and certain other affiliated entities and assets (collectively, the “GRR Entities”), added a vast array of brackish and effluent water sources and significant water transport infrastructure, including over 1,000 miles of temporary and permanent pipeline infrastructure and related storage facilities and pumps, all located in the Northern Delaware Basin portion of the Permian Basin. In 2019, we expanded our Northern Delaware Basin water infrastructure with the construction of a large diameter, 40-mile pipeline system that delivers drilling and completion water required by our customers in New Mexico’s Lea and Eddy Counties, as well as provides the ability to transport produced water resulting from oil and gas production to recycling facilities or to disposal wells. This new system expansion is supported by a five-year take-or-pay contract with a major international integrated oil company for the purchase and delivery of 75 million barrels of water in total beginning in December 2019.
o Bakken: We have three permits that enable us to withdraw up to 192 million barrels of water annually from the Missouri River and Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota. Water access cannot be easily replicated on Lake Sakakawea today as there are multiple environmental and regulatory conditions that must be met before an industrial water intake location can be built. New permits will also not be granted within 25 miles of an intake location associated with an existing permit. We have three of the five existing permits off Lake Sakakawea. To develop these water rights, we constructed, own and operate two large diameter pipeline systems that provide drilling and completion water to support oil and gas activity in McKenzie County, North Dakota. These two systems consist of pump stations and approximately 88 miles of underground pipe, of which we own 38 miles and have contractual rights to access the remaining 50 miles. We are evaluating the development of a third pipeline system that would serve Williams County and western Mountrail County. The development of the third permit would allow us to better utilize our full annual allotment of water across the three pipeline systems.
● Fluid Disposal. We currently operate eight SWDs with total daily maximum permitted disposal capacity of approximately 200,000 bpd. Our active SWDs are located in the Eagle Ford (4), Permian (1), Haynesville (1), MidCon (1) and Rockies (1) regions. Additionally, we have over 850,000 bpd of additional permitted, undeveloped disposal capacity as well as a significant backlog of pending permits. We dispose of both flowback water produced from hydraulic fracturing operations as well as naturally-occurring produced water that is extracted during the oil and natural gas production process. Volumes are transported to our SWDs for disposal by means of both owned and third-party gathering pipelines, as well as through owned and third-party fluid-hauling trucks.
Water Infrastructure Geographic Areas of Operation
We provide our Water Infrastructure offerings in most of the major unconventional shale plays in the continental U.S., as illustrated by a “✓” in the chart below.
Geographic Region
Services Provided
Permian
MidCon
Bakken
Eagle Ford
Marcellus /
Utica
Haynesville
Rockies
Water Sourcing
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Pipelines Systems & Associated Logistics
✓
-
✓
-
-
✓
-
Fluid Disposal
✓
✓
-
✓
-
✓
✓
Water Infrastructure Customers
Our Water Infrastructure customers primarily include major integrated and independent U.S. and international oil and gas producers.
Water Infrastructure Competition
Our industry is highly competitive. Our customers typically award contracts after a competitive bidding process. Track record, the skill and competency of our people, pricing, safety and environmental performance and location and are key factors in the bid evaluation. Equipment availability, location, and technical specifications can also be significant considerations. While a significant portion of our work is awarded on a short term basis, we have a successful track record of utilizing our infrastructure to obtain various long term contracts such as areas-of-mutual-interest, acreage dedications, well bore dedications and take-or-pay agreements.
Certain large midstream companies offer some water-oriented and infrastructure services, though these are generally ancillary to their core businesses of gathering and transporting oil and gas volumes. Additionally, certain of our customers have invested in water infrastructure for their own operations. As a result, the water infrastructure competitive landscape is highly fragmented and our main competitors, aside from oil and gas companies, are typically private water midstream companies and smaller water service providers that focus on a more limited geographic area or service offering. We seek to differentiate ourselves from our competitors through our expansive scale and by delivering high-quality solutions, coupled with extensive regulatory expertise, well-trained people and a commitment to superior execution and a safe working environment. Additionally, we believe our ability to couple our water infrastructure with our water services and oilfield chemicals expertise provides an advantage relative to our competition.
Oilfield Chemicals Segment
Our Oilfield Chemicals segment is operated primarily under our subsidiary, Rockwater LLC. We develop, manufacture and provide a full suite of completion and production chemical products utilized in hydraulic fracturing, stimulation, cementing and related well completion processes. We sell completion chemicals primarily to leading pressure-pumping service companies and E&P operators in the U.S. Our production chemicals are used by oil and gas companies to enhance well performance and reduce production costs throughout the life of a well. Our well chemical services service line provides customized water treatment and flow assurance solutions to our customers.
Oilfield Chemicals Service Lines
Our Oilfield Chemicals segment is divided into the following services lines:
● Completion Chemicals. Through our Completion Chemicals service line we develop, manufacture and provide a full suite of chemicals utilized in hydraulic fracturing, stimulation and cementing, including polymers that create viscosity, crosslinkers, friction reducers, surfactants, buffers, breakers and other chemical technologies. Our product lines support the three major types of well completions used in shale oil and gas development today (cross-linked gel frac, linear fracs and slickwater fracs). We can provide 24/7/365 time-critical logistical support to our customers. Our warehousing and service includes inventory management with computerized tracking and monthly reporting. We use automated communications systems combined with direct-to-wellsite delivery to ensure seamless product availability for our customers. With our expertise in fracturing chemistry, we can develop customized products to meet customers’ frac-fluid system requirements. We have one primary manufacturing facility in the Permian Basin of Texas, four regional distribution centers, approximately 35 heavy chemical transport trucks and approximately 221 on-site storage and transport trailers.
● Production Chemicals. Through our Production Chemicals service line, we help our customers analyze well performance issues and develop engineered chemical solutions to enhance production and well performance and reduce production costs. We have one primary manufacturing facility in the Permian Basin in Texas. We serve the Permian, Eagle Ford, MidCon and Rockies markets and we offer analytical services as well as lab and field support through 15 field locations. Our products include production-enhancing chemicals, ancillary oilfield services, including corrosion and scale monitoring, chemical inventory management, well failure analysis, and lab services. In the Permian, our centrally located lab provides complete water and bacteria analysis through the well lifecycle beginning with fracturing water through the production cycle. Our strategy is to provide basin-specific production chemicals solutions that lower our customers’ costs and increase their production. Our products help our customers mitigate scaling, corrosion, hydrogen sulfide and paraffin build-up problems. This service line allows us to help our customers manage well performance and costs over the lifecycle of a well. We believe our Production Chemicals service line complements our Water Services and Water Infrastructure segments by expanding our relationships with key customers and pulling through other services. Our Production Chemicals business works closely with our Completions Chemicals service line, for example, when advising customers on the fluid systems best suited for a particular well when it transitions from completion to production.
● Well Chemical Services. Through our Well Chemical Services service line, we provide advanced water treatment solutions throughout the water lifecycle, as well as specialized stimulation flow assurance and integrity management, and post-treatment monitoring services in the U.S. land market. Our chemical experts provide pre-treatment water sampling, analysis and testing to determine a water’s chemistry, then design the most effective fracturing fluid system. The WCS team delivers customized programs using proven chemical technologies and mobile equipment to treat virtually any oilfield water for reuse. Following our treatment applications, fluid samples are analyzed again to ensure the treatment is optimized to reduce overall chemical investment. WCS provides disinfection treatment based on proven chlorine dioxide (ClO2) technology, with a smaller environmental footprint, lower power costs and manpower needs than alternative solutions. This service neutralizes microorganisms, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), iron sulfide, phenols, mercaptans, and polymers in the surface water. Our highly mobile solids removal units offer a flexible, economic solution compared to permanently installed equipment, which may not be ideal for every application. These units, which can treat up to 10,000 barrels of water per day, are simple to set up, have low energy consumption rates, and have a small operating footprint, making them suitable for nearly any wellsite. WCS provides optimized flow assurance solutions through patented solid inhibitors, which prevent downhole deposition and tubular damage while increasing production and decreasing non-productive time. These products inhibit scale, paraffin, asphaltenes, iron sulfide and salt while also
counteracting bacteria and corrosion. Our WCS team works closely with both our Completions Chemicals and Production Chemicals service lines as well as our water treatment and recycling teams within our Water Services and Water Infrastructure segments to advise our customers on the best economic and operational solutions to manage their water quality and chemical solutions needs.
Oilfield Chemicals Geographic Areas of Operation
We provide Oilfield Chemicals services in most of the major unconventional shale plays in the continental U.S. In the chart below, a “✓” indicates that we offer the service line in the indicated geographic region.
Geographic Region
Services Provided
Permian
MidCon
Bakken
Eagle Ford
Haynesville
Rockies
Completion Chemicals
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Production Chemicals
✓
✓
-
✓
✓
-
Well Chemical Services
✓
✓
✓
✓
-
✓
Oilfield Chemicals Customers
Our Oilfield Chemicals customers primarily include pressure pumpers, along with major integrated and independent U.S. and international oil and gas producers.
Oilfield Chemicals Competition
The Oilfield Chemicals business is highly competitive. Our competitors include both large manufacturers and companies that are pure distributors of commodities and specialty chemicals. We believe that the principal competitive factors in the markets we serve are technical expertise, manufacturing capacity, workforce competency, efficiency, safety record, reputation, experience and price. Additionally, projects are often awarded on a bid basis, which tends to create a highly competitive environment. We seek to differentiate ourselves from our competitors by delivering high-quality services and solutions, coupled with superior execution and operating efficiency in a safe working environment. Additionally, many of our competitors focus on serving multiple industries outside of oil and gas, and therefore we believe our dedicated focus on the oil and gas industry and in-basin manufacturing capabilities provides a competitive advantage. We also believe our expertise in water management provides a competitive advantage that allows us to assess and optimize our chemical solutions in a unique manner.
Significant Customers
There were no customers that accounted for 10% or more of our consolidated revenues for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Sales and Marketing
We direct our sales activities through a network of sales representatives and business development personnel, which allows us to support our customers at both the corporate and field level. Our sales representatives work closely with local operations managers to target potential opportunities through strategic focus and regular customer interaction. We track the drilling and completion activities of our current and potential new customers. Our operations managers meet with our sales team several times a week, and monitor sales activity via daily reporting. To support our sales strategy, we have developed a proprietary database that integrates market information such as current rig, fracturing crew and permit activity and the location of our strategic water sources.
Our marketing activities are performed by an internal marketing group with input from key executives. We intend to build and maintain a well-recognized brand in the oil and gas industry through multiple media outlets including our website, blog and social media accounts, radio, print and billboard advertisements, and various industry-specific conferences, publications and lectures.
Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Matters
Our water-related operations in support of oil and gas exploration, development and production activities pursued by our customers are subject to stringent and comprehensive federal, state, provincial and local laws and regulations in the U.S. governing occupational safety and health, the discharge of materials into the environment and environmental protection. Numerous governmental entities, including the EPA, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) and analogous state agencies, have the power to enforce compliance with these laws and regulations and the permits issued under them, often requiring difficult and costly actions. These laws and regulations may, among other things (i) require the acquisition of permits to take fresh water from surface water and groundwater, construct pipelines or containment facilities, drill wells and other regulated activities; (ii) restrict the types, quantities and concentration of various substances that can be released into the environment or injected into non-producing belowground formations; (iii) limit or prohibit our operations on certain lands lying within wilderness, wetlands and other protected areas; (iv) require remedial measures to mitigate pollution from former and ongoing operations; (v) impose specific safety and health criteria addressing worker protection; and (vi) impose substantial liabilities for pollution resulting from our operations. Any failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in the assessment of sanctions, including administrative, civil and criminal penalties, the imposition of investigatory, remedial or corrective action obligations or the incurrence of capital expenditures; the occurrence of restrictions, delays or cancellations in the permitting, performance or expansion of projects; and the issuance of orders enjoining performance of some or all of our operations in a particular area.
Our business activities present risks of incurring significant environmental costs and liabilities, including costs and liabilities resulting from our handling of oilfield and other wastes, because of air emissions and wastewater discharges related to our operations, and due to historical oilfield industry operations and waste disposal practices. Our businesses include the operation of oilfield waste disposal injection wells that pose risks of environmental liability, including leakage from the wells to surface or subsurface soils, surface water or groundwater. In addition, private parties, including the owners of properties upon which we perform services and facilities where our wastes are taken for reclamation or disposal, also may have the right to pursue legal actions to enforce compliance as well as to seek damages for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations or for personal injury or property or natural resource damages. Some environmental laws and regulations may impose strict liability, which means that in some situations we could be exposed to liability as a result of our conduct that was lawful at the time it occurred or the conduct of, or conditions caused by, prior operators or other third parties. Remedial costs and other damages arising as a result of environmental laws and costs associated with changes in environmental laws and regulations could be substantial and could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition.
The trend in U.S. environmental regulation, which regulation is expected to be bolstered by the recent change in presidential administration, is typically to place more restrictions and limitations on activities that may affect the environment, and thus any new laws and regulations, amendment of existing laws and regulations, reinterpretation of legal requirements or increased governmental enforcement that result in more stringent and costly construction, completion or water-management activities, or waste handling, storage transport, disposal, or remediation requirements could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations. We may be unable to pass on such increased compliance costs to our customers. Moreover, accidental releases or spills may occur in the course of our operations, and we cannot assure you that we will not incur significant costs and liabilities as a result of such releases or spills, including any third-party claims for damage to property, natural resources or persons. Historically, our environmental compliance costs in the U.S. have not had a material adverse effect on our results of operations; however, there can be no assurance that such costs will not be material in the future or that such future compliance will not have a material adverse effect on our business and operational results. Our customers may also incur increased costs or restrictions, delays or cancellations in permitting or operating activities as a result of more stringent environmental laws and regulations, which may result in a curtailment of exploration, development or production activities that would reduce the demand for our services.
The following is a summary of the more significant existing environmental and occupational safety and health laws in the U.S., as amended from time to time, to which our operations are subject and for which compliance may have a material adverse impact on our capital expenditures, results of operations or financial position.
Hazardous substances and wastes. The federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), and comparable state statutes regulate the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, disposal and cleanup of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes. Pursuant to rules issued by the EPA, the individual states administer some or all of the provisions of RCRA, sometimes in conjunction with their own, more stringent requirements. Drilling fluids, produced waters, and most of the other wastes associated with the exploration, development, and production of oil or gas, if properly handled, are currently exempt from regulation as hazardous waste under RCRA, and instead are regulated under RCRA’s less stringent non-hazardous waste provisions, state laws or other federal laws. However, it is possible that certain oil and gas drilling and production wastes now classified as non-hazardous could be classified as hazardous wastes in the future. Any loss of the RCRA exclusion for drilling fluids, produced waters and related wastes could result in an increase in our and our oil and gas producing customers’ costs to manage and dispose of generated wastes, which could have a material adverse effect on our and our customers’ results of operations and financial position. In the course of our operations, we generate some amounts of ordinary industrial wastes, such as paint wastes, waste solvents and waste oils that may be regulated as hazardous wastes.
Wastes containing naturally occurring radioactive materials (“NORM”) may also be generated in connection with our operations. Certain processes used to produce oil and gas may enhance the radioactivity of NORM, which may be present in oilfield wastes. NORM is subject primarily to individual state radiation control regulations. In addition, NORM handling and management activities are governed by regulations promulgated by the OSHA. These state and OSHA regulations impose certain requirements concerning worker protection, the treatment, storage and disposal of NORM waste, the management of waste piles, containers and tanks containing NORM, as well as restrictions on the uses of land with NORM contamination.
The federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), also known as the Superfund law, and comparable state laws impose liability, without regard to fault or legality of conduct, on classes of persons considered to be responsible for the release of a “hazardous substance” into the environment. These persons include the current and past owner or operator of the site where the hazardous substance release occurred and anyone who disposed or arranged for the disposal of a hazardous substance released at the site. Under CERCLA, such persons may be subject to joint and several, strict liability for the costs of cleaning up the hazardous substances that have been released into the environment, for damages to natural resources and for the costs of certain health studies. CERCLA also authorizes the EPA and, in some instances, third parties to act in response to threats to the public health or the environment and to seek to recover from the responsible classes of persons the costs they incur. In addition, neighboring landowners and other third parties may file claims for personal injury and property damage allegedly caused by the hazardous substances released into the environment. We generate materials in the course of our operations that may be regulated as hazardous substances.
We currently own, lease, or operate numerous properties that have been used for activities supporting oil and gas exploration, development and production for a number of years. Although we believe that we have utilized operating and waste disposal practices that were standard in the industry at the time, hazardous substances, wastes, or petroleum hydrocarbons may have been released on, under or from the properties owned or leased by us, or on, under or from other locations, including off-site locations, where we conduct services for our customers or where such substances have been taken for treatment or disposal. In addition, some of our properties have been operated by third parties or by previous owners or operators whose treatment and disposal of hazardous substances, wastes, or petroleum hydrocarbons was not under our control. These properties and the substances disposed or released on, under or from them may be subject to CERCLA, RCRA and analogous state laws. Under such laws, we could be required to undertake response actions or corrective measures, which could include removal of previously disposed substances and wastes, cleanup of contaminated property or performance of remedial operations to prevent future contamination, the costs of which could be material.
Water discharges and use. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), and analogous state laws, impose restrictions and strict controls with respect to the discharge of pollutants, including spills and leaks of oil and hazardous substances, into state waters and waters of the U.S. The discharge of pollutants into regulated waters is prohibited, except in accordance with the terms of a permit issued by the EPA or an analogous state agency. Spill prevention, control and countermeasure plan requirements imposed under the CWA require appropriate containment berms and similar structures to help prevent the contamination of navigable waters in the event
of a petroleum hydrocarbon tank spill, rupture or leak. In addition, the CWA and analogous state laws require individual permits or coverage under general permits for discharges of stormwater runoff from certain types of facilities.
The CWA also prohibits the discharge of dredge and fill material in regulated waters, including wetlands, unless authorized by permit. In 2015, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”) under the Obama Administration published a final rule that would significantly expand the scope of the CWA’s jurisdiction over waters of the U.S. However, the EPA and the Corps under the Trump Administration issued a final rule, made effective in December 2019, that repealed the 2015 rule and they also published a final rule in April 2020 re-defining the term “waters of the United States” as applied under the Clean Water Act and narrowing the scope of waters subject to federal regulation. The April 2020 final rule is subject to various pending legal challenges; moreover, there is an expectation that the Biden Administration will review and may reconsider this April 2020 final rule. If the EPA and the Corps under the Biden Administration revises the April 2020 final rule in a manner similar to or more stringent than the original 2015 final rule, or if any challenge to the April 2020 final rule is successful, the scope of the CWA’s jurisdiction in areas where we or our customers conduct operations could again be expanded. Any such developments could delay, restrict or halt permitting or development of projects, result in longer permitting timelines, or increased compliance expenditures or mitigation costs for our and our oil and natural gas customers’ operations. These results may consequently reduce the rate of production of natural gas or crude oil from operators with whom we have a business relationship and, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and cash flows. Federal and state regulatory agencies can impose administrative, civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance with discharge permits or other requirements of the CWA and analogous state laws and regulations.
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA”) amends the CWA and sets minimum standards for prevention, containment and cleanup of oil spills in waters of the U.S. The OPA applies to vessels, offshore facilities, and onshore facilities, including E&P facilities that may affect waters of the U.S. Under OPA, responsible parties including owners and operators of onshore facilities may be held strictly liable for oil cleanup costs and natural resource damages as well as a variety of public and private damages that may result from oil spills. The OPA also currently limits the liability of a responsible party for economic damages, excluding all oil spill response costs, to $137.7 million; although this limit does not apply if the spill was caused by gross negligence or willful misconduct, resulted from violation of a federal safety, construction or operating regulation, or if the party failed to report a spill or cooperate fully in the cleanup. The OPA also requires owners or operators of certain onshore facilities to prepare Facility Response Plans for responding to a worst-case discharge of oil into waters of the U.S.
Saltwater disposal wells and induced seismicity. Saltwater disposal via underground injection is regulated pursuant to the Underground Injection Control (“UIC”) program established under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (the “SDWA”) and analogous state and local laws and regulations. The UIC program includes requirements for permitting, testing, monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting of injection well activities, as well as a prohibition against the migration of fluid containing any contaminant into underground sources of drinking water. State regulations require a permit from the applicable regulatory agencies to operate underground injection wells. Although we monitor the injection process of our wells, any leakage from the subsurface portions of the injection wells could cause degradation of fresh groundwater resources, potentially resulting in suspension of our UIC permit, issuance of fines and penalties from governmental agencies, incurrence of expenditures for remediation of the affected resource and imposition of liability by third-parties claiming damages for alternative water supplies, property and personal injuries. A change in UIC disposal well regulations or the inability to obtain permits for new disposal wells in the future may affect our ability to dispose of produced waters and other substances, which could affect our business.
Furthermore, in response to seismic events in the past several years near underground disposal wells used for the disposal by injection of produced water resulting from oil and gas activities, federal and some state agencies are investigating whether such wells have caused increased seismic activity, and some states have restricted, suspended or shut down the use of such disposal wells. Developing research suggests that the link between seismic activity and wastewater disposal may vary by region and that only a very small fraction of the tens of thousands of injection wells have been suspected to be, or have been, the likely cause of induced seismicity. In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey identified six states with the most significant hazards from induced seismicity, including Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Arkansas.
In response to these concerns, regulators in some states have imposed, or are considering imposing, additional requirements in the permitting of produced water disposal wells or otherwise to assess any relationship between seismicity and the use of such wells. For example, Oklahoma has issued rules for wastewater disposal wells that imposed certain permitting and operating restrictions and reporting requirements on disposal wells in proximity to faults and also, from time to time, has developed and implemented plans directing certain wells where seismic incidents have occurred to restrict or suspend disposal well operations. In particular, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission released well completions seismicity guidelines in late 2016 for operators in the SCOOP and STACK that call for hydraulic fracturing operations to be suspended following earthquakes of certain magnitudes in the vicinity. The Texas Railroad Commission adopted similar rules in Texas. In addition, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s Oil and Gas Conservation Division has, from time to time, issued orders limiting future increases in the volume of oil and gas wastewater injected below ground into the Arbuckle formation in an effort to reduce the number of earthquakes in the state. An additional consequence of this seismic activity is lawsuits alleging that disposal well operations have caused damage to neighboring properties or otherwise violated state and federal rules regulating waste disposal. The adoption and implementation of any new laws, regulations or directives that restrict our ability to dispose of wastewater gathered from our customers by limiting volumes, disposal rates, disposal well locations or otherwise, or requiring us to shut down disposal wells, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Hydraulic fracturing activities. Hydraulic fracturing involves the injection of water, sand or other proppants and chemical additives under pressure into targeted geological formations to fracture the surrounding rock and stimulate production. Hydraulic fracturing is an important and common practice that is typically regulated by state oil and natural gas commissions or similar agencies. However, the practice continues to be controversial in certain parts of the country, resulting in increased scrutiny and regulation of the hydraulic fracturing process, including by federal agencies that have asserted regulatory authority or pursued investigations over certain aspects of the hydraulic fracturing process. For example, the EPA has asserted regulatory authority pursuant to the SDWA UIC program over hydraulic fracturing activities involving the use of diesel and issued guidance covering such activities, as well as published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”) reporting of the chemical substances and mixtures used in hydraulic fracturing.
Additionally, the EPA published an effluent limit guideline final rule prohibiting the discharge of wastewater from onshore unconventional oil and gas extraction facilities to publicly owned wastewater treatment plants. Moreover, in 2016, the federal Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) under the Obama Administration published a final rule imposing more stringent standards on hydraulic fracturing activities on federal lands, including requirements for chemical disclosure, well bore integrity, and handling of flowback water. However, in late 2018, the BLM under the Trump Administration published a final rule rescinding the 2016 final rule. Litigation challenging the BLM's 2016 final rule as well as its 2018 final rule rescinding the 2016 rule has been pursued by various states and industry and environmental groups. While a California federal court vacated the 2018 final rule in July 2020, a Wyoming federal court subsequently vacated the 2016 final rule in October 2020 and, accordingly, the 2016 final rule is no longer in effect but the Wyoming decision is expected to be appealed. Moreover, it is expected that the BLM under the Biden Administration will seek to pursue regulatory initiatives that regulate hydraulic fracturing activities on federal lands. Also, in late 2016, the EPA released its final report on the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources, concluding that “water cycle” activities associated with hydraulic fracturing may impact drinking water resources under some circumstances.
While the U.S. Congress has from time to time considered but refused to adopt federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing, with President Biden taking office and the shift in party control of the U.S. Senate in January 2021, there is a possibility that a Biden Administration will pursue such legislation. In addition to proposed revisions of existing laws and regulations, President Biden has issued, and may continue to issue, executive orders that reflect a regulatory agenda targeting the industry’s hydraulic fracturing activities. Moreover, some state and local governments have adopted, and other governmental entities are considering adopting, regulations that could impose more stringent permitting, disclosure and well-construction requirements on hydraulic fracturing operations, including states where we or our customers operate. For example, Texas, Oklahoma, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Dakota, among others, have adopted regulations that impose stringent permitting, disclosure, disposal and well-construction requirements on hydraulic fracturing operations. States could also elect to place certain prohibitions on hydraulic fracturing. In addition to state laws, local land use restrictions, such as city ordinances, may restrict drilling in general and/or hydraulic fracturing in
particular, as certain local governments in California have done. Other states, such as Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio have taken steps to limit the authority of local governments to regulate oil and gas development.
In the event that new federal, state or local restrictions or bans on the hydraulic fracturing process are adopted in areas where we or our customers conduct business, we or our customers may incur additional costs or permitting requirements to comply with such requirements that may be significant in nature and our customers could experience added restrictions, delays or cancellations in their exploration, development, or production activities, which would in turn reduce the demand for our services and have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, consolidated results of operations, and consolidated financial condition.
Air Emissions. The U.S. Clean Air Act (“CAA”) and comparable state laws restrict the emission of air pollutants from many sources through air emissions standards, construction and operating permit programs and the imposition of other compliance standards. These laws and regulations may require us to obtain pre-approval for the construction or modification of certain projects or facilities expected to produce or significantly increase air emissions, obtain and strictly comply with stringent air permit requirements or utilize specific equipment or technologies to control emissions of certain pollutants. The need to obtain permits has the potential to delay our projects as well as our customers’ development of oil and gas projects. Over the next several years, we or our customers may incur certain capital expenditures for air pollution control equipment or other air emissions-related issues. For example, in 2015, the EPA issued a final rule under the CAA, making the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (“NAAQS”) for ground-level ozone more stringent. Since that time, the EPA has issued attainment/nonattainment designations and, more recently in August 2020, the EPA under the Trump Administration published notice of a proposed action that, upon conducting a periodic review of the ozone standard in accord with CAA requirements, elected to retain the 2015 ozone NAAQS without revision on a going-forward basis. State implementation of the revised NAAQS could also result in the imposition of more stringent requirements. Compliance with the NAAQS requirements or other air pollution control and permitting requirements has the potential to delay the development of oil and gas projects and increase our or our customers’ costs of development and production, which costs could reduce demand for our services and have a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.
Climate Change. The threat of climate change continues to attract considerable attention from the public and policymakers in the United States and around the world. As a result, numerous proposals have been made, and more are likely forthcoming at the international, national, regional and state levels of government to monitor and limit existing emissions of GHGs as well as to restrict or eliminate such future emissions. As a result, our operations as well as the operations of our oil and natural gas exploration and production customers are subject to a series of executive, regulatory, political, litigation, and financial risks associated with the production and processing of fossil fuels and emission of GHGs.
In the United States, no comprehensive climate change legislation has been implemented at the federal level, but President Biden has announced plans to take action with regards to climate change, has already signed several executive orders to this effect in January 2021 and, with control of Congress shifting in January 2021, is expected to pursue legislative as well as other executive and regulatory initiatives in the future to limit GHG emissions. Moreover, because the U.S. Supreme Court has held that GHG emissions constitute a pollutant under the CAA, the EPA has adopted rules that, among other things, establish construction and operating permit reviews for GHG emissions from certain large stationary sources, require the monitoring and annual reporting of GHG emissions from certain petroleum and natural gas system sources, implement New Source Performance Standards directing the reduction of methane from certain new, modified, or reconstructed facilities in the oil and natural gas sector, and together with the DOT, implement GHG emissions limits on vehicles manufactured for operation in the United States. In recent years, there has been considerable uncertainty surrounding regulation of the emissions of methane, which may be released during hydraulic fracturing. The EPA under the Obama Administration published final regulations under the CAA establishing performance standards in 2016, but since that time the EPA under the Trump Administration had undertaken several measures to delay implementation of the methane standards, including issuing final policy amendments to the final 2016 rule in September 2020 that, among other things, rescinded the methane standards previously applicable to sources in the production and processing segments. Various industry and environmental groups are separately challenging both the 2016 standards and the September 2020 final policy amendments. Separate from those regulatory efforts, President Biden issued an executive order on January 20, 2021 that, among other things, called for issuance of proposed rules by no later than September 2021 that would restore Obama-era rules for methane standards applicable to new, modified,
and reconstructed sources by suspending, revising or rescinding the EPA’s September 2020 final rule and that would establish new methane and volatile organic compound standards applicable to existing oil and gas operations, including the production, transmission, processing and storage segments.
Separately, various states and groups of states have adopted or are considering adopting legislation, regulations or other regulatory initiatives that are focused on such areas as GHG cap and trade programs, carbon taxes, reporting and tracking programs, and restriction of emissions. At the international level, there is a non-binding agreement, the United Nations-sponsored “Paris Agreement,” for nations to limit their GHG emissions through individually-determined reduction goals every five years after 2020. While the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement under the Trump Administration, effective November 4, 2020, President Biden issued an executive order on January 20, 2021 recommitting the United States to the Paris Agreement. With the United States recommitting to the Paris Agreement, executive orders may be issued or federal legislation or regulatory initiatives may be adopted to achieve the agreement’s goals, which could require us or our customers to incur increased, potentially significant, costs to comply with such requirements.
Governmental, scientific, and public concern over the threat of climate change arising from GHG emissions has resulted in increasing political risks in the United States. Beyond the Biden Administration’s recommitting the United States to the Paris Agreement and proposing to re-instate the Obama methane standards, on January 20, 2021, the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior issued an order, effective immediately, that suspends new oil and gas leases and drilling permits on non-Indian federal lands and waters for a period of 60 days. Building on this suspension, President Biden issued an executive order on January 27, 2021 that suspends new leasing activities for oil and gas exploration and production on non-Indian federal lands and offshore waters pending completion of a comprehensive review and reconsideration of federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices that take into consideration potential climate and other impacts associated with oil and gas activities on such lands and waters. The January 20, 2021 and January 27, 2021 orders do not apply to existing leases and the January 27, 2021 order further directs applicable agencies to take measures to ensure, to the extent consistent with applicable law, that federal funding is not directly subsidizing fossil fuels, with a further objective of eliminating fossil fuel subsidies from federal budget requests beginning in federal Fiscal Year 2022. In response, one industry group has already challenged President Biden’s January 27, 2021 order for “indefinitely suspending the federal oil and gas leasing program” in a federal court in Wyoming.
Litigation risks are also increasing, as a number of states, municipalities and other plaintiffs have sought to bring suit against the largest oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in state or federal court, alleging, among other things, that such companies created public nuisances by producing fuels that contributed to global warming effects, such as rising sea levels, and therefore are responsible for roadway and infrastructure damages as a result, or alleging that the companies have been aware of the adverse effects of climate change for some time but defrauded their investors by failing to adequately disclose those impacts. There are also increasing financial risks for fossil fuel producers as well as other companies handling fossil fuels, including owners of terminals, pipelines and refineries, as stockholders and bondholders currently invested in fossil fuel energy companies concerned about the potential effects of climate change may elect in the future to shift some or all of their investments into non-fossil fuel energy related sectors. Institutional investors who provide financing to fossil fuel energy companies also have become more attentive to sustainability lending practices and some of them may elect not to provide funding for fossil fuel energy companies.
Finally, increasing concentrations of GHG in the Earth's atmosphere may produce climate changes that have significant physical effects, such as increased frequency and severity of storms, droughts, floods, rising sea levels and other climatic events. If any such climate changes were to occur, they could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations and the financial condition and operations of our customers.
Endangered Species. The federal Endangered Species Act (the “ESA”) restricts activities that may affect endangered or threatened species or their habitats. Similar protections are offered to migratory birds under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act (the “MBTA”). To the degree that species listed under the ESA or similar state laws, or are protected under the MBTA, live in the areas where we or our oil and gas producing customers operate, our and our customers’ abilities to conduct or expand operations and construct facilities could be limited or be forced to incur material additional costs. Moreover, our customers’ drilling activities may be delayed, restricted, or cancelled in protected habitat areas or during certain seasons, such as breeding and nesting seasons. Some of our operations and the operations of our customers are located in areas that are designated as habitats for protected species. In addition, the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service (the “FWS”) may make determinations on the listing of unlisted species as endangered or threatened under the ESA. The designation of previously unidentified endangered or threatened species could indirectly cause us to incur additional costs, cause our or our oil and gas producing customers’ operations to become subject to operating restrictions or bans and limit future development activity in affected areas. The FWS and similar state agencies may designate critical or suitable habitat areas that they believe are necessary for the survival of threatened or endangered species. Such a designation could materially restrict use of or access to federal, state, and private lands.
Chemical Safety. We are subject to a wide array of laws and regulations governing chemicals, including the regulation of chemical substances and inventories, such as TSCA in the U.S. These laws and regulations change frequently and have the potential to limit or ban altogether the types of chemicals we may use in our products, as well as result in increased costs related to testing, storing, and transporting our products prior to providing them to our customers. For example, in 2016, President Obama signed into law the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (the “Lautenberg Act”), which substantially revised TSCA. Amongst other items, the Lautenberg Act eliminated the cost-benefit approach to analyzing chemical safety concerns with a health-based safety standard and requires all chemicals in commerce, including those “grandfathered” under TSCA, to undergo a safety review. The Lautenberg Act also requires safety findings before a new chemical can enter the market. Although it is not possible at this time to predict how EPA will implement and interpret the new provisions of the Lautenberg Act, or how legislation or new regulations that may be adopted pursuant to these regulatory and legislative efforts would impact our business, any new restrictions on the development of new products, increases in regulation, or disclosure of confidential, competitive information could have an adverse effect on our operations and our cost of doing business.
Furthermore, governmental, regulatory and societal demands for increasing levels of product safety and environmental protection could result in increased pressure for more stringent regulatory control with respect to the chemical industry. These concerns could influence public perceptions regarding our products and operations, the viability of certain products, our reputation, the cost to comply with regulations, and the ability to attract and retain employees. Moreover, changes in environmental, health and safety regulations could inhibit or interrupt our operations, or require us to modify our facilities or operations. Accordingly, environmental or regulatory matters may cause us to incur significant unanticipated losses, costs or liabilities, which could reduce our profitability.
Occupational Safety and Health and other legal requirements. We are subject to the requirements of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act and comparable state statutes whose purpose is to protect the health and safety of workers. In addition, the OSHA’s hazard communication standard, the EPA’s Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act and comparable state regulations and any implementing regulations require that we organize and/or disclose information about hazardous materials used or produced in our operations and that this information be provided to employees, state and local governmental authorities and citizens. We have an internal program of inspection designed to monitor and enforce compliance with worker safety requirements.
In addition, as part of the services we provide, we operate as a motor carrier and therefore are subject to regulation by the U.S. Department of Transportation (“U.S. DOT”) and analogous state agencies. These regulatory authorities exercise broad powers, governing activities such as the authorization to engage in motor carrier operations, regulatory safety, and hazardous materials labeling, placarding and marking. There are additional regulations specifically relating to the trucking industry, including testing and specification of equipment and product handling requirements. The trucking industry is subject to possible regulatory and legislative changes that may affect the economics of the industry by requiring changes in operating practices or by changing the demand for common or contract carrier services or the cost of providing truckload services. From time to time, various legislative proposals are introduced, including proposals to increase federal, state or local taxes on motor fuels, among other things, which may increase our costs or adversely impact the recruitment of drivers. We cannot predict whether, or in what form, any increase in such taxes applicable to us will be enacted.
Seasonality
Our results of operations have historically been adversely affected by seasonal declines in the activity levels of our customers, typically in the fourth quarter, related to holidays, inclement winter weather and in some years the exhaustion of our customers’ annual drilling and completions capital expenditure budgets.
Intellectual Property
Protection of our products and processes is important to our businesses. We own numerous patents and, where appropriate, we file patent applications for new products and technologies. For example, we use our AquaView® technology to quantify volumes and flow rates to verify current and potential water availability and volumes when analyzing a new water source. We also currently own multiple U.S. patents relating to completions technology including borate cross-linkers, slurry monitoring systems and others. We also have a robust program to seek patents on new developments. We have a meaningful backlog of pending patents, including a proprietary water analytics and automation tool, as well as creating fracturing fluids with produced water, evaporation methodologies, cross-linker/breaker mechanisms and liquid distribution metering systems. While a presumption of validity exists with respect to issued U.S. patents, we cannot assure that any of our patents will not be challenged, invalidated, circumvented or rendered unenforceable. Furthermore, we cannot assure the issuance of any pending patent application, or that if patents do issue, that these patents will provide meaningful protection against competitors or against competitive technologies. Additionally, our competitors or other third parties may obtain patents that restrict or preclude our ability to lawfully produce or sell our products in a competitive manner.
We also rely upon continuing technological innovation and trade secrets to develop and maintain our competitive position. There can be no assurance that confidentiality and other agreements into which we enter and have entered will not be breached, that these agreements will provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or proprietary know-how, or that adequate remedies will be available in the event of an unauthorized use or disclosure of such trade secrets and know-how. In addition, there can be no assurance that others will not obtain knowledge of these trade secrets through independent development or other access by legal means.
We also own a number of trademarks, which we use in connection with our businesses. In addition to protections through federal registration, we also rely on state common law protections to protect our brand. There can be no assurance that the trademark registrations will provide meaningful protection against the use of similar trademarks by competitors, or that the value of our trademarks will not be diluted.
Because of the breadth and nature of our intellectual property rights and our business, we do not believe that any single intellectual property right (other than certain trademarks for which we intend to maintain the applicable registrations) is material to our business. Moreover, we do not believe that the termination of intellectual property rights expected to occur over the next several years, either individually or in the aggregate, will materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Risk Management and Insurance
Our operations are subject to hazards inherent in the oil and gas industry, including accidents, blowouts, explosions, craterings, fires, oil spills and hazardous materials spills. These conditions can cause:
● personal injury or loss of life;
● damage to, or destruction of, property, the environment and wildlife; and
● the suspension of our or our customers’ operations.
In addition, claims for loss of oil and gas production and damage to formations can occur in the well services industry. If a serious accident were to occur at a location where our equipment and services are being used, it could result in us being named as a defendant in lawsuits asserting large claims.
Because our business involves the transportation of heavy equipment and materials, we may also experience traffic accidents, which may result in spills, property damage and personal injury.
Despite our efforts to maintain high safety standards, from time to time we have suffered accidents, and there is a risk that we will experience accidents in the future. In addition to the property and personal losses from these accidents, the frequency and severity of these incidents affect our operating costs and insurability, and our relationship with customers, employees and regulatory agencies. In particular, in recent years many of our large customers have placed an increased emphasis on the safety records of their service providers. Any significant increase in the frequency or severity of these incidents, or the general level of compensatory payments, could adversely affect the cost of, or our ability to obtain, workers’ compensation and other forms of insurance, and could have other material adverse effects on our financial condition and results of operations.
We maintain insurance coverage of types and amounts that we believe to be customary in the industry including workers’ compensation, employer’s liability, sudden & accidental pollution, umbrella, comprehensive commercial general liability, business automobile and property and equipment physical damage insurance. Our insurance coverage may be inadequate to cover our liabilities. In addition, we may not be able to maintain adequate insurance in the future at rates we consider reasonable and commercially justifiable or on terms as favorable as our current arrangements.
We enter into master service agreements (“MSAs”) with most of our customers. Our MSAs delineate our and our customer’s respective indemnification obligations with respect to the services we provide. Generally, under our MSAs, including those relating to our Water Services, Water Infrastructure, Oilfield Chemical product sales, accommodations and rentals and completion and construction services, we assume responsibility for pollution or contamination originating above the surface from our equipment or handling of the equipment of others. However, our customers generally assume responsibility for all other pollution or contamination that may occur during operations, including that which may generally result from seepage or any other uncontrolled flow of drilling fluids. The assumed responsibilities include the control, removal and cleanup of any pollution or contamination. In such cases, we may be exposed to additional liability if we are grossly negligent or commit willful acts causing the pollution or contamination. Generally, our customers also agree to indemnify us against claims arising from the personal injury or death of the customers’ employees or those of the customers’ other contractors, in the case of our hydraulic fracturing operations, to the extent that such employees are injured by such operations, unless the loss is a result of our gross negligence or willful misconduct. Similarly, we generally agree to indemnify our customers for liabilities arising from personal injury to or death of any of our employees or employees of any of our subcontractors, unless resulting from the gross negligence or willful misconduct of our customer. The same principals apply to mutual indemnification for loss or destruction of customer-owned property or equipment, except such indemnification is not limited in an instance of gross negligence or willful misconduct. Losses arising from catastrophic events, such as blowouts, are generally the responsibility of the customer. However, despite this general allocation of risk, we may be unsuccessful in enforcing contractual terms, incur an unforeseen liability that is not addressed by the scope of the contractual provisions or be required to enter into an MSA with terms that vary from our standard allocations of risk, as described above. Consequently, we may incur substantial losses that could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Available Information
We file or furnish annual, quarterly and current reports and other documents with the SEC under the Exchange Act. The SEC also maintains an internet website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers, including us, that file electronically with the SEC.
We also make available free of charge through our website, www.selectenergyservices.com, electronic copies of certain documents that we file with the SEC, including 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 such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Information on our website is not a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
The following risks could affect our financial performance or could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates contained in our forward-looking statements. We may encounter risks in addition to those described
below. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us, or that we currently deem to be immaterial, may also impair or adversely affect our business, results of operation, financial condition and prospects.
Risks Related to Our Business Operations
Our business depends on capital spending by the oil and gas industry in the U.S. and reductions in capital spending could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition. Capital spending by our customers decreased during 2020, relative to prior year levels, due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on demand for oil and reduced prices resulting from the current oversupply of oil[, and we expect such decreased levels to continue in 2021.
Demand for our services is directly affected by current and anticipated oil and natural gas prices and related capital spending by our customers to explore for, develop and produce oil and gas in the U.S. Prices for oil and gas historically have been extremely volatile and are expected to continue to be volatile, particularly in light of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, Saudi Arabia and Russia failed to reach a decision to cut production of oil and gas along with OPEC. Subsequently, Saudi Arabia significantly reduced the prices at which it sells oil and announced plans to increase production. These events, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, contributed to a sharp drop in prices for oil in the first quarter of 2020 continuing into the second quarter of 2020. In April 2020, OPEC+ agreed to curtail oil production by approximately 10 million barrels per day in a coordinated effort to bring supply into better alignment with demand and thereby support the price of oil. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the average WTI spot price was $39.16, versus an average price of $56.99 for the year ended December 31, 2019. While oil prices have increased significantly since their lows in April 2020, the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated impacts to global oil demand will result in continued uncertainty around the near-term price of oil.
Volatility in or sub-economic oil prices or natural gas prices (or the perception that oil prices or natural gas prices will decrease) affects the spending patterns of our customers and may result in the drilling or completion of fewer new wells or lower spending on existing wells. This, in turn, could lead to lower demand for our services and may cause lower rates and lower utilization of our assets. For example, multiple leading international and national oil companies, as well as public and private independent oil and gas producers, reduced capital expenditures in 2020, and many of our customers have reduced their capital expenditures budget for 2021. Even in an environment of stronger oil and gas prices, fewer oil and gas well completions in our market areas as a result of decreased capital spending may have a negative long-term impact on our business. Any of these conditions or events could adversely affect our operating results, as they did in 2020 and may continue to do so into 2021. If the demand for our services does not recover to pre-pandemic levels, our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.
Industry conditions are influenced by numerous factors over which we have no control, including:
● the severity and duration of world health events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, related economic repercussions and the resulting severe disruption in the oil and gas industry and negative impact on demand for oil and gas, which is negatively impacting our business;
● domestic and foreign economic conditions and supply of and demand for oil and gas;
● the level of prices, and expectations regarding future prices, of oil and gas;
● the level of global oil and gas exploration and production and storage capacity;
● operational challenges relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus, including logistical challenges resulting from limited worksite access, remote work arrangements, performance of contracts and supply chain disruption;
● recommendations of, or restrictions imposed by, government and health authorities, including travel bans, quarantines, and shelter-in-place orders to address the COVID-19 pandemic;
● actions by the members of OPEC+ with respect to oil production levels and announcements of potential changes in such levels, including the ability of the OPEC+ countries to agree on and comply with supply limitations;
● governmental regulations, including the policies of governments regarding the exploration for and production and development of their oil and gas reserves;
● taxation and royalty charges;
● political and economic conditions in oil and gas producing countries;
● global weather conditions, pandemics and natural disasters;
● worldwide political, military and economic conditions;
● political or civil unrest in the United States or elsewhere;
● the cost of producing and delivering oil and gas;
● the discovery rates of new oil and gas reserves;
● activities by non-governmental organizations to limit certain sources of funding for the energy sector or restrict the exploration, development and production of oil and gas;
● the ability of oil and gas producers to access capital;
● technical advances affecting production efficiencies and overall energy consumption; and
● the potential acceleration of the development of alternative fuels.
The widespread outbreak of an illness or any other communicable disease, or any other public health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The global or national outbreak of an illness or any other communicable disease, or any other public health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may cause disruptions to our business and operational plans, which may include (i) shortages of qualified employees in a given area, (ii) unavailability of contractors and subcontractors, (iii) interruption of supplies from third parties upon which we rely, (iv) recommendations of, or restrictions imposed by, government and health authorities, including quarantines, to address the COVID-19 pandemic and (v) restrictions that we and our contractors and subcontractors impose, including facility shutdowns or access restrictions, to ensure the safety of employees and (vi) reductions, delays or cancellations of planned operations by our customers. Additionally, these disruptions could negatively impact our financial results. For example, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we temporarily closed our corporate offices and restricted all non-critical personnel to work remotely for a period of time, reduced headcount and employee salaries both temporarily and permanently, closed certain yard locations, reduced third-party expenses, streamlined operations, reduced capital expenditures and recorded impairment expenses.
Further, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns regarding its global spread have negatively impacted the global economy, reduced global oil demand, disrupted global supply chains and created significant volatility and disruption of financial and commodities markets, which could lead to our customers curtailing existing production due to lack of downstream demand or storage capacity as well as reducing or eliminating the number of wells completed in the near to medium term. Additionally, a significant majority of states as well as local jurisdictions have imposed, and others in the future may impose, "stay-at-home" orders, quarantines, executive orders and similar government orders and restrictions for their residents to control the spread of COVID-19. Such orders or restrictions, and the perception that such orders or restrictions could occur, have resulted in business closures, work stoppages, slowdowns and delays, work-from-home policies, travel restrictions and cancellation of events, among other effects.
The extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operational and financial performance, including our ability to execute our business strategies and initiatives, will depend on future developments, including the duration and spread of COVID-19 and related restrictions on travel and general mobility, all of which are uncertain and cannot be predicted. An extended period of global supply chain and economic disruption, as well as significantly decreased demand for oil and gas, could materially affect our business, results of operations, access to sources of liquidity and financial condition, and we have experienced the negative impacts of such disruption since March 2020.
If volatility in oil prices or natural gas prices continues, the demand for our services could be adversely affected.
The demand for our services is primarily determined by current and anticipated oil and natural gas prices and the related levels of capital spending and drilling activity in the areas in which we have operations. Volatility or weakness in oil prices or natural gas prices (or the perception that oil prices or natural gas prices will decrease) affects the spending patterns of our customers and may result in the drilling or completion of fewer new wells or lower production spending on existing wells. This, in turn, could lead to lower demand for our services and may cause lower rates and lower utilization of our assets. If oil prices or natural gas prices decline, or if completions activity is reduced, the demand for our services and our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Prices for oil and gas historically have been extremely volatile and are expected to continue to be volatile. During 2020, the West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) price for oil has ranged from less than zero to $63.27 per Bbl. If the prices of oil and natural gas decline, our operations, financial condition, cash flows and level of expenditures may be materially and adversely affected.
Recent volatility in oil and gas prices and pressure from investors has led, and may continue to lead, our customers to implement a more disciplined capital spending strategy. This disciplined approach has led to, and could continue to result in, reduced demand for our services and cause our customers to demand lower rates for our services, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operation.
We have developed certain key infrastructure assets in the Bakken area of North Dakota and in the Northern Delaware Basin region of the Permian Basin in New Mexico, making us vulnerable to risks associated with conducting business in these regions.
We have secured three governmental permits that enable us to withdraw water from the Missouri River and Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota and have developed and expect to develop in the future significant water infrastructure related to these permits.
Because of the key nature of these permits and water infrastructure within the Bakken, the success and profitability of our business may be disproportionately exposed to factors impacting this region. These factors include, among others: (i) the prices of, and associated costs to produce, crude oil and gas from wells in the Bakken and other regional supply and demand factors (including the generally higher cost nature of production in the Bakken compared to other major shale plays and the pricing differentials that exist in the Bakken because of transportation constraints); (ii) the amount of exploration, development and production activities of our Bakken customers and their spending on our services; (iii) our ability to keep and maintain our governmental water permits; (iv) the cost of operations and the prices we can charge our customers in this region; and (v) the availability of equipment, supplies, and labor. Although we currently have secured key permits for water in this region, if we were to lose our water rights for any reason, including termination by the government upon the occurrence of a material breach, including nonpayment and default in performance, unexpected adverse environmental impacts, or our competitors were able to secure equivalent rights, our business could be materially harmed. In addition, our operations in the Bakken field may be adversely affected by severe weather events such as floods, blizzards, ice storms and tornadoes. For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, our Bakken operations represented 6.4%, 7.1% and 9.9%, respectively, of our revenues. The concentration of our water permits and significant infrastructure assets in North Dakota also increases our exposure to changes in local laws and regulations, including those designed to protect wildlife and unexpected events that may occur in this region such as seismic events, industrial accidents or labor difficulties. Any of the risks described above could have an adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Additionally, with the acquisition of Gregory Rockhouse Ranch, Inc. in March 2017 and the completion of our New Mexico pipeline in November 2019, we have bolstered our water and water-related services to our customers in New Mexico. We expect to further develop those water and water-related services in the state in the future but the future availability of, and/or access to, water in New Mexico will be affected by the results of a case, Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado, for which discovery is continuing in January 2021 and is expected to be tried by a special master in 2021. In this lawsuit, Texas is alleging that New Mexico is unlawfully allowing diversion of Rio Grande surface water, including groundwater hydrologically connected to the Rio Grande, and thereby depriving Texas of the full amount of Rio Grande water it is due under the Rio Grande Compact, which agreement was created in 1938 to ensure that the two states and the state of Colorado would get their fair share of water from the river. To the extent that this lawsuit is adversely decided against New Mexico, the state could, among other things, be required to provide more water downstream to Texas, which could reduce the availability of and/or access to water to existing or new water rights holders in New Mexico. The risk of such adverse development could reduce our ability to obtain or maintain access to water for our customers’ operations in the vicinity of our assets in New Mexico and have a corresponding adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Restrictions on the ability to procure water or changes in water sourcing requirements could decrease the demand for our water-related services.
Our business includes water transfer for use in our customers’ oil and gas E&P activities. Our access to the water we supply may be limited due to prolonged drought or our inability to acquire or maintain water sourcing permits or other rights. In addition, some state and local governmental authorities have begun to monitor or restrict the use of water subject to their jurisdiction for hydraulic fracturing to ensure adequate local water supply. For instance, some states require E&P companies to report certain information regarding the water they use for hydraulic fracturing and to monitor the quality of groundwater surrounding some wells stimulated by hydraulic fracturing. Any such decrease in the availability of water, or demand for water services, could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Fuel conservation measures could reduce demand for oil and natural gas which would, in turn, reduce the demand for our services.
Fuel conservation measures, alternative fuel requirements and increasing consumer demand for alternatives to oil and natural gas could reduce demand for oil and natural gas. The impact of declining demand for oil and natural gas may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, prospects, results of operations and cash flows. Additionally, the increased competitiveness of alternative energy sources (such as wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, fuel cells and biofuels) could reduce demand for hydrocarbons and therefore for our services, which would lead to a reduction in our revenues.
We may be unable to implement price increases or maintain existing prices on our core services.
We periodically seek to increase the prices on our services to offset rising costs and to improve returns on investment for our stockholders. However, we operate in a very competitive industry and as a result, we are not always successful in raising, or maintaining, our existing prices. Additionally, during periods of increased market demand, a significant amount of new service capacity, including new water transfer equipment, fluid hauling trucks and pipelines, may enter the market, which also puts pressure on the pricing of our services and limits our ability to increase prices.
Even when we are able to increase our prices, we may not be able to do so at a rate that is sufficient to offset rising costs. In periods of high demand for oilfield services, a tighter labor market may result in higher labor costs. During such periods, our labor costs could increase at a greater rate than our ability to raise prices for our services. Also, we may not be able to successfully increase prices without adversely affecting our activity levels. The inability to maintain our pricing and to increase our pricing as costs increase could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.
We have operated at a loss in the past, including in 2020, and there is no assurance of our profitability in the future.
Historically, we have experienced periods of low demand for our services and have incurred operating losses, including in 2020. In the future, we may not be able to reduce our costs, increase our revenues or reduce our debt service obligations sufficient to achieve or maintain profitability and generate positive operating income. Under such circumstances, we may incur further operating losses and experience negative operating cash flow.
We may be subject to claims for personal injury and property damage, which could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We operate with most of our customers under MSAs. We endeavor to allocate potential liabilities and risks between the parties in the MSAs. Generally, under our MSAs, including those relating to our services, we assume responsibility for, including control and removal of, pollution or contamination which originates above the surface and originates from our equipment or services. Our customers generally assume responsibility for, including control and removal of, all other pollution or contamination which may occur during operations, including that which may result from seepage or any other uncontrolled flow of drilling fluids. We may have liability in such cases if we are negligent or commit willful acts. Generally, our customers also agree to indemnify us against claims arising from their employees’ personal injury or death to the extent that, in the case of our operations, their employees are injured or their properties are damaged by such operations unless resulting from our gross negligence or willful misconduct. Similarly, we generally agree to indemnify our customers for liabilities arising from personal injury to or death of any of our employees, unless resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct of the customer. In addition, our customers generally agree to indemnify us for loss or destruction of customer-owned property or equipment and in turn, we agree to indemnify our customers for loss or destruction of property or equipment we own. Losses due to catastrophic events, such as blowouts, are generally the responsibility of the customer. However, despite this general allocation of risk, we might not succeed in enforcing such contractual allocation, might incur an unforeseen liability falling outside the scope of such allocation or may be required to enter into an MSA with terms that vary from the above allocations of risk. As a result, we may incur substantial losses which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We operate in a highly competitive industry, which may intensify as our competitors expand their operations, thereby causing us to lose market share, and which could negatively affect our ability to expand our operations.
The oilfield water management business is highly competitive and includes numerous small companies capable of competing effectively in our markets on a local basis. Some of our larger diversified competitors have a similarly broad geographic scope, as well as greater financial and other resources than us, while others focus on specific basins only and may have locally competitive cost efficiencies as a result. Additionally, there may be new companies that enter our markets, or our existing and potential customers may choose to develop their own water management solutions. Our ability to maintain current revenue and cash flows, and our ability to expand our operations, could be adversely affected by the activities of our competitors and our customers. We may be unable to effectively compete if our competitors substantially increase the resources they devote to the development and marketing of the services that we offer, or substantially decrease the prices at which they offer their services. If our existing and potential customers develop their own water solutions, we may not be able to effectively replace that revenue. All of these competitive pressures could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The oil and gas services industry is intensely competitive, and in certain businesses we compete with other companies that have greater resources than us. Many of our larger competitors provide a broader base of services on a regional, national or worldwide basis. These companies may have a greater ability to continue oilfield service activities during periods of low commodity prices, to contract for equipment, to secure trained personnel, to secure contracts and permits and to absorb the burden of present and future federal, state, provincial, local and other laws and regulations (as applicable). Any inability to compete effectively with larger companies could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
Our operations involve risks that may increase our operating costs, which could reduce our profitability.
Although we take precautions to enhance the safety of our operations and minimize the risk of disruptions, our operations are subject to hazards inherent in the manufacturing and marketing of chemical and other products. These hazards include chemical spills, pipeline leaks and ruptures, storage tank leaks, discharges or releases of toxic or hazardous substances or gases and other hazards incident to the manufacturing, processing, handling, transportation and storage of hazardous chemicals. We are also potentially subject to other hazards, including natural disasters and severe weather; explosions and fires; transportation problems, including interruptions, spills and leaks; mechanical failures; unscheduled downtimes; labor difficulties; remediation complications; and other risks. Many potential hazards can cause bodily injury and loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of property and equipment and environmental damage, and may result in suspension of operations and the imposition of civil or criminal penalties and liabilities. Furthermore, we are subject to present and future claims with respect to workplace exposure, exposure of contractors on our premises as well as other persons located nearby, workers’ compensation and other matters.
We maintain property, business interruption, products liability and casualty insurance policies which we believe are in accordance with customary industry practices, as well as insurance policies covering other types of risks, including pollution legal liability insurance, but we are not fully insured against all potential hazards and risks incident to our business. Each of these insurance policies is subject to customary exclusions, deductibles and coverage limits, in accordance with industry standards and practices. As a result of market conditions, premiums and deductibles for certain insurance policies can increase substantially and, in some instances, certain insurance may become unavailable or available only for reduced amounts of coverage. If we were to incur a significant liability for which we were not fully insured, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.
In addition, we are subject to various claims and litigation in the ordinary course of business. We are a party to various pending lawsuits and proceedings. For more information, see “Item 3. Legal Proceedings.”
Delays or restrictions in obtaining permits by us for our operations or by our E&P customers for their operations could impair our business.
Our operations and the operations of our E&P customers in most states require permits from one or more governmental agencies in order to perform drilling and completion activities, secure water rights, construct impoundment tanks and operate pipelines or trucking services. Such permits are typically issued by state agencies, but federal and local governmental permits may also be required. In addition, some of our customers’ drilling and completion activities in the U.S. may take place on federal land or Native American lands, requiring leases and other approvals from the federal government or Native American tribes to conduct such drilling and completion activities. Under certain circumstances, federal agencies may cancel proposed leases for federal lands and refuse to grant or delay required approvals. Moreover, President Biden has indicated his intent to restrict hydraulic fracturing on federal lands through delays or bans on issuance of drilling permits on such lands and his administration may pursue regulatory initiatives, executive actions and legislation in support of his regulatory agenda. See Part I, Item 1. “Business - Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Matters” for more discussion on possible actions under the Biden Administration that may adversely affect oil and natural gas leasing and permitting activities.
We are subject to cybersecurity risks. A cyber incident could occur and result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
The oil and gas services industry has become increasingly dependent on digital technologies to conduct certain processing activities. For example, we depend on digital technologies to perform many of our services and to process and record financial and operating data. At the same time, cyber incidents, including deliberate attacks or unintentional events, have increased. The U.S. government has issued public warnings that indicate that energy assets might be specific targets of cybersecurity threats. Our technologies, systems and networks, and those of our vendors, suppliers and other business partners, may become the target of cyber attacks or information security breaches that could result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, loss or destruction of proprietary and other information, or other disruption of business operations. In addition, certain cyber incidents, such as surveillance, may remain undetected for an extended period. Our systems for protecting against cybersecurity risks may not be sufficient. As cyber incidents
continue to evolve, we may be required to expend additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to cyber incidents. Our insurance coverage for cyber attacks may not be sufficient to cover all the losses we may experience as a result of such cyber attacks.
If we are unable to fully protect our intellectual property rights, we may suffer a loss in our competitive advantage or market share.
We do not have patents or patent applications relating to many of our proprietary chemicals. If we are not able to maintain the confidentiality of our trade secrets, or if our competitors are able to replicate our technology or services, our competitive advantage would be diminished. We also cannot assure you that any patents we may obtain in the future would provide us with any significant commercial benefit or would allow us to prevent our competitors from employing comparable technologies or processes.
Technology advancements in well service technologies, including those involving the replacement of water in fracturing fluid, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The oilfield services industry is characterized by rapid and significant technological advancements and introductions of new products and services using new technologies. As competitors and others use or develop new technologies or technologies comparable to ours in the future, we may lose market share or be placed at a competitive disadvantage. For example, some oil and gas producers are focusing on developing and utilizing non-water fracturing techniques, including those utilizing propane, carbon dioxide or nitrogen instead of water. Further, we may face competitive pressure to implement or acquire certain new technologies at a substantial cost. Some of our competitors may have greater financial, technical and personnel resources than we do, which may allow them to gain technological advantages or implement new technologies before we can. Additionally, we may be unable to implement new technologies or products at all, on a timely basis or at an acceptable cost. New technology could also make it easier for our customers to vertically integrate their operations or reduce the amount of waste produced in oil and gas drilling and production activities, thereby reducing or eliminating the need for third-party disposal. Limits on our ability to effectively use or implement new technologies may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be adversely affected by uncertainty in the global financial markets and a worldwide economic downturn.
Our future results may be impacted by uncertainty caused by a worldwide economic downturn, continued volatility or deterioration in the debt and equity capital markets, inflation, deflation or other adverse economic conditions that may negatively affect us or parties with whom we do business resulting in a reduction in our customers’ spending and their non-payment or inability to perform obligations owed to us, such as the failure of customers to honor their commitments or the failure of major suppliers to complete orders. The COVID-19 pandemic has created global uncertainty that has negatively affected our business and industry and will continue to do so. Additionally, credit market conditions may change, slowing our collection efforts as customers may experience increased difficulty in obtaining requisite financing, potentially leading to lost revenue and higher than normal accounts receivable. In the event of the financial distress or bankruptcy of a customer, we could lose all or a portion of such outstanding accounts receivable associated with that customer. Further, all or a portion of our service contracts could be cancelled at significant expense or loss of expected revenues to us if a customer was to enter into bankruptcy.
The current global economic environment may adversely impact our ability to issue debt. Any economic uncertainty may cause institutional investors to respond to their borrowers by increasing interest rates, enacting tighter lending standards or refusing to refinance existing debt upon its maturity or on terms similar to the expiring debt. Due to the above-listed factors, we cannot be certain that additional funding will be available if needed and, to the extent required, on acceptable terms.
Our operations are subject to inherent risks, some of which are beyond our control. These risks may be self-insured, or may not be fully covered under our insurance policies.
Our operations are subject to hazards inherent in the oil and gas industry, such as, but not limited to, accidents, blowouts, explosions, craterings, fires, oil spills and releases of drilling, completion or fracturing fluids or wastewater into the environment. These conditions can cause:
● disruption in operations;
● substantial repair or remediate costs;
● personal injury or loss of human life;
● significant damage to or destruction of property, plant and equipment;
● environmental pollution, including groundwater contamination;
● impairment or suspension of operations; and
● substantial revenue loss.
The occurrence of a significant event or adverse claim in excess of the insurance coverage that we maintain or that is not covered by insurance could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition. Any interruption in our services due to pipeline breakdowns or necessary maintenance or repairs could reduce sales revenues and earnings. In addition, claims for loss of oil and gas production and damage to formations can occur in the well services industry. Litigation arising from a catastrophic occurrence at a location where our equipment and services are being used may result in our being named as a defendant in lawsuits asserting large claims.
We do not have insurance against all foreseeable risks, either because insurance is not available or because of the high premium costs. The occurrence of an event not fully insured against or the failure of an insurer to meet its insurance obligations could result in substantial losses. In addition, we may not be able to maintain adequate insurance in the future at rates we consider reasonable. Insurance may not be available to cover any or all of the risks to which we are subject, or, even if available, it may be inadequate, or insurance premiums or other costs could rise significantly in the future so as to make such insurance prohibitively expensive.
Seasonal weather conditions and natural disasters could severely disrupt normal operations and harm our business.
Our water solutions operations are located primarily in the southern, mid-western and eastern U.S. Certain of these areas are adversely affected by seasonal weather conditions, primarily in the winter and spring. During periods of heavy snow, ice or rain, we may be unable to move our equipment between locations, thereby reducing our ability to provide services and generate revenues. Additionally, extended drought conditions in our operating regions could impact our ability to source sufficient water for our customers or increase the cost for such water. As a result, a natural disaster or inclement weather conditions could severely disrupt the normal operation of our business and adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.
A terrorist attack, armed conflict or unrest could harm our business.
The occurrence or threat of terrorist attacks in the U.S. or other countries, anti-terrorist efforts and other armed conflicts involving the U.S. or other countries, including continued hostilities in the Middle East, and political or civil unrest in the U.S. may adversely affect the U.S. and global economies and could prevent us from meeting our financial and other obligations. Additionally, destructive forms of protest and opposition by extremists and other disruptions, including acts of sabotage or eco-terrorism, against oil and natural gas development and production activities could potentially result in personal injury to persons, damages to property, natural resources or the environment, or lead to
extended interruptions of our or our customers’ operations. If any of these events occur, the resulting political instability and societal disruption could reduce overall demand for oil and gas, potentially putting downward pressure on demand for our services and causing a reduction in our revenues. Oil and gas related facilities could be direct targets of such terrorist attacks or unrest, and our operations could be adversely impacted if infrastructure integral to our customers’ operations is destroyed or damaged. Costs for insurance and other security may increase as a result of these threats, and some insurance coverage may become more difficult to obtain, if available at all.
The adoption of more stringent trucking legislation or regulations may increase our costs and could have an adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations, and financial condition.
In connection with the services we provide, we operate as a motor carrier and therefore are subject to regulation by the U.S. DOT and analogous state agencies, which govern such activities as the authorization to engage in motor carrier operations and regulatory safety. The trucking industry is subject to possible legislative and regulatory changes that may affect the economics of the industry by requiring changes in operating practices or by changing the demand for common or contract carrier services or the cost of providing truckload services.
Moreover, from time to time, various legislative proposals are introduced, including proposals to increase federal, state or local taxes, including taxes on motor fuels, which may increase our costs or adversely affect the recruitment of drivers. Management cannot predict whether, or in what form, any increase in such taxes applicable to us will be enacted. We may be required to increase operating expenses or capital expenditures in order to comply with any new laws, regulations or other restrictions. See Part I, Item 1. “Business - Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Matters” for more discussion on the DOT and associated trucking matters.
Disruptions in the transportation services of trucking companies transporting wastewater and other oilfield products could have an adverse effect on our results.
We use trucks to transport some produced water to our wastewater disposal facilities. In recent years, certain states, such as North Dakota and Texas, and certain state counties have increased enforcement of weight limits on trucks used to transport raw materials on their public roads. It is possible that the states, counties and municipalities in which we operate our business may modify their laws or regulations to further reduce truck weight limits or impose curfews or other restrictions on the use of roadways. Such legislation and regulations and associated enforcement efforts could result in delays, and increased costs, with respect to the transport of produced water to our wastewater disposal facilities, which may either increase our operating costs or reduce the amount of produced water transported to our facilities. Such developments could decrease our operating margins or amounts of produced water and thereby have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
A significant increase in fuel prices may adversely affect our transportation costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Fuel is one of our significant operating expenses, and a significant increase in fuel prices could result in increased transportation costs. The price and supply of fuel is unpredictable and fluctuates based on events such as geopolitical developments, supply and demand for oil and gas, actions by oil and gas producers, war and unrest in oil producing countries and regions, regional production patterns and weather concerns. A significant increase in fuel prices could increase the price of, and therefore reduce demand for, our services, which could affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Risks Related to Customers and Suppliers
The deterioration of the financial condition of our customers could adversely affect our business.
During times when the gas or crude oil markets weaken, including during 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, our customers are more likely to experience financial difficulties, including being unable to access debt or equity financing, which could result in a reduction in our customers’ spending for our services. In addition, in the course of our business we hold accounts receivable from our customers. In the event of the financial
distress or bankruptcy of a customer, we could lose all or a portion of such outstanding accounts receivable associated with that customer. Further, all or a portion of our service contracts could be cancelled at significant expense or loss of expected revenues to us if a customer was to enter into bankruptcy.
Disruptions in production at our chemical manufacturing facilities may have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations and/or financial condition.
Chemical manufacturing facilities in our industry are subject to outages and other disruptions. Serious disruptions at any of our facilities could impair our ability to use our facilities and have a material adverse impact on our revenue and increase our costs and expenses. Unplanned production disruptions may occur for external reasons including natural disasters, weather, disease, strikes, transportation interruption, government regulation, political or civil unrest or terrorism, or internal reasons, such as fire, unplanned maintenance or other manufacturing problems. Moreover, alternative facilities with sufficient capacity may not be available, may cost substantially more or may take a significant time to increase production or qualify with our customers, any of which could negatively impact our business, results of operations and/or financial condition. Long-term production disruptions may cause our customers to seek alternative supply, which could further adversely affect our profitability.
Unplanned production disruptions may occur for external reasons including natural disasters, world health events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, weather, disease, strikes, transportation interruption, government regulation, political or civil unrest or terrorism, or internal reasons, such as fire, unplanned maintenance or other manufacturing problems. Any such production disruption could have a material impact on our operations, operating results and financial condition.
Additionally, we rely on a number of vendors, suppliers, and in some cases sole-source suppliers, service providers, toll manufacturers and collaborations with other industry participants to provide us with chemicals, feedstocks and other raw materials, along with energy sources and, in certain cases, facilities that we need to operate our business. If the business of these third parties is disrupted, some of these companies could be forced to reduce their output, shut down their operations or file for bankruptcy protection. If this were to occur, it could adversely affect their ability to provide us with the raw materials, energy sources or facilities that we need, which could materially disrupt our operations, including the production of certain of our chemical products. Moreover, it could be difficult to find replacements for certain of our business partners without incurring significant delays or cost increases. All of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.
While we maintain business recovery plans that are intended to allow us to recover from natural disasters or other events that could disrupt our business, we cannot provide assurances that our plans would fully protect us from the effects of all such disasters or from events that might increase in frequency or intensity due to climate change. In addition, insurance may not adequately compensate us for any losses incurred as a result of natural or other disasters. In areas prone to frequent natural or other disasters, insurance may become increasingly expensive or not available at all.
Constraints in the supply of equipment used in providing services to our customers and replacement parts for such could affect our ability to execute our growth strategies.
Equipment used in providing services to our customers is normally readily available. Market conditions could trigger constraints in the supply chain of certain equipment or replacement parts for such equipment, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. The majority of our risk associated with supply chain constraints occurs in those situations where we have a relationship with a single supplier for a particular resource.
Unsatisfactory safety performance may negatively affect our E&P customer relationships and, to the extent we fail to retain existing customers or attract new customers, adversely impact our revenues.
Our ability to retain existing E&P customers and attract new business is dependent on many factors, including our ability to demonstrate that we can reliably and safely operate our business and stay current on constantly changing rules, regulations, training and laws. Existing and potential customers consider the safety record of their service providers to be of high importance in their decision to engage third-party services. If one or more accidents were to
occur at one of our operating sites, the affected customer may seek to terminate or cancel its use of our facilities or services and may be less likely to continue to use our services, which could cause us to lose substantial revenues. Further, our ability to attract new customers may be impaired if they elect not to purchase our third-party services because they view our safety record as unacceptable. In addition, it is possible that we will experience numerous or particularly severe accidents in the future, causing our safety record to deteriorate. This may be more likely as we continue to grow, if we experience high employee turnover or labor shortage, or add inexperienced personnel. See Part I, Item 1. “Business - Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Matters” for more discussion on worker safety matters.
Significant price volatility or interruptions in supply of our raw materials for our chemicals business may result in increased costs that we may be unable to pass on to our customers, which could reduce profitability.
We purchase a substantial portion of our raw materials for our chemicals business from third-party suppliers and the cost of these raw materials represents a substantial portion of our operating expenses. The prices of the raw materials that we purchase from third parties are cyclical and volatile. Our supply agreements provide us only limited protection against price volatility because they are entered into either on a short-term basis or are longer-term volume contracts, which provide for market-based pricing renegotiated several times per year. While we attempt to match cost increases with corresponding product price increases, we are not always able to raise product prices immediately or at all. Timing differences between raw material prices, which may change daily, and contractual product prices, which in many cases are negotiated only monthly or less often, have had and may continue to have a negative effect on our cash flow. Any cost increase that we are not able to pass on to our customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.
There are several raw materials for which there are only a limited number of suppliers or a single supplier. To mitigate potential supply constraints, we enter into supply agreements with particular suppliers, evaluate alternative sources of supply and evaluate alternative technologies to avoid reliance on limited or sole-source suppliers. Where supply relationships are concentrated, particular attention is paid by the parties to ensure strategic intentions are aligned to facilitate long-term planning. If certain of our suppliers are unable to meet their obligations under present supply agreements, we may be forced to pay higher prices to obtain the necessary raw materials from other sources and we may not be able to increase prices for our finished products to recoup the higher raw materials costs. Any interruption in the supply of raw materials could increase our costs or decrease our revenue, which could reduce our cash flow. The inability of a supplier to meet our raw material needs could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
The number of sources for and availability of certain raw materials is also specific to the particular geographical region in which a facility is located. Political and economic instability in the countries from which we purchase our raw material supplies could adversely affect their availability. In addition, if raw materials become unavailable within a geographic area from which they are now sourced, we may not be able to obtain suitable or cost-effective substitutes. We may also experience higher operating costs such as energy or transportation costs, which could affect our profitability. We may not always be able to increase our selling prices to offset the impact of any higher production costs or reduced production levels, which could reduce our earnings and decrease our liquidity.
Risks Related to Compliance with Regulations
Laws, regulations, executive actions and other regulatory initiatives in the U.S. relating to hydraulic fracturing could increase our costs of doing business and result in additional operating restrictions, delays or cancellations in the drilling and completion of oil and gas wells, or possible restrictions on the performance of hydraulic fracturing that may reduce demand for our services and could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition.
Although we do not directly engage in hydraulic fracturing, our operations support many of our E&P customers in such activities. The practice continues to be controversial in certain parts of the country, resulting in increased scrutiny and regulation of the hydraulic fracturing process, including by federal and state agencies and local municipalities. Additionally, with concerns about seismic activity being triggered by the injection of produced wastewaters into
underground disposal wells, certain regulators are also considering additional requirements related to seismic safety for hydraulic fracturing activities. See Part I, Item 1. “Business - Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Matters” for more discussion on these hydraulic fracturing and seismicity matters.
The adoption of any federal, state or local laws or the implementation of regulations or issuance of executive orders regarding hydraulic fracturing, seismic activities or leasing activities on federal properties could potentially cause a decrease in the completion of new oil and gas wells and an associated decrease in demand for our services and increased compliance costs and time, which could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations, and financial condition.
Our and our E&P customers' operations are subject to a number of risks arising out of the threat of climate change, including regulatory, political, litigation, and financial risks, which could result in increased operating and capital costs for our customers and reduced demand for the products and services we provide.
The threat of climate change continues to attract considerable attention in the U.S. and foreign countries. As a result, numerous proposals have been made and are likely to continue to be made at the international, national, regional and state levels of government to monitor and limit emissions of GHGs as well as to eliminate such future emissions. As a result, our operations as well as the operations of our E&P customers are subject to a series of regulatory, political, litigation and financial risks associated with the production and processing of fossil fuels and emission of GHGs. See Part I, Item 1. “Business - Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Matters” for more discussion on the threat of climate and restriction of GHG emissions. The adoption and implementation of any international, federal, regional or state legislation, executive actions, regulations or other regulatory initiatives that impose more stringent standards for GHG emissions from the oil and natural gas sector or otherwise restrict the areas in which this sector may produce oil and natural gas or generate GHG emissions could result in increased compliance costs or costs of consuming fossil fuels. Such legislation, executive actions or regulations could result in increased costs of compliance or costs of consuming, and thereby reduce demand for oil and natural gas, which could reduce demand for our products and services. Additionally, political, financial and litigation risks may result in our customers restricting, delaying or canceling production activities, incurring liability for infrastructure damages as a result of climatic changes, or impairing the ability to continue to operate in an economic manner, which also could reduce demand for our products and services. The occurrence of one or more of these developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Moreover, the increased competitiveness of alternative energy sources (such as wind, solar geothermal, tidal and biofuels) could reduce demand for hydrocarbons, and therefore for our products and services, which would lead to a reduction in our revenues.
Our chemical products are subject to stringent chemical control laws that could result in increased costs on our business.
We are subject to a wide array of laws and regulations governing chemicals, including the regulation of chemical substances and inventories, such as the TSCA. These laws and regulations change frequently and have the potential to limit or ban altogether the types of chemicals we may use in our products, as well as result in increased costs related to testing, storing, and transporting our products prior to providing them to our customers. Any new restrictions on the development of new products or use of existing products, increases in regulation of those products, or disclosure of confidential, competitive information relating to the products could have an adverse effect on our operations and our cost of doing business. Furthermore, governmental, regulatory and societal demands for increasing levels of product safety and environmental protection could result in increased pressure for more stringent regulatory control with respect to the chemical industry. See Part I, Item 1. “Business - Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Matters” for more discussion on chemical product use and safety.
In the future, we may face increased obligations relating to the closing of our wastewater disposal facilities and may be required to provide an increased level of financial assurance to guarantee that the appropriate closure activities will occur for a wastewater disposal facility.
Our ability to obtain permits to own or operate wastewater disposal facilities generally requires us to establish performance bonds, letters of credit or other forms of financial assurance to address remediation and closure obligations.
As we acquire additional wastewater disposal facilities or expand our existing wastewater disposal facilities, these obligations will increase. Additionally, in the future, regulatory agencies may require us to increase the amount of our closure bonds at existing wastewater disposal facilities. Moreover, actual costs could exceed our current expectations, as a result of, among other things, federal, state or local government regulatory action, increased costs charged by service providers that assist in closing wastewater disposal facilities and additional environmental remediation requirements. Increased regulatory requirements regarding our existing or future wastewater disposal facilities, including the requirement to pay increased closure and post-closure costs or to establish increased financial assurance for such activities could substantially increase our operating costs and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in U.S. and international trade policies, particularly involving China, may adversely impact our business and operating results.
Though a comprehensive trade agreement was signed in 2020, the U.S. government has previously imposed tariffs affecting certain goods produced in China. A portion of the chemicals we use originate in China and are sold to us by our supplier partners. As a result, tariffs incurred by our supplier partners could increase our costs and reduce profitability. Additionally, delays or interruptions in the supply of some chemicals for any reason could impact our ability to generate chemicals revenue. If we are forced to source chemicals currently originating in China from other countries, such compounds might be more expensive, inferior in quality, or take longer to source. If we incur higher costs that we cannot pass on to our customers or if we are unable to adequately replace the chemicals we currently source with chemicals produced elsewhere, our business could be adversely affected.
Legislation or regulatory initiatives intended to address seismic activity associated with oilfield wastewater disposal wells could restrict our ability to dispose of produced water gathered from our E&P customers and, accordingly, could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We dispose of wastewater gathered from oil and gas producing E&P customers that result from their drilling and production operations pursuant to permits issued to us by government authorities overseeing such disposal activities. While these permits are issued pursuant to existing laws and regulations, these legal requirements are subject to change, which could result in increased costs of operation, the imposition of more stringent permitting or operating constraints or new monitoring and reporting requirements owing to, among other things, concerns of the public or governmental authorities regarding such disposal activities. See Part I, Item 1. “Business - Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Matters” for more discussion on these seismicity matters. Increased regulation and attention given to induced seismicity could lead to greater opposition to oil and gas activities utilizing injection wells for waste disposal. The adoption and implementation of any new laws, regulations or directives that restrict our ability to dispose of wastewater gathered from our customers by limiting, volumes, disposal rates, disposal well locations or otherwise, or requiring us to shut down disposal wells, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to environmental and occupational health and safety laws and regulations that may expose us to significant liabilities for penalties, damages or costs of remediation or compliance.
Our operations and the operations of our E&P customers are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations in the U.S. relating to protection of natural resources and the environment, health and safety aspects of our operations and waste management, including the transportation and disposal of waste and other materials. These laws and regulations may take the form of laws, regulations, executive actions and various other legal initiatives and result in the imposition of numerous obligations on our operations and the operations of our customers. See Part I, Item 1. “Business - Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Matters” for more discussion on these matters. Compliance with these regulations and other regulatory initiatives, or any other new environmental laws, regulations and executive actions could, among other things, require us or our customers to install new or modified emission controls on equipment or processes, incur longer permitting timelines, and incur significantly increased capital or operating expenditures, which costs may be significant. One or more of these developments that impact our customers could reduce demand for our services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act govern both our and our E&P customers’ operations and additional restrictions may be imposed in the future, which constraints could have an adverse impact on our ability to expand some of our existing operations or limit our customers’ ability to develop new oil and gas wells.
The ESA and comparable state laws restrict activities that may affect endangered or threatened species or their habitats. Similar protections are offered to migratory birds under the MBTA. To the degree that species listed under the ESA or similar state laws, or are protected under the MBTA, live in the areas where we or our E&P customers’ operate, both our and our customers’ abilities to conduct or expand operations and construct facilities could be limited or be forced to incur additional material costs. Additionally, the FWS may make determinations on the listing of unlisted species as endangered or threatened under the ESA. See Part I, Item 1. “Business - Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Matters” for more discussion on ESA and MBTA matters. The designation of previously unidentified endangered or threatened species could indirectly cause us to incur additional costs, cause our or our E&P customers’ operations to become subject to operating restrictions or bans and limit future development activity in affected areas, which developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Increasing investor attention to ESG matters may impact our business.
To an increasing extent, many institutional investors have announced plans to transition their portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions over the next 2-3 decades as part of a commitment to combat climate change. This has, and will likely continue to result in some (and perhaps a growing number of) institutions removing from their portfolios the shares of companies that do not meet their minimum investment standards. Further, banks and other capital providers are reassessing their capital allocation to our industry or making their participation conditional. This trend towards the divestment or limitation of future investment in companies involved in the development, production, transportation and utilization of fossil fuels, may adversely affect the price of our stock and limit our access to the debt and equity markets for capital to fund our growth.
In addition, organizations that provide proxy advisory services to investors on corporate governance and related matters have developed ratings processes for evaluating companies on their approach to ESG matters. Such ratings are used by some investors to inform their investment and voting decisions. Unfavorable ESG ratings may lead to increased negative investor sentiment toward us or our customers and to the diversion of investment to other industries, which could have a negative impact on our stock price and/or our access to and costs of capital.
Risks Related to Personnel and Related Parties
Our industry typically experiences a high rate of employee turnover. Any difficulty we experience replacing or adding personnel could have a material adverse effect on our operational performance, customer satisfaction, ability to retain existing business or secure new business, and therefore liquidity, results of operations and financial condition.
We are dependent upon the available labor pool of skilled employees and may not be able to find enough skilled labor to meet our needs, which could have a negative effect on our growth. We are also subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which governs such matters as minimum wage, overtime and other working conditions. Our services require skilled workers who can perform physically demanding work. As a result of our industry volatility, pronounced declines in drilling and completions activity, as well as the demanding nature of the work, many workers have left the oilfield services section to pursue employment in different fields. If we are unable to retain or meet the growing demand for skilled technical personnel, our operating results and our ability to execute our growth strategies may be adversely affected. A national minimum wage increase to $15/hour, as proposed in the U.S. Congress, would increase our labor costs and potentially increase our turnover.
We engage in transactions with related parties and such transactions present possible conflicts of interest that could have an adverse effect on us.
We have historically entered into a number of transactions with related parties. Related party transactions create the possibility of conflicts of interest with regard to our management. Such a conflict could cause an individual in our
management to seek to advance his or her economic interests above ours. Further, the appearance of conflicts of interest created by related party transactions could impair the confidence of our investors. While our board of directors regularly reviews these transactions, in accordance with our Related Party Transactions policy, a related party transaction presenting a conflict of interest could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition.
Risks Related to Our Capital Structure
We do not currently pay any dividends to the holders of the Class A common stock and the availability and timing of future dividends, if any, is uncertain.
We do not currently pay dividends on our Class A common stock, and consequently, in the near term, your only opportunity to achieve a return on your investment in us will be if you sell your Class A common stock at a price greater than you paid for it. There is no guarantee that the price of our Class A common stock that will prevail in the market will ever exceed the price that you pay. Additionally, our Credit Agreement places certain restrictions on our ability to pay dividends. We may amend our Credit Agreement or enter into new debt arrangements that also prohibit or restrict our ability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock.
Subject to such restrictions, our board of directors will periodically review the amount and timing of stockholder dividends, if any, that we may pay in future periods. In making this determination, our directors will consider all relevant factors, including the amount of cash available for dividends, capital expenditures, covenants, prohibitions or limitations with respect to dividends, applicable law, general operational requirements and other variables. We cannot predict the amount or timing of any future dividends you may receive, and if we do commence the payment of dividends, we may be unable to pay, maintain or increase dividends over time. Therefore, you may not be able to realize any return on your investment in our Class A common stock for an extended period of time, if at all. Please read “Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities-Dividend Policy.”
If we fail to maintain and enhance an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, current and potential stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which would harm our business and the trading price of our Class A common stock.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, prevent fraud and operate successfully as a public company. We are subject to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”) and therefore are required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting for that purpose. We cannot be certain that our efforts to maintain and enhance our internal controls will be successful, that we will be able to maintain adequate controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future or that we will be able to comply with our obligations under Sections 302 and 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley. Any failure to maintain effective internal controls, or difficulties encountered in implementing or improving our internal controls, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our Class A common stock.
We may incur indebtedness or issue additional equity securities to execute our long-term growth strategy, which may reduce our profitability or result in significant dilution to our stockholders.
Constructing and maintaining water infrastructure used in the oil and gas industry requires significant capital. We may require additional capital in the future to develop and construct water sourcing, transfer and other related infrastructure to execute our growth strategy. For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, we spent $21.2 million, $110.1 million and $165.4 million, respectively, in capital expenditures (excluding expenditures connected with business combinations). Historically, we have financed these investments through cash flows from operations, external borrowings, capital contributions and proceeds from the issuance of equity securities. These sources of capital may not be available to us in the future. If we are unable to fund capital expenditures for any reason, we may not be able to capture available growth opportunities or effectively maintain our existing assets and any such failure could have a
material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. If we incur additional indebtedness or issue additional equity securities, our profitability may be reduced and our stockholders may experience significant dilution.
Our Credit Agreement subjects us to various financial and other restrictive covenants. These restrictions may limit our operational or financial flexibility and could subject us to potential defaults under our Credit Agreement.
Our Credit Agreement subjects us to significant financial and other restrictive covenants, including restrictions on our ability to consolidate or merge with other companies, conduct asset sales, incur additional indebtedness, grant liens, issue guarantees, make investments, loans or advances, pay dividends and enter into certain transactions with affiliates.
Our Credit Agreement contains certain financial covenants, including the maintenance of a fixed charge coverage ratio of at least 1.0 to 1.0 at any time availability under the Credit Agreement is less than the greater of (i) 10% of the lesser of (A) the maximum revolver amount and (B) the then-effective borrowing base and (ii) $15.0 million and continuing through and including the first day after such time that availability under the Credit Agreement has equaled or exceeded the greater of (i) 10% of the lesser of (A) the maximum revolver amount and (B) the then-effective borrowing base and (ii) $15.0 million for 60 consecutive calendar days. Our ability to comply with such financial condition tests can be affected by events beyond our control and we may not be able to do so. The scheduled maturity date for our Credit Agreement is November 1, 2022. In addition, the Credit Agreement restricts SES Holdings’ and Select LLC’s ability to make distributions on, or redeem or repurchase, its respective equity interests, except for certain distributions, including distributions of cash so long as, both at the time of the distribution and after giving effect to the distribution, no default exists under the Credit Agreement and either (a) excess availability at all times during the preceding 30 consecutive days, on a pro forma basis and after giving effect to such distribution, is not less than the greater of (1) 25% of the lesser of (A) the maximum revolver amount and (B) the then-effective borrowing base and (2) $37.5 million or (b) if SES Holdings’ fixed charge coverage ratio is at least 1.0 to 1.0 on a pro forma basis, and excess availability at all times during the preceding 30 consecutive days, on a pro forma basis and after giving effect to such distribution, is not less than the greater of (1) 20% of the lesser of (A) the maximum revolver amount and (B) the then-effective borrowing base and (2) $30.0 million. For additional information regarding our Credit Agreement, please read “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Liquidity and Capital Resources-Credit Agreement.”
If we are unable to remain in compliance with the covenants of our Credit Agreement, then the lenders may declare all amounts outstanding under the Credit Agreement to be immediately due and payable. Any such acceleration could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Future sales of our equity securities, or the perception that such sales may occur, may depress our share price, and any additional capital raised through the sale of equity or convertible securities may dilute your ownership in us.
Subject to certain limitations and exceptions, Legacy Owner Holdco and its permitted transferees may exchange their SES Holdings LLC Units (together with a corresponding number of shares of Class B common stock) for shares of Class A common stock (on a one-for-one basis, subject to conversion rate adjustments for stock splits, stock dividends and reclassification and other similar transactions) and then sell those shares of Class A common stock. Additionally, we may in the future issue our previously authorized and unissued securities. We are authorized to issue 350 million shares of Class A common stock, 40 million shares of Class A-2 common stock, 150 million shares of Class B common stock and 50 million shares of preferred stock with such designations, preferences and rights as determined by our board of directors. The potential issuance of such additional shares of equity securities will result in the dilution of the ownership interests of the holders of our Class A common stock and may create downward pressure on the trading price, if any, of our Class A common stock.
In addition, Legacy Owner Holdco, Crestview Partners II SES Investment B, LLC, the SCF Group (as defined below) and WDC Aggregate LLC (collectively, the “Registration Rights Holders”), who collectively own in excess of 30 million shares of our common stock, are party to a registration rights agreement which provides, among other things, for parties to that agreement to initiate or participate in an underwritten public offering of all or a portion of their shares.
The Registration Rights Holders may exercise their rights under such agreement in their sole discretion, and sales pursuant to such rights may be material in amount and occur at any time.
The sales of substantial amounts of our Class A common stock following the effectiveness of registration statements for the benefit of such holders, or the perception that these sales may occur, could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to decline and impair our ability to raise capital. We also may grant additional registration rights in connection with any future issuance of our capital stock.
We cannot predict the size of future issuances of our Class A common stock or securities convertible into Class A common stock or the effect, if any, that future issuances and sales of shares of our Class A common stock will have on the market price of our Class A common stock. Sales of substantial amounts of our Class A common stock (including shares issued in connection with an acquisition), or the perception that such sales could occur, may adversely affect prevailing market prices of our Class A common stock.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our Class A common stock or if our operating results do not meet their expectations, the share price for our Class A common stock could decline.
The trading market for our Class A common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause the price or trading volume of our Class A common stock to decline. Moreover, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our Class A common stock or if our operating results do not meet their expectations, the share price of our Class A common stock could decline.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws and Delaware law may discourage a takeover attempt even if a takeover might be beneficial to our stockholders.
Provisions contained in our Fourth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and our Second Amended and Restated Bylaws, which we refer to herein as our “amended and restated certificate of incorporation” and “amended and restated bylaws,” respectively, could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us. Provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws impose various procedural and other requirements, which could make it more difficult for stockholders to effect certain corporate actions. For example, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes our board of directors to determine the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of unissued series of preferred stock without any vote or action by our stockholders. Thus, our board of directors can authorize and issue shares of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting or other rights of holders of our capital stock. These rights may have the effect of delaying or deterring a change of control of our company. Additionally, our amended and restated bylaws establish limitations on the removal of directors and on the ability of our stockholders to call special meetings and include advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors and for proposing matters that can be acted upon at stockholder meetings. These provisions could limit the price that certain investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Class A common stock.
In addition, certain change of control events have the effect of accelerating the payment due under our Tax Receivable Agreements (as defined herein), which could be substantial and accordingly serve as a disincentive to a potential acquirer of our company. See “-Risks Related to Our Organizational Structure-In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual benefits, if any, we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreements.”
Legacy Owner Holdco controls a significant percentage of our voting power.
Legacy Owner Holdco beneficially owns 100% of our Class B common stock which represents approximately 15.7% of our outstanding voting capital stock. In addition, one of our directors is currently employed by Crestview Advisors, L.L.C. (“Crestview Partners”), our private equity sponsor and, through Crestview Partners II GP, L.P.
(“Crestview GP”), the manager of funds that hold the largest equity interest in Legacy Owner Holdco. Other funds controlled by Crestview GP also have an interest in our currently outstanding shares of our Class A common stock, representing an additional 3.7% of our outstanding voting capital. Collectively, these holders control approximately 19.4% of our voting shares. Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock generally will vote together as a single class on all matters presented to our stockholders for their vote or approval. Consequently, Legacy Owner Holdco will be able to significantly influence all matters that require approval by our stockholders, including the election and removal of directors, changes to our organizational documents and approval of acquisition offers and other significant corporate transactions, regardless of whether other stockholders believe that a transaction is in their own best interests. This concentration of ownership will limit your ability to influence corporate matters, and as a result, actions may be taken that you may not view as beneficial.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains a provision renouncing our interest and expectancy in certain corporate opportunities, which could adversely affect our business or prospects.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we renounce any interest or expectancy in any business opportunity that involves any aspect of the energy business or industry and that may be from time to time presented to any member of (i) Legacy Owner Holdco; Crestview Partners II SES Investment, LLC (“Crestview Holdings A”); any funds, limited partnerships or other investment entities or vehicles managed by Crestview Partners or controlled by Crestview GP; B-29 Investments, LP; Sunray Capital, LP; Proactive Investments, LP and their respective affiliates, other than us (collectively, the “SES Group”); (ii) SCF-VI, L.P., SCF-VII, L.P. and SCF-VII(A), L.P. and their respective affiliates, other than us (collectively, the “SCF Group”); (iii) the other entities (existing and future) that participate in the energy industry and in which the SES Group and SCF Group own substantial equity interests (the “Portfolio Companies”) or (iv) any director or officer of the corporation who is also an employee, partner, member, manager, officer or director of any member of the SES Group, the SCF Group or the Portfolio Companies, including our Chairman, President and CEO , John D. Schmitz, our director, David C. Baldwin, and our Executive Vice President, Business Strategy, Cody Ortowski, even if the opportunity is one that we might reasonably have pursued or had the ability or desire to pursue if granted the opportunity to do so. Mr. Schmitz controls both B-29 Investments, LP and Sunray Capital, LP and is a direct and indirect beneficiary of these provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides that no such person or party shall be liable to us by reason of the fact that such person pursues any such business opportunity, or fails to offer any such business opportunity to us.
As a result, any member of the SES Group, SCF Group or the Portfolio Companies or any director or officer of the corporation who is also an employee, partner, member, manager, officer or director of any member of the SES Group, SCF Group or the Portfolio Companies may become aware, from time to time, of certain business opportunities, such as acquisition opportunities, and may direct such opportunities to other businesses in which they have invested, in which case we may not become aware of or otherwise have the ability to pursue such opportunity. Further, such businesses may choose to compete with us for these opportunities. As a result, by renouncing our interest and expectancy in any business opportunity that may be from time to time presented to any member of the SES Group, SCF Group or the Portfolio Companies or any director or officer of the corporation who is also an employee, partner, member, manager, officer or director of any member of the SES Group, SCF Group or the Portfolio Companies, our business or prospects could be adversely affected if attractive business opportunities are procured by such parties for their own benefit rather than for ours. See “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”
A significant reduction by Crestview GP or the SCF Group of either of their respective ownership interests in us could adversely affect us.
We believe that Crestview GP’s and the SCF Group’s beneficial ownership interests in us provides each with an economic incentive to assist us to be successful. Neither Crestview GP nor the SCF Group is subject to any obligation to maintain its ownership interest in us and either may elect at any time to sell all or a substantial portion of or otherwise reduce its ownership interest in us. If either Crestview GP or the SCF Group sells all or a substantial portion of its ownership interest in us, it may have less incentive to assist in our success and its affiliate(s) that are expected to serve as
members of our board of directors may resign. Such actions could adversely affect our ability to successfully implement our business strategies, which could adversely affect our cash flows or results of operations.
We may issue preferred stock whose terms could adversely affect the voting power or value of our Class A common stock.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue, without the approval of our stockholders, one or more classes or series of preferred stock having such designations, preferences, limitations and relative rights, including preferences over our Class A common stock respecting dividends and distributions, as our board of directors may determine. The terms of one or more classes or series of preferred stock could adversely impact the voting power or value of our Class A common stock. For example, we might grant holders of preferred stock the right to elect some number of our directors in all events or on the happening of specified events or the right to veto specified transactions. Similarly, the repurchase or redemption rights or liquidation preferences we might assign to holders of preferred stock could affect the residual value of the Class A common stock.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or agents.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, employees or agents to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us or any director or officer or other employee or agent of ours arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us or any director or officer or other employee or agent of ours that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each such case subject to such Court of Chancery having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein.
The exclusive forum provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. To the extent that any such claims may be based upon federal law claims, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.
The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation or similar governing documents has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable, including with respect to claims arising under the U.S. federal securities laws.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of, and consented to, the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation described in the preceding sentence. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or agents, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and such persons. Alternatively, if a court were to find these provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Organizational Structure
We are a holding company. Our sole material asset consists of SES Holdings LLC Units, and accordingly, we are dependent upon distributions and payments from SES Holdings to pay taxes, make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements and cover our corporate and other overhead expenses.
We are a holding company and have no material assets other than our equity interest in SES Holdings. We have no independent means of generating revenue. To the extent SES Holdings has available cash, we intend to cause SES Holdings to make (i) generally pro rata distributions to its unitholders, including us, in an amount at least sufficient to allow us to pay our taxes and to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements that we entered into in connection with our restructuring at the Select 144A Offering and any subsequent tax receivable agreements that we may enter into in connection with future acquisitions and (ii) non-pro rata payments to us to reimburse us for our corporate and other overhead expenses. We will be limited, however, in our ability to cause SES Holdings and its subsidiaries to make these and other distributions or payments to us due to certain limitations, including the restrictions under our Credit Agreement and the cash requirements and financial condition of SES Holdings. To the extent that we need funds and SES Holdings or its subsidiaries are restricted from making such distributions or payments under applicable law or regulations or under the terms of their financing arrangements or are otherwise unable to provide such funds, our liquidity and financial condition could be adversely affected.
We will be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements for certain tax benefits we may claim, and the amounts of such payments could be significant.
In connection with our restructuring at the Select 144A Offering, we entered into the Tax Receivable Agreements with certain affiliates of the then-holders of SES Holdings LLC Units (each such person and any permitted transferee thereof, a “TRA Holder,” and together, the “TRA Holders”) which generally provide for the payment by us to the TRA Holders of 85% of the net cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income and franchise tax that we actually realize (computed using simplifying assumptions to address the impact of state and local taxes) or are deemed to realize in certain circumstances as a result of certain tax basis increases, net operating losses available to us as a result of certain reorganization transactions entered into in connection with the Select 144A Offering, and certain tax benefits attributable to imputed interest. We will retain the benefit of the remaining 15% of these cash savings.
The term of each Tax Receivable Agreement commenced upon the completion of the Select 144A Offering and will continue until all tax benefits that are subject to such Tax Receivable Agreement have been utilized or expired, unless we exercise our right to terminate the Tax Receivable Agreements (or the Tax Receivable Agreements are terminated due to other circumstances, including our breach of a material obligation thereunder or certain mergers or other changes of control) and we make the termination payment specified in the Tax Receivable Agreements. In addition, payments we make under the Tax Receivable Agreements will be increased by any interest accrued from the due date (without extensions) of the corresponding tax return. In the event that the Tax Receivable Agreements are not terminated and we have sufficient taxable income to utilize all of the tax benefits subject to the Tax Receivable Agreements, the payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement entered into with Legacy Owner Holdco and Crestview GP are expected to commence at a yet to be determined future date, and until the benefits of the last exchange of SES Holdings LLC Units are realized or expire, and the payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement entered into with certain Legacy Owners are expected to commence at a yet to be determined future date, and to continue until the benefits of the exchanges are realized or expire.
The payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreements are our obligations and not obligations of SES Holdings, and we expect that the payments we will be required to make under the Tax Receivable Agreements will be substantial. Estimating the amount and timing of payments that may become due under the Tax Receivable Agreements is by its nature imprecise. For purposes of the Tax Receivable Agreements, cash savings in tax generally will be calculated by comparing our actual tax liability (using the actual applicable U.S. federal income tax rate and an assumed combined state and local income and franchise tax rate) to the amount we would have been required to pay had we not been able to utilize any of the tax benefits subject to the Tax Receivable Agreements. The amounts payable, as well as the timing of any payments, under the Tax Receivable Agreements are dependent upon future events and significant assumptions, including the timing of the exchanges of SES Holdings LLC Units, the market price of our Class A
common stock at the time of each exchange (since such market price will determine the amount of tax basis increases resulting from the exchange), the extent to which such exchanges are taxable transactions, the amount of the exchanging unitholder’s tax basis in its SES Holdings LLC Units at the time of the relevant exchange, the depreciation and amortization periods that apply to the increase in tax basis, the amount of net operating losses available to us as a result of reorganization transactions entered into in connection with the Select 144A Offering, the amount and timing of taxable income we generate in the future, the U.S. federal income tax rate then applicable, and the portion of our payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements that constitute imputed interest or give rise to depreciable or amortizable tax basis.
Certain of the TRA Holders’ rights under the Tax Receivable Agreements are transferable in connection with a permitted transfer of SES Holdings LLC Units or if the TRA Holder no longer holds SES Holdings LLC Units. The payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements are not conditioned upon the continued ownership interest in either SES Holdings or us of any holder of rights under the Tax Receivable Agreements. See “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”
In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual benefits, if any, we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreements.
If we elect to terminate the Tax Receivable Agreements early or they are terminated early due to our failure to honor a material obligation thereunder or due to certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreements would accelerate and we would be required to make an immediate payment equal to the present value of the anticipated future payments to be made by us under the Tax Receivable Agreements (determined by applying a discount rate of the lesser of 6.50% per annum, compounded annually, or one-year London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) plus 100 basis points); and such payment is expected to be substantial. The calculation of anticipated future payments will be based upon certain assumptions and deemed events set forth in the Tax Receivable Agreements, including (i) the assumption that we have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize the tax benefits covered by the Tax Receivable Agreements, (ii) the assumption that any SES Holdings LLC Units (other than those held by us) outstanding on the termination date are exchanged on the termination date and (iii) certain loss or credit carryovers will be utilized in the taxable year that includes the termination date. Any early termination payment may be made significantly in advance of the actual realization, if any, of the future tax benefits to which the termination payment relates.
As a result of either an early termination or a “change of control” (as defined in the Tax Receivable Agreements, as amended), we could be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements that exceed our actual cash tax savings under the Tax Receivable Agreements. In these situations, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreements could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales or other forms of business combinations or changes of control. For example, if the Tax Receivable Agreements were terminated on December 31, 2020, the estimated termination payments would have been approximately $69.8 million (calculated using a discount rate equal to the lesser of 6.50% per annum, compounded annually, or one-year LIBOR plus 100 basis points, applied against an undiscounted liability of $77.0 million, based upon the last reported closing sale price of our Class A common stock on December 31, 2020) in the aggregate. The foregoing number is merely an estimate and the actual payment could differ materially. There can be no assurance that we will be able to finance our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreements.
Payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements will be based on the tax reporting positions that we will determine. The TRA Holders will not reimburse us for any payments previously made under the Tax Receivable Agreements if any tax benefits that have given rise to payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements are subsequently disallowed, except that excess payments made to the TRA Holders will be netted against payments that would otherwise be made to the TRA Holders, if any, after our determination of such excess. As a result, in such circumstances, we could make payments that are greater than our actual cash tax savings, if any, and may not be able to recoup those payments, which could adversely affect our liquidity. See “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”
If SES Holdings were to become a publicly-traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we and SES Holdings might be subject to potentially significant tax inefficiencies, and we would not be able to recover payments previously made by us under the Tax Receivable Agreements even if the corresponding tax benefits were subsequently determined to have been unavailable due to such status.
We intend to operate such that SES Holdings does not become a publicly-traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A “publicly-traded partnership” is a partnership, the interests of which are traded on an established securities market or are readily tradable on a secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof. Under certain circumstances, exchanges of SES Holdings LLC Units for shares of our Class A common stock or cash pursuant to the Eighth Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of SES Holdings (the “SES Holdings LLC Agreement”) or other transfers of SES Holdings LLC Units could cause SES Holdings to be treated as a publicly-traded partnership. Applicable U.S. Treasury regulations provide for certain safe harbors from treatment as a publicly-traded partnership, and we intend to operate such that exchanges or other transfers of SES Holdings LLC Units qualify for one or more such safe harbors. For example, we intend to limit the number of unitholders of SES Holdings and Legacy Owner Holdco, and the SES Holdings LLC Agreement provides for limitations on the ability of unitholders of SES Holdings to transfer their SES Holdings LLC Units and will provide us, as managing member of SES Holdings, with the right to impose restrictions (in addition to those already in place) on the ability of unitholders of SES Holdings to exchange their SES Holdings LLC Units pursuant to the SES Holdings LLC Agreement to the extent we believe it is necessary to ensure that SES Holdings will continue to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If SES Holdings were to become a publicly-traded partnership, significant tax inefficiencies might result for us and for SES Holdings. In addition, we may not be able to realize tax benefits covered under the Tax Receivable Agreements, and we would not be able to recover any payments previously made by us under the Tax Receivable Agreements, even if the corresponding tax benefits (including any claimed increase in the tax basis of SES Holdings’ assets) were subsequently determined to have been unavailable.
Legacy Owner Holdco and the Legacy Owners may have interests that conflict with the interests of holders of the Class A common stock.
Legacy Owner Holdco owns approximately 15.7% of the outstanding SES Holdings LLC Units. Because it holds a portion of its ownership interest in our business in the form of direct ownership interests in SES Holdings rather than through us, Legacy Owner Holdco may have conflicting interests with holders of shares of Class A common stock. For example, Legacy Owner Holdco may have different tax positions from us, and decisions we make in the course of running our business, such as with respect to mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes in control, may affect the timing and amount of payments that are received by the TRA Holders under the Tax Receivable Agreements. See “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”
Our ability to use Rockwater’s net operating loss carryforwards may be limited.
As of December 31, 2020, Rockwater had approximately $105.1 million of NOLs, which will begin to expire in 2035, approximately $62.6 million of state NOLs which will begin to expire in 2023, and approximately $6.5 million of foreign NOLs, which will begin to expire in 2037. Utilization of these NOLs depends on many factors, including our future income, which cannot be assured. In addition, Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), generally imposes an annual limitation on the amount of NOLs that may be used to offset taxable income when a corporation has undergone an “ownership change” (as determined under Section 382 of the Code). An ownership change generally occurs if one or more stockholders (or groups of stockholders) who are each deemed to own at least 5% of the relevant corporation’s stock change their ownership by more than 50 percentage points over their lowest ownership percentage within a rolling three-year period. In the event that an ownership change has occurred, or were to occur, utilization of the NOLs would be subject to an annual limitation under Section 382 of the Code, determined by multiplying the value of the relevant corporation’s stock at the time of the ownership change by the applicable long-term tax-exempt rate as defined in Section 382 of the Code, and potentially increased for certain gains recognized within five years after the ownership change if we have a net built-in gain in our assets at the time of the ownership change. Any unused annual limitation may be carried over to later years until they expire. Rockwater experienced an ownership change in connection with the Rockwater Merger. As a result, some or all of our U.S. federal, state or foreign NOLs could expire before they can be used. In addition, future ownership changes or changes to the U.S. tax laws could limit
our ability to utilize our NOLs. To the extent we are not able to offset our future income with our NOLs, this would adversely affect our operating results and cash flows if we attain profitability.
General Risks
We may not be able to finance future growth of our operations or future acquisitions, which could adversely affect our operations and financial position.
The successful execution of our growth strategy depends on our ability to generate sufficient cash flows and our access to capital, both of which are impacted by numerous factors beyond our control, including financial, business, economic and other factors, such as volatility in commodity prices and pressure from competitors. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flows or obtain additional capital on favorable terms or at all, we may be unable to continue growing our business, conduct necessary corporate activities, take advantage of business opportunities that arise or engage in activities that may be in our long-term best interest, which may adversely impact our ability to sustain or improve our current level of profitability.
The growth of our business through acquisitions may expose us to various risks, including those relating to difficulties in identifying suitable, accretive acquisition opportunities and integrating businesses, assets and personnel, as well as difficulties in obtaining financing for targeted acquisitions and the potential for increased leverage or debt service requirements.
As a component of our business strategy, we intend to pursue selected, accretive acquisitions of complementary assets, businesses and technologies. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including:
● unanticipated costs and assumption of liabilities and exposure to unforeseen liabilities of the acquired business, including but not limited to environmental liabilities;
● difficulties in integrating the operations and assets of the acquired business and the acquired personnel;
● limitations on our ability to properly assess and maintain an effective internal control environment over an acquired business;
● potential losses of key employees and customers of the acquired business;
● risks of entering markets in which we have limited prior experience; and
● increases in our expenses and working capital requirements.
In evaluating acquisitions, we generally prepare one or more financial cases based on a number of business, industry, economic, legal, regulatory and other assumptions applicable to the proposed transaction. Although we expect a reasonable basis will exist for those assumptions, the assumptions will generally involve current estimates of future conditions. Realization of many of the assumptions will be beyond our control. Moreover, the uncertainty and risk of inaccuracy associated with any financial projection will increase with the length of the forecasted period. Some acquisitions may not be accretive in the near term and will be accretive in the long term only if we are able to timely and effectively integrate the underlying assets and such assets perform at or near the levels anticipated in our acquisition projections.
The process of integrating an acquired business may involve unforeseen costs and delays or other operational, technical and financial difficulties and may require a significant amount of time and resources. Our failure to successfully incorporate the acquired business and assets into our existing operations or to minimize any unforeseen operational difficulties could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, there is intense competition for acquisition opportunities in our industry. Competition for acquisitions may increase the cost of, or cause us to refrain from, completing acquisitions.
In addition, we may not have sufficient capital resources to complete any additional acquisitions. We may incur substantial indebtedness to finance future acquisitions and also may issue equity, debt or convertible securities in connection with such acquisitions. Debt service requirements could represent a significant burden on our results of operations and financial condition and the issuance of additional equity or convertible securities could be dilutive to our existing stockholders. Furthermore, we may not be able to obtain additional financing on satisfactory terms. Even if we have access to the necessary capital, we may be unable to continue to identify suitable acquisition opportunities, negotiate acceptable terms or successfully acquire identified targets.
Our success depends on key members of our management, the loss of any of whom could disrupt our business operations.
We depend to a large extent on the services of some of our executive officers. The loss of the services of one or more of our key executives could increase our exposure to the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section. We do not maintain key person insurance on any of our personnel.
We may be required to take write-downs of the carrying values of our long-lived assets and finite-lived intangible assets.
We evaluate our long-lived assets, such as property and equipment, and finite-lived intangible assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying value may not be recoverable. Recoverability is measured by a comparison of their carrying amount to the estimated undiscounted cash flows to be generated by those assets. Based on specific market factors and circumstances at the time of prospective impairment reviews and the continuing evaluation of development plans, economics and other factors, we may be required to write down the carrying value of our long-lived and finite-lived intangible assets. For the year ended December 31, 2020, we recorded $7.9 million of abandonment charges to write down the carrying value of our long-lived assets and $9.1 million of impairment charges to write down the carrying value of our trademarks. We did not record an impairment on our definite-lived intangible assets.
We may be required to take a write-down of the carrying value of goodwill.
We had no goodwill as of December 31, 2020, but we could add goodwill in the future in connection with business combinations. We conduct our annual goodwill impairment assessment during the fourth quarter of each year, or more frequently if an event or circumstance indicates that the carrying value of a reporting unit may exceed the fair value. When possible impairment is indicated, we value the implied goodwill to compare it with the carrying amount of goodwill. If the carrying amount of goodwill exceeds its implied fair value, an impairment charge is recorded. The fair value of goodwill is based on estimates and assumptions applied by us such as revenue growth rates, operating margins, weighted-average costs of capital, market multiples, and future market conditions and as affected by numerous factors, including the general economic environment and levels of exploration and production activity of oil and gas companies, our financial performance and trends, and our strategies and business plans, among others. As a result of this annual impairment assessment, we may be required to write down the carrying value of goodwill. For the year ended December 31, 2019, we recorded $4.4 million of goodwill impairment in connection with the Affirm reporting unit based on the then-expected proceeds from the sale of our Affirm business. For the year ended December 31, 2020, we impaired $266.9 million of goodwill in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
We lease space for our principal executive offices in Houston and Gainesville, Texas and we also lease local office space in the regions in which we operate. Additionally, we own and lease numerous storage facilities, trucking
facilities and sales and administrative offices throughout the geographic areas in which we operate. In connection with our Oilfield Chemicals segment, we own one primary manufacturing facility in Texas and two regional distribution centers, and we lease two regional distribution centers through which we provide products to our customers in all major U.S. shale basins. Our leased properties are subject to various lease terms and expirations.
We believe all the properties that we currently occupy are suitable for their intended uses. We believe that our current facilities are sufficient to conduct our operations. However, we continue to evaluate the purchase or lease of additional properties or the sale or consolidation of our properties, as our business requires.
The following table shows our active leased and owned properties categorized by segment as of December 31, 2020:
Region
Water Services
Water Infrastructure
Oilfield Chemicals
Corporate & Other
Total
Leased
-
Owned
-

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We are not currently a party to any legal proceedings that, if determined adversely against us, individually or in the aggregate, would have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. We are, however, named defendants in certain lawsuits, investigations and claims arising in the ordinary course of conducting our business, including certain environmental claims and employee-related matters, and we expect that we will be named defendants in similar lawsuits, investigations and claims in the future. While the outcome of these lawsuits, investigations and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we do not expect these matters to have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, cash flows or financial condition. We have not assumed any liabilities arising out of these existing lawsuits, investigations and claims.
As previously disclosed, certain subsidiaries acquired in the Rockwater Merger are under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It is alleged that certain employees at some of the facilities altered emissions controls systems on less than 5% of the vehicles in the fleet in violation of the Clean Air Act. The Company is continuing to cooperate with the relevant authorities to resolve the matter, and while at this time no administrative, civil or criminal charges have been brought against the Company, the Company accrued $4.3 million related to the settlement of this investigation and made payments of $1.7 million related to this accrual during 2020. The Company does not believe that the ultimate resolution of this matter will be material to the Company’s financial statements.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Our Class A common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the ticker symbol “WTTR.” As of February 22, 2021 there were 131 stockholders of record of our Class A common stock.
Dividend Policy
We have not previously paid dividends to holders of our Class A common stock. We currently intend to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the expansion of our business and repay any debt we may incur. While we have no current intention of declaring or paying any cash dividends to holders of our Class A common stock in the near future, our dividend policy is periodically reviewed. Our future dividend policy is within the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon then-existing conditions, including our results of operations and financial condition, capital requirements, business prospects, statutory and contractual restrictions on our ability to pay dividends, including restrictions contained in our Credit Agreement and other factors our board of directors may deem relevant.
Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
Our only equity compensation plans are the Select Energy Services, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (as amended, the “2016 Plan”) and the Select Energy Services, Inc. Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the "ESPP"). The 2016 Plan was approved by our stockholders prior to our initial public offering but has not been approved by our public stockholders; however, the first amendment to the 2016 Plan was approved by our public stockholders in October 2017 and the second amendment to the 2016 Plan was approved by our public stockholders in May 2020. The ESPP was approved by our stockholders on May 4, 2018. See Note 12-Equity-Based Compensation for a description of our equity compensation plans.
The following table provides information about our Class A common stock that may be issued under our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2020.
Plan Category
Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights
Weighted-average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights(1)
Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in column (a))(2)
(a)
(b)
(c)
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders
3,519,159
$16.11
3,810,684
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders
-
-
-
Total
3,519,159
$16.11
3,810,684
(1)
Only stock options have an exercise price.
(2)
This column reflects the total number of shares of Class A Common Stock (i) subject to outstanding rights under the ESPP and (ii) remaining available for issuance under the 2016 Plan and the ESPP. Shares remaining available under the 2016 Plan may be issued other than with respect to options, warrants or rights.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Approximate Dollar Value of
Total Number of
Average Price
Shares that May Yet be Purchased
Period
Shares Purchased
Paid per Share(1)
Under the Plans or Programs(2)
October 1 through October 31, 2020
-
$
-
$
2,377,345
November 1 through November 30, 2020
-
$
-
$
2,377,345
December 1 through December 31, 2020
-
$
-
$
2,377,345
(1) The average price paid per share includes commissions.
(2) During 2019 and 2018, our board of directors approved programs permitting the Company to repurchase a portion of its outstanding shares of Class A common stock in the open market not to exceed $45.0 million in the aggregate.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
The following table presents our selected historical data for the periods and as of the dates indicated. The statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016 and balance sheet data as of December 31, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016 were derived from our audited historical consolidated financial statements. The historical selected financial data should be read in conjunction with “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the historical consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)
Revenue
Water services
$
319,766
$
772,311
$
896,783
$
418,869
$
216,550
Water infrastructure
125,356
221,593
230,115
163,328
52,054
Oilfield chemicals
159,983
268,614
259,791
41,586
-
Other
-
29,071
142,241
68,708
33,795
Total revenue
605,105
1,291,589
1,528,930
692,491
302,399
Costs of revenue
Water services
291,734
598,405
681,546
317,262
176,954
Water infrastructure
99,546
166,962
160,072
120,510
45,455
Oilfield chemicals
143,550
230,434
233,454
37,024
-
Other
30,239
124,839
58,270
29,098
Depreciation and amortization
98,800
116,809
130,537
101,645
95,020
Total costs of revenue
634,370
1,142,849
1,330,448
634,711
346,527
Gross (loss) profit
(29,265)
148,740
198,482
57,780
(44,128)
Operating expenses
Selling, general and administrative
74,364
111,622
103,156
82,403
34,643
Depreciation and amortization
2,872
3,860
3,176
1,804
2,087
Impairment of goodwill and trademark
276,016
4,396
17,894
-
138,666
Impairment and abandonment of property and equipment
7,910
3,715
6,657
-
60,026
Impairment of cost-method investment
-
-
2,000
-
-
Lease abandonment costs
4,350
2,073
3,925
3,572
19,423
Total operating expenses
365,512
125,666
136,808
87,779
254,845
(Loss) income from operations
(394,777)
23,074
61,674
(29,999)
(298,973)
Other (expense) income
(Losses) gains on sales of property and equipment and divestitures, net
(2,815)
(11,626)
3,804
2,726
Interest expense, net
(2,136)
(2,688)
(5,311)
(6,629)
(16,128)
Foreign currency gain (loss), net
(1,292)
-
Other (expense) income, net
(3,519)
(2,948)
(2,872)
(2,357)
(Loss) income before income tax benefit (expense)
(403,208)
6,085
56,003
(35,978)
(314,472)
Income tax benefit (expense)
1,476
(1,949)
(1,704)
Net (loss) income
(401,732)
4,136
54,299
(35,127)
(313,948)
Less: net loss attributable to SES Holdings
-
-
-
-
306,481
Less: net loss (income) attributable to noncontrolling interests
63,048
(1,352)
(17,787)
18,311
6,424
Net (loss) income attributable to Select Energy Services, Inc.
$
(338,684)
$
2,784
$
36,512
$
(16,816)
$
(1,043)
Allocation of net (loss) income attributable to:
Class A stockholders
$
(338,684)
$
2,784
$
35,720
(12,560)
(199)
Class A-1 stockholders
-
-
-
(3,691)
(844)
Class A-2 stockholders
-
-
(565)
-
Class B stockholders
-
-
-
-
-
$
(338,684)
$
2,784
$
36,512
$
(16,816)
$
(1,043)
Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)
Weighted-average shares outstanding:
Class A-Basic
85,158,764
80,176,323
72,403,318
24,612,853
3,802,972
Class A-1-Basic
-
-
-
7,233,973
16,100,000
Class A-2-Basic
-
-
1,604,575
1,106,605
-
Class B-Basic
16,221,101
23,806,646
31,986,438
38,768,156
38,462,541
Class A-Diluted
85,158,764
80,671,329
72,642,147
24,612,853
3,802,972
Class A-1-Diluted
-
-
-
7,233,973
16,100,000
Class A-2-Diluted
-
-
1,604,575
1,106,605
-
Class B-Diluted
16,221,101
23,806,646
31,986,438
38,768,156
38,462,541
Net (loss) income per share attributable to common stockholders:
Class A-Basic
$
(3.98)
$
0.03
$
0.49
$
(0.51)
$
(0.05)
Class A-1-Basic
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
(0.51)
$
(0.05)
Class A-2-Basic
$
-
$
-
$
0.49
$
(0.51)
$
-
Class B-Basic
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
Class A-Diluted
$
(3.98)
$
0.03
$
0.49
$
(0.51)
$
(0.05)
Class A-1-Diluted
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
(0.51)
$
(0.05)
Class A-2-Diluted
$
-
$
-
$
0.49
$
(0.51)
$
-
Class B-Diluted
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
Statement of Cash Flow Data:
Net cash provided by (used in):
Operating activities
$
105,810
$
203,948
$
232,409
$
(2,899)
$
5,131
Investing activities
(5,393)
(77,357)
(168,361)
(156,731)
(26,955)
Financing activities
(10,710)
(64,690)
(49,293)
122,397
45,560
Balance Sheet Data (at period end):
Cash and cash equivalents
$
169,039
$
79,268
$
17,237
$
2,774
$
40,041
Total assets
875,359
1,347,620
1,360,605
1,356,368
405,066
Long-term liabilities
80,719
82,927
70,113
107,806
23,974
Other Financial Data:
(unaudited)
EBITDA(1)
$
(299,400)
$
129,442
$
195,027
$
74,100
$
(201,237)
Adjusted EBITDA(1)
20,905
182,732
257,619
117,262
16,944
(1)
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP (as defined below) financial measures. We define EBITDA as net income/(loss), plus interest expense, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization. We define Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA plus/(minus) loss/(income) from discontinued operations, plus any impairment charges or asset write-offs pursuant to accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“GAAP”), plus non-cash losses on the sale of assets or subsidiaries, non-recurring compensation expense, non-cash compensation expense, and non-recurring or unusual expenses or charges, including severance expenses, transaction costs, or facilities-related exit and disposal-related expenditures and plus/(minus) foreign currency losses/(gains). The adjustments to EBITDA are generally consistent with such adjustments described in our Credit Facility. Our board of directors, management and investors use EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to assess our financial performance because it allows them to compare our operating performance on a consistent basis across periods by removing the effects of our capital structure (such as varying levels of interest expense), asset base (such as depreciation and amortization) and non-recurring items outside the control of our management team. We present EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA
because we believe they provide useful information regarding the factors and trends affecting our business in addition to measures calculated under GAAP.
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA each have limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered as alternatives to net income, operating income, cash flow from operating activities or any other measure of financial performance presented in accordance with GAAP. Other companies in our industry may calculate EBITDA or Adjusted EBITDA differently, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.
The following table shows a reconciliation of (i) EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, as applicable, to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, net loss.
Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)
Net (loss) income
$
(401,732)
$
4,136
$
54,299
$
(35,127)
$
(313,948)
Interest expense, net
2,136
2,688
5,311
6,629
16,128
Income tax (benefit) expense
(1,476)
1,949
1,704
(851)
(524)
Depreciation and amortization
101,672
120,669
133,713
103,449
97,107
EBITDA
(299,400)
129,442
195,027
74,100
(201,237)
Impairment of goodwill and trademark(1)
276,016
4,396
17,894
-
138,666
Non-cash loss on sale of assets or subsidiaries(2)
9,767
21,679
3,775
1,740
(97)
Impairment and abandonment of property and equipment(1)
7,910
3,715
6,657
-
60,026
Non-recurring severance expenses(1)
7,168
1,691
1,220
4,161
Non-cash compensation expenses
5,764
15,485
10,371
7,691
(487)
Non-recurring transaction costs(3)
4,439
4,697
7,809
10,179
(236)
Lease abandonment costs(1)
4,350
2,073
3,925
3,572
19,423
Yard closure costs related to consolidating operations(1)
2,961
-
-
-
-
Other non-recurring charges(3)
1,969
(173)
4,755
3,563
-
Foreign currency (gain) loss, net
(39)
(273)
1,292
(281)
-
Non-recurring change in vacation policy(4)
-
-
2,894
-
-
Impairment of cost-method investment
-
-
2,000
-
-
Non-recurring phantom equity and IPO-related compensation
-
-
-
12,537
-
Adjusted EBITDA
$
20,905
$
182,732
$
257,619
$
117,262
$
16,944
(1) For 2020, these costs were due to the significant adverse change to the demand for the Company’s services in connection with a sharp decline in the price of oil. For 2019, these costs were due primarily to the dissolution of our divested service lines. For 2018, these costs are associated with severance incurred in connection with the retirement of our former Chief Administrative Officer as well as the termination of certain Canadian employees. For 2017, these costs are associated with severance incurred in connection with the Rockwater Merger. For 2016, these costs are associated with the reduction in headcount as a result of an industry downturn.
(2) For 2020, the losses were primarily due to sales of underutilized or obsolete property and equipment. For 2019, these costs primarily related to losses on divestitures and related sales of property and equipment in connection with the wind-down of former services lines. For 2018 and 2017, losses were in connection with sales of property and equipment.
(3) For 2020, these costs were primarily related to certain subsidiaries acquired in the Rockwater Merger as well as legal related due diligence costs. For 2019, these costs primarily related to the dissolution of our divested service lines as well as certain rebranding costs. For 2018, these costs are primarily related to the Rockwater Merger. For 2017, these costs are primarily associated with the Rockwater Merger and GRR Acquisition. For 2016, these transaction costs are associated with our evaluation and negotiation of various transactions that never materialized.
(4) For 2018, these costs represent a one-time accrual to allow for carryover of unused vacation. Previously, any unused vacation was forfeited at year-end.

---

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data”. This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements based on our current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors as described under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” We assume no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements.
Overview
We are a leading provider of comprehensive water-management and chemical solutions to the oil and gas industry in the United States (“U.S.”). We also develop, manufacture and deliver a full suite of chemical products for use in oil and gas well completion and production operations. As a leader in the water solutions industry, we place the utmost importance on safe, environmentally responsible management of oilfield water throughout the lifecycle of a well. Additionally, we believe that responsibly managing water resources through our operations to help conserve and protect the environment in the communities in which we operate is paramount to our continued success.
In many regions of the country, there has been growing concern about the volumes of water required for new oil and gas well completions. Working with our customers and local communities, we strive to be an industry leader in the development of cost-effective alternatives to fresh water. Specifically, we offer services that enable our E&P customers to treat and reuse produced water, thereby reducing the demand for fresh water while also reducing the volumes of saltwater that must be disposed by injection. In many areas, we have also acquired sources of non-potable water, such as brackish water or municipal or industrial effluent. Through our expertise in chemical technologies and our FluidMatch™ design solutions, we provide water profiling and fluid assessment services for our customers to support the optimization of their fluid systems, enabling the economic use of these alternative sources. We also work with our E&P customers to reduce the environmental footprint of their operations through the use of temporary hose and permanent pipeline systems, which are supported by extensive monitoring and automation technology solutions that provide safer and more efficient water resource management. These solutions significantly reduce the demand for trucking operations, thereby reducing gasoline and diesel exhaust emissions, increasing safety and decreasing traffic congestion in nearby communities.
Recent Trends and Outlook
Significant challenges that emerged during the year ended December 31, 2020, and that are expected to continue, have had and will likely continue to have a negative impact on our results of operations. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions in global oil demand and impacted economic growth in the U.S. as well as internationally. In response, volatility in financial markets has also significantly increased, making it more difficult for companies to access capital at a reasonable cost. As a result of these market disruptions, oilfield activity has declined significantly, and our 2020 results have been negatively impacted. With continued production cuts from OPEC, combined with some recovery in oil demand during the second half of 2020, the average West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) price per barrel increased from $36.58 during the first half of 2020 to an average price of $41.70 per barrel in the second half of 2020 and $48.35 at 2020 year-end. In conjunction with improved oil prices, we began to see improving activity levels throughout the second half of 2020 and anticipate continued activity improvements in 2021 relative to the levels seen in the second half of 2020. However, we do not anticipate an immediate recovery to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, and can make no assurance that any further recovery will continue into the future.
We believe the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations have had, and will likely continue to have, a material negative impact on our financial results, and such negative impact may continue well beyond the containment of the pandemic until economies, associated oil demand and resulting oilfield activity recovers. We believe global oil demand is expected to remain challenged at least until the COVID-19 pandemic can be contained, and any material increases to oil supply in the near-term could further challenge oil prices and subsequently the activity
levels of our customers and the resulting demand for our services. We cannot provide assurance that our assumptions used to estimate our future financial results will be correct given the unpredictable nature of the current market environment after the rapid decline in the demand for oil and demand for our services. As a consequence, our ability to accurately forecast our activity and profitability is uncertain.
The magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic is also uncertain. Therefore, we cannot estimate the impact on our business, financial condition or near- or longer-term financial or operational results with reasonable certainty. We have taken further actions to protect our balance sheet and maintain our liquidity, including significantly decreasing our operating expenses by reducing headcount, reducing salaries and director compensation, closing yard locations, idling facilities, reducing third-party expenses and streamlining operations, as well as reducing capital expenditures. We are also deferring employer payroll tax payments in accordance with the provisions of the CARES Act, and may take advantage of future legislation passed by the United States Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this environment, the duration of which remains uncertain, the Company has planned for a range of scenarios and has taken a number of actions. To protect our workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken steps to support our people who are affected by the disease, manage work-from-home scheduling as appropriate, limit on-site visitors, and monitor and consistently communicate with those who are required to be at a work location, while also providing these employees with additional personal protective equipment.
Based on our current cash and cash equivalents balance, operating cash flow, available borrowings under our Credit Agreement and the ongoing actions discussed above, we believe that we will be able to maintain sufficient liquidity to satisfy our obligations and remain in compliance with our existing debt covenants for the next twelve months, prior to giving effect to any future financing that may occur.
During the year ended December 31, 2020, the average spot price of WTI crude oil was $39.16 versus an average price of $56.98 for the year ended December 31, 2019. The average Henry Hub natural gas spot price during the year ended December 31, 2020, was $2.04 versus an average of $2.57 for the year ended December 31, 2019. The significant decline in oil and gas prices in 2020 relative to 2019, as well as the oil pricing volatility driven by market dislocation, has been driven largely by decreased demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as increased utilization of existing storage capacity, which has resulted in many of our E&P customers being forced to shut-in production for some time period. Much of this shut-in production has since come back online during the second half of 2020.
Many of our customers have also pledged to prioritize managing their capital spending to within cash flow from operations, with some targeting reinvestment rates below 80% of their 2019 budgets, and this trend may extend beyond 2020. Consolidation among our customers and decreases in our customers’ capital budgeting can impact the size of our market in the near term and the resulting demand for our services. In light of these factors, combined with the downward revisions made to many of our customers’ respective annual capital budgets and financial outlooks, this has led to decreased activity for us relative to prior-year levels. Additionally, the current market environment may make it challenging for distressed oil and gas companies to resolve their debt covenant and liquidity challenges in the near-term, potentially resulting in a number of restructuring activities, including bankruptcies, in the industry. While we see no immediate need for additional capital given our liquidity position, this difficulty in accessing capital markets may negatively impact some of our highly leveraged customers and competitors.
Outside of the macroeconomic challenges, from an operational standpoint, many of the recent trends still apply to ongoing unconventional oil and gas development. For example, while we believe leading-edge lateral lengths and proppant use are plateauing, the average operator continues to catch up to this leading edge and many smaller operators with less robust completion designs may be challenged in this environment. The continued trend towards multi-well pad development, executed within a limited time frame, has increased the overall complexity of well completions, while increasing frac efficiency and the use of lower-cost in-basin sand, all of which has decreased total costs for our customers.
This multi-well pad development, combined with recent upstream acreage consolidation and the emerging trends around the reuse applications of produced water, particularly in the Permian Basin, provides significant opportunity for companies like us that can deliver increasingly complex solutions for our E&P customers across the full
completion and production lifecycle of wells. However, we note the continued efficiency gains in the well completions process can limit the days we spend on the wellsite and therefore, negatively impact the total revenue opportunity for certain of our services utilizing day-rate pricing models.
The trend of increased use of produced water will require additional chemical treatment solutions, which we are well positioned to provide given our water treatment capabilities, our WCS team and our knowledge base within our Oilfield Chemicals segment. This trend also supports more complex “on the fly” solutions that treat, proportion, and blend various streams of water and chemicals at the wellsite. This complexity favors service companies able to provide advanced technology solutions that are able to economically compete with alternative historical solutions.
Regardless of these operational trends, the current environment is one of the most challenging in decades for the oilfield services industry due to the large and sudden decline in oil demand and consequent decline in oil prices. Many operators are prioritizing decreases in their activity levels and pursuing near-term cost savings, which negatively impacts the demand and pricing for our services.
Our Segments
Our services are offered through three reportable segments: (i) Water Services; (ii) Water Infrastructure; and (iii) Oilfield Chemicals.
● Water Services. The Water Services segment consists of the Company’s services businesses, including water transfer, flowback and well testing, fluids hauling, water containment and water network automation, primarily serving E&P companies. Additionally, this segment includes the operations of our accommodations and rentals business.
● Water Infrastructure. The Water Infrastructure segment consists of the Company’s infrastructure assets, including operations associated with our water sourcing and pipeline infrastructure, our water recycling solutions and infrastructure, and our produced water gathering systems and saltwater disposal wells, primarily serving E&P companies.
● Oilfield Chemicals. The Oilfield Chemicals segment provides technical solutions and expertise related to chemical applications in the oil and gas industry. We also have significant capabilities in supplying logistics for chemical applications. We develop, manufacture and provide a full suite of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, stimulation, cementing, production, pipelines and well completions. Given the breadth of chemicals and application expertise we provide, our customers range from pressure pumpers to major integrated and independent U.S. and international oil and gas producers. This segment also utilizes its chemical experience and lab testing capabilities to customize tailored water treatment solutions designed to maximize the effectiveness of and optimize the efficiencies of the fracturing fluid system in conjunction with the quality of water used in well completions.
The results of our divested service lines that were previously a part of our former Wellsite Services segment, including the operations of our Affirm subsidiary, our sand hauling operations and our Canadian operations are combined in the “Other” category. As of December 31, 2019, these operations have ceased.
How We Generate Revenue
We currently generate the majority of our revenue through our water-management services associated with hydraulic fracturing, provided through our Water Services and Water Infrastructure segments. The majority of this revenue is realized through customer agreements with fixed pricing terms and is recognized when delivery of services is provided, generally at our customers’ sites. While we have some long-term pricing arrangements, particularly in our Water Infrastructure segment, most of our water and water-related services are priced based on prevailing market conditions, giving due consideration to the specific requirements of the customer.
We also generate revenue by providing completion, specialty chemicals and production chemicals through our Oilfield Chemicals segment. We invoice the majority of our Oilfield Chemicals customers for services provided based on the quantity of chemicals used or pursuant to short-term contracts as the customers’ needs arise.
Costs of Conducting Our Business
The principal expenses involved in conducting our business are labor costs, vehicle and equipment costs (including depreciation, repair, rental and maintenance and leasing costs), raw materials and water sourcing costs and fuel costs. Our fixed costs are relatively low. Most of the costs of serving our customers are variable, i.e., they are only incurred when we provide water and water-related services or chemicals and chemical-related services to our customers.
Labor costs associated with our employees and contract labor comprise the largest portion of our cost of doing business. We incurred labor and labor-related costs of $243.6 million, $477.9 million and $545.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The majority of our recurring labor costs are variable and are incurred only while we are providing operational services. We also incur costs to employ personnel to sell and supervise our services and perform maintenance on our assets, which is not directly tied to our level of business activity. Additionally, we incur selling, general and administrative costs for compensation of our administrative personnel at our field sites and in our operational and corporate headquarters. In light of the challenging activity and pricing trends, management took direct action during the year ended December 31, 2020, to reduce operating and equipment costs, as well as selling, general and administrative costs, in order to proactively manage these expenses as a percentage of revenue.
We incur significant vehicle and equipment costs in connection with the services we provide, including depreciation, repair and maintenance, rental and leasing costs. We incurred vehicle and equipment costs of $157.6 million, $245.9 million and $284.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Due to current market conditions and the decreased demand for our services, we took significant direct action during the year ended December 31, 2020 to reduce ongoing rental and leasing costs.
We incur raw material costs in manufacturing our chemical products, as well as for water that we source for our customers. We incurred raw material costs of $154.2 million, $274.1 million and $283.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
We incur variable transportation costs associated with our service lines, predominately fuel and freight. We incurred fuel and freight costs of $35.6 million, $81.3 million and $97.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Fuel prices impact our transportation costs, which affect the pricing and demand for our services and therefore our results of operations.
Public Company Costs
General and administrative expenses related to being a publicly-traded company include: Exchange Act reporting expenses; expenses associated with compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley; expenses associated with maintaining our listing on the NYSE; incremental independent auditor fees; incremental legal fees; investor relations expenses; registrar and transfer agent fees; incremental director and officer liability insurance costs; and director compensation. We expect that general and administrative expenses related to being a publicly-traded company will remain generally consistent with costs incurred during 2020. Costs incurred by us for corporate and other overhead expenses will be reimbursed by SES Holdings pursuant to the SES Holdings LLC Agreement.
How We Evaluate Our Operations
We use a variety of operational and financial metrics to assess our performance. Among other measures, management considers each of the following:
● Revenue;
● Gross Profit;
● Gross Margins;
● EBITDA; and
● Adjusted EBITDA.
Revenue
We analyze our revenue and assess our performance by comparing actual monthly revenue to our internal projections and across periods. We also assess incremental changes in revenue compared to incremental changes in direct operating costs and selling, general and administrative expenses across our reportable segments to identify potential areas for improvement, as well as to determine whether segment performance is meeting management’s expectations.
Gross Profit
To measure our financial performance, we analyze our gross profit, which we define as revenues less direct operating expenses (including depreciation and amortization expenses). We believe gross profit provides insight into profitability and true operating performance of our assets. We also compare gross profit to prior periods and across segments to identify trends as well as underperforming segments.
Gross Margins
Gross margins provide an important gauge of how effective we are at converting revenue into profits. This metric works in tandem with gross profit to ensure that we do not increase gross profit at the expense of lower margins, nor pursue higher gross margins at the expense of declining gross profits. We track gross margins by segment and service line and compare them across prior periods and across segments and service lines to identify trends as well as underperforming segments.
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA
We view EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA as important indicators of performance. We define EBITDA as net income/(loss), plus interest expense, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization. We define Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA plus/(minus) loss/(income) from discontinued operations, plus any impairment charges or asset write-offs pursuant to GAAP, plus non-cash losses on the sale of assets or subsidiaries, non-recurring compensation expense, non-cash compensation expense, and non-recurring or unusual expenses or charges, including severance expenses, transaction costs, or facilities-related exit and disposal-related expenditures and plus/(minus) foreign currency losses/(gains). The adjustments to EBITDA are generally consistent with such adjustments described in our Credit Facility. See “-Comparison of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for more information and a reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss), the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.
Factors Affecting the Comparability of Our Results of Operations to Our Historical Results of Operations
Our future results of operations may not be comparable to our historical results of operations for the periods presented, primarily for the reasons described below.
Acquisition and Divestiture Activity
As described above, we are continuously evaluating potential investments. To the extent we consummate acquisitions, any incremental revenues or expenses from such transactions are not included in our historical results of operations.
Well Chemical Services Acquisition
On September 30, 2019, we completed our acquisition of WCS. Our historical financial statements for periods prior to September 30, 2019, do not include the results of operations of WCS.
Pro Well Acquisition
On November 20, 2018, we completed our acquisition of the assets of Pro Well. Our historical financial statements for periods prior to November 20, 2018, do not include the results of operations of Pro Well.
Affirm Divestitures
We sold the Affirm crane and field services businesses on February 26, 2019 and June 28, 2019, respectively. Affirm accounted for $21.8 million and $58.9 million of revenue during 2019 and 2018, respectively. Following the two divestitures, the divested operations were not included in the consolidated results of operations.
Canadian Operations Divestitures
On March 19, 2019, we sold over half of our Canadian operations and on April 1, 2019, we sold and wound down the rest of the Canadian operations. Canadian operations accounted for $8.2 million and $48.6 million of revenue during 2019 and 2018, respectively. Following the divestitures, the divested Canadian operations were not included in the consolidated results of operations.
Sand Hauling Wind Down
During 2019, we wound down our sand hauling operations and sold certain of our sand hauling property and equipment. Sand hauling accounted for $3.3 million and $37.0 million of revenue during 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Proceeds received from Divestitures and Wind Down
During 2019, we received $30.1 million from divestitures and fixed asset sales activity in connection with the sale and wind down of our Affirm subsidiary and the sand hauling and Canadian operations.
Results of Operations
The following table sets forth our results of operations, including revenue by segment, for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the year ended December 31, 2019. The results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 is set forth in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 under the caption “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
Year Ended December 31, 2020 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2019
Year ended December 31,
Change
Dollars
Percentage
(in thousands)
Revenue
Water Services
$
319,766
$
772,311
$
(452,545)
(58.6)
%
Water Infrastructure
125,356
221,593
(96,237)
(43.4)
%
Oilfield Chemicals
159,983
268,614
(108,631)
(40.4)
%
Other
-
29,071
(29,071)
(100.0)
%
Total revenue
605,105
1,291,589
(686,484)
(53.2)
%
Costs of revenue
Water Services
291,734
598,405
(306,671)
(51.2)
%
Water Infrastructure
99,546
166,962
(67,416)
(40.4)
%
Oilfield Chemicals
143,550
230,434
(86,884)
(37.7)
%
Other
30,239
(29,499)
(97.6)
%
Depreciation and amortization
98,800
116,809
(18,009)
(15.4)
%
Total costs of revenue
634,370
1,142,849
(508,479)
(44.5)
%
Gross (loss) profit
(29,265)
148,740
(178,005)
(119.7)
%
Operating expenses
Selling, general and administrative
74,364
111,622
(37,258)
(33.4)
%
Depreciation and amortization
2,872
3,860
(988)
(25.6)
%
Impairment of goodwill and trademark
276,016
4,396
271,620
NM
Impairment and abandonment of property and equipment
7,910
3,715
4,195
112.9
%
Lease abandonment costs
4,350
2,073
2,277
109.8
%
Total operating expenses
365,512
125,666
239,846
NM
(Loss) income from operations
(394,777)
23,074
(417,851)
NM
Other (expense) income
Losses on sales of property and equipment and divestitures, net
(2,815)
(11,626)
8,811
(75.8)
%
Interest expense, net
(2,136)
(2,688)
(20.5)
%
Foreign currency gain, net
(234)
(85.7)
%
Other expense, net
(3,519)
(2,948)
(571)
19.4
%
(Loss) income before income tax benefit (expense)
(403,208)
6,085
(409,293)
NM
Income tax benefit (expense)
1,476
(1,949)
3,425
NM
Net (loss) income
$
(401,732)
$
4,136
$
(405,868)
NM
Revenue
Our revenue decreased $686.5 million, or 53.2%, to $605.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $1.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019. The decrease was driven by a $452.5 million decline in Water Services revenue, a $96.2 million decline in Water Infrastructure revenue, and a $108.6 million decline in Oilfield Chemicals revenue. These declines were primarily due to lower demand for our services resulting from a reduction in drilling and completions activity, lower oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reduced pricing for some of our services. Also impacting the decline was $29.1 million lower revenue from the combination of our Affirm subsidiary, sand hauling operations and Canadian operations, all of which were fully divested and wound down during 2019. For the year ended December 31, 2020, our Water Services, Water Infrastructure, Oilfield Chemicals and Other segments constituted 52.9%, 20.7 %, 26.4 % and 0.0% of our total revenue, respectively, compared to 59.8%, 17.2%, 20.8% and 2.2%, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2019. The revenue changes by reportable segment are as follows:
Water Services. Revenue decreased $452.5 million, or 58.6%, to $319.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $772.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower demand for our services resulting from a reduction in drilling and completions activity, lower oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reduced pricing for some of our services.
Water Infrastructure. Revenue decreased by $96.2 million, or 43.4%, to $125.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $221.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower demand for our services resulting from a reduction in completions activity, lower oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic, partially offset by a full year of operations from our New Mexico pipeline.
Oilfield Chemicals. Revenue decreased $108.6 million, or 40.4%, to $160.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $268.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower demand for our products and services resulting from a reduction in completions activity, lower oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reduced pricing for some of our services, partially offset by incremental revenue from the WCS acquisition.
Other. There was no Other revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $29.1 million in the year ended December 31, 2019, as our Affirm subsidiary, sand hauling operations and Canadian operations were divested and wound down during 2019.
Costs of Revenue
Costs of revenue decreased $508.5 million, or 44.5%, to $634.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $1.1 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019. The decrease was primarily due to a $306.7 million decline in Water Services costs, a $67.4 million decline in Water Infrastructure costs, and a $86.9 million decline in Oilfield Chemicals costs due to lower revenue discussed above. Also contributing to the decline was $29.5 million lower combined costs from our Affirm subsidiary, sand hauling operations and Canadian operations, all of which were divested and wound down during 2019. Further, depreciation and amortization expense decreased by $18.0 million, primarily due to the 2019 divestitures and lower capital expenditures in the year ended December 31, 2020.
Water Services. Cost of revenue decreased $306.7 million, or 51.2 %, to $291.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $598.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. Cost of revenue decreased due to reduced customer drilling and completions activity levels in the year ended December 31, 2020. Costs of revenue as a percent of revenue increased to 91.2% from 77.5% due to significant reductions in revenue-generating activity and pricing reductions we could not fully offset with cost reductions as well as yard closure costs in connection with our efforts to reduce and consolidate operational yards. Additionally, in conjunction with certain cost savings measures that were implemented during the year ended December 31, 2020, in response to market conditions, costs of revenue were impacted during the year ended December 31, 2020, by certain one-time costs totaling $5.6 million, including severance and yard closure costs.
Water Infrastructure. Cost of revenue decreased $67.4 million, or 40.4%, to $99.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $167.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. Cost of revenue as a percent of revenue increased to 79.4% from 75.3% primarily due to decreased pricing on non-pipeline water sources as well as the acceleration of certain prepaid expenses relating to water rights secured for a customer, due to the bankruptcy of such customer. Additionally, in conjunction with certain cost savings measures that were implemented during the year ended December 31, 2020, in response to market conditions, costs of revenue were impacted during the year ended December 31, 2020 by certain one-time costs totaling $0.5 million, including severance and yard closure costs.
Oilfield Chemicals. Costs of revenue decreased $86.9 million, or 37.7%, to $143.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $230.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. Cost of revenue as a percent of revenue increased to 89.7% from 85.8% primarily due to significant reductions in revenue-generating activity we could not fully offset with cost reductions. Additionally, in conjunction with certain cost savings measures that were implemented during the year ended December 31, 2020, in response to market conditions, costs of revenue were impacted during the year ended December 31, 2020, by inventory adjustments and reserve additions of $0.6 million, non-recurring severance costs of $0.6 million, and yard closure and equipment rental return costs of $0.5 million, including costs associated with idling our Tyler, Texas manufacturing facility to consolidate production in Midland, Texas.
Other. Other costs were nominal for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $30.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to the 2019 divestitures discussed above.
Depreciation and Amortization. Depreciation and amortization expense decreased $18.0 million, or 15.4%, to $98.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $116.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to a significant reduction in capital expenditures during recent quarters as well as a $1.7 million decrease related to the 2019 divestitures discussed above.
Gross (Loss) Profit
Gross profit decreased by $178.0 million, or 119.7%, to a gross loss of $29.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to a gross profit of $148.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to lower revenue in all three segments resulting from decreased activity levels combined with decreased pricing that could not be fully offset with reductions in costs. Also impacting the decrease was $4.0 million of severance expenses and $3.0 million of yard closure costs as a result of reduced activity levels. Gross profit decreased by $145.9 million, $28.8 million and $21.7 million in our Water Services, Water Infrastructure and Oilfield Chemicals segments, respectively. This was partially offset by a $18.0 million decrease in depreciation and amortization expense. Gross margin as a percent of revenue was (4.8%) and 11.5% during the years ended December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased $37.3 million, or 33.4%, to $74.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $111.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The decrease was primarily due to reductions in wages and associated payroll taxes of $14.4 million driven by both terminations and wage reductions, plus reductions of $9.7 million in equity-based compensation costs, $6.8 million in incentive compensation costs, $4.3 million in travel, meals and entertainment costs, $3.6 million in professional fees and $5.5 million of other expenses from cost cutting measures in response to lower oil prices. The decrease was partially offset by a $3.8 million increase in bad debt expense and $3.2 million of severance expense associated with employee terminations and other cost savings measures implemented in response to market conditions.
Impairment
Goodwill and trademark impairment costs were $276.0 million and $4.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2020, all of our goodwill was impaired due to the significant decline in oil prices during the first quarter of 2020, coupled with the uncertainty associated with the future
recovery. We also recorded a $9.1 million partial impairment of our Rockwater trademark. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we incurred $4.4 million of goodwill impairment in connection with divesting Affirm.
Impairment and abandonment of property and equipment costs were $7.9 million and $3.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2020, impairment costs were comprised of leasehold improvements related to abandoned facilities, abandonment of certain saltwater and freshwater wells and obsolete machinery and equipment. For the year ended December 31, 2019, impairment costs were comprised of $1.1 million of pipelines with low utilization, $1.0 million of layflat hose considered obsolete, $0.9 million related to divested Canadian fixed assets, and $0.6 million related to an owned facility for sale.
Lease Abandonment Costs
Lease abandonment costs were $4.4 million and $2.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2020, lease abandonment costs were primarily related to newly abandoned properties associated with realignment and combining operational activity on fewer leased properties. Costs incurred in 2019 were comprised of lease terminations in connection with divesting and winding down Canadian and Affirm operations, two facility lease abandonments and accretion of expenses for previously abandoned facilities.
Net Interest Expense
Net interest expense decreased by $0.6 million, or 20.5%, to $2.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to lower average borrowings resulting from the repayment of all remaining borrowings on our credit facility during 2019.
Net (Loss) Income
Net income decreased by $405.9 million to a net loss of $401.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to net income of $4.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to goodwill, trademark and fixed asset impairments and abandonments increasing $275.8 million and lower gross profit. This was partially offset by lower selling, general and administrative costs, lower losses on sales of property and equipment and lower interest expense.
Comparison of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
We view EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA as important indicators of performance. We define EBITDA as net income (loss), plus interest expense, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization. We define Adjusted EBITDA, as EBITDA plus/(minus) loss/(income) from discontinued operations, plus any impairment charges or asset write-offs pursuant to GAAP, plus non-cash losses on the sale of assets or subsidiaries, non-recurring compensation expense, non-cash compensation expense, and non-recurring or unusual expenses or charges, including severance expenses, transaction costs, or facilities-related exit and disposal-related expenditures and plus/(minus) foreign currency losses/(gains). The adjustments to EBITDA are generally consistent with such adjustments described in our Credit Facility. See “-Note Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures-EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA” for more information and a reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss), the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.
Our board of directors, management and investors use EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to assess our financial performance because it allows them to compare our operating performance on a consistent basis across periods by removing the effects of our capital structure (such as varying levels of interest expense), asset base (such as depreciation and amortization) and items outside the control of our management team. We present EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA because we believe they provide useful information regarding the factors and trends affecting our business in addition to measures calculated under GAAP.
Note Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not financial measures presented in accordance with GAAP. We believe that the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures will provide useful information to investors in assessing our financial performance and results of operations. Net income is the GAAP measure most directly comparable to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA. Our non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered as alternatives to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. Each of these non-GAAP financial measures has important limitations as an analytical tool due to exclusion of some but not all items that affect the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. You should not consider EBITDA or Adjusted EBITDA in isolation or as substitutes for an analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Because EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA may be defined differently by other companies in our industry, our definitions of these non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies, thereby diminishing their utility. For further discussion, please see “Item 6. Selected Financial Data.”
The following table sets forth our reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to our net (loss) income, which is the most directly comparable GAAP measure, for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. The reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 is set forth in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 under the caption “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)
Net (loss) income
$
(401,732)
$
4,136
Interest expense, net
2,136
2,688
Income tax (benefit) expense
(1,476)
1,949
Depreciation and amortization
101,672
120,669
EBITDA
(299,400)
129,442
Impairment of goodwill and trademark(1)
276,016
4,396
Non-cash loss on sale of assets or subsidiaries(2)
9,767
21,679
Impairment and abandonment of property and equipment(1)
7,910
3,715
Non-recurring severance expenses(1)
7,168
1,691
Non-cash compensation expenses
5,764
15,485
Non-recurring transaction costs(3)
4,439
4,697
Lease abandonment costs(1)
4,350
2,073
Yard closure costs related to consolidating operations(1)
2,961
-
Other non-recurring charges(3)
1,969
(173)
Foreign currency gain, net
(39)
(273)
Adjusted EBITDA
$
20,905
$
182,732
(1) For 2020, these costs were due to the significant adverse change to the demand for the Company’s services in connection with a sharp decline in the price of oil. For 2019, these costs were due primarily to the dissolution of our divested service lines.
(2) For 2020, the losses were primarily due to sales of underutilized or obsolete property and equipment. For 2019, these costs primarily related to losses on divestitures and related sales of property and equipment in connection with the wind-down of former services lines.
(3) For 2020, these costs were primarily related to certain subsidiaries acquired in the Rockwater Merger as well as legal related due diligence costs. For 2019, these costs primarily related to the dissolution of our divested service lines as well as certain rebranding costs.
EBITDA was ($299.4) million for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to $129.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. Adjusted EBITDA was $20.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to $182.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The decreases in EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA resulted from a decrease in our revenues and gross profit, as discussed above.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Overview
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on oil prices and the resulting sharp decline in U.S. onshore drilling and completion activity, and the uncertainty about the timing of a recovery, have had, and will likely continue to have, a negative impact on our financial results in the coming quarters. We have taken and continue to take actions to manage costs and cash, including but not limited to significantly reducing headcount, cutting salaries, closing operational yards,
reducing capital expenditures, streamlining operational and back-office functions, selling excess equipment, deferring payroll tax payments in accordance with the CARES Act and deferring applicable lease payments.
Our primary sources of liquidity are cash on hand, borrowing capacity under our current Credit Agreement and cash flows from operations. Our primary uses of capital have been to maintain our asset base, implement technological advancements, make capital expenditures to support organic growth, fund acquisitions, and when appropriate, repurchase shares of Class A common stock in the open market. Depending on market conditions and other factors, we may also issue debt and equity securities if needed.
As of December 31, 2020, we had no outstanding bank debt and a positive net cash position. We prioritize sustained positive free cash flow and a strong balance sheet, and evaluate potential acquisitions and investments in the context of those priorities, in addition to the economics of the opportunity. We believe this approach provides us with additional flexibility to evaluate larger investments as well as improved resilience in a sustained downturn versus many of our peers.
We intend to finance most of our capital expenditures, contractual obligations and working capital needs with cash on hand, cash generated from operations and borrowings under our Credit Agreement. For a discussion of the Credit Agreement, see “-Credit Agreement” below. Although we cannot provide any assurance, we believe that our current cash balance, operating cash flow and available borrowings under our Credit Agreement will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least the next twelve months.
As of December 31, 2020, cash and cash equivalents totaled $169.0 million and we had approximately $80.8 million of available borrowing capacity under our Credit Agreement. As of December 31, 2020, the borrowing base under the Credit Agreement was $96.4 million, we had no outstanding borrowings, and outstanding letters of credit totaled $15.6 million. The significant reduction in our borrowing base since December 31, 2019 was primarily driven by the meaningful reductions in our accounts receivable, which represent the primary collateral for the borrowing base, due to largely successful collections efforts combined with significantly reduced revenue levels. As of February 22, 2021, we had no outstanding borrowings, the borrowing base under the Credit Agreement was $121.1 million, the outstanding letters of credit totaled $15.6 million, and the available borrowing capacity under the Credit Agreement was $105.5 million.
Cash Flows
The following table summarizes our cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. The summary of our cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 is set forth in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 under the caption “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
Cash Flow Changes Between the Years Ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Year ended December 31,
Change
Dollars
Percentage
(in thousands)
Net cash provided by operating activities
$
105,810
$
203,948
$
(98,138)
(48.1)
%
Net cash used in investing activities
(5,393)
(77,357)
71,964
93.0
%
Net cash used in financing activities
(10,710)
(64,690)
53,980
83.4
%
Subtotal
89,707
61,901
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents
(66)
NM
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents
$
89,771
$
62,031
Operating Activities. Net cash provided by operating activities was $105.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to net cash provided by operating activities of $203.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The $98.1 million decrease in net cash provided by operating activities related primarily to
decreased net income resulting from the adverse change to the demand for the Company’s services in connection with a significant decline in the price of oil, partially offset by increased cash inflows from reduced working capital balances.
Investing Activities. Net cash used in investing activities was $5.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $77.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The $72.0 million decrease in net cash used in investing activities was primarily due to an $88.9 million reduction in purchases of property and equipment, a $10.0 million reduction in acquisitions and a $1.2 million increase in proceeds received from sales of property and equipment partially offset by a $24.7 million decrease of proceeds primarily related to the divestiture and wind-down of our Affirm subsidiary and the sand hauling and Canadian operations and a $3.0 million investment in note receivable in 2020.
Financing Activities. Net cash used in financing activities was $10.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to net cash used in financing activities of $64.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The $54.0 million decrease in net cash used in financing activities was primarily due to $45.0 million of net debt repayments in the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to zero in the year ended December 31, 2020, and a $7.7 million decrease in repurchases of shares of Class A Common Stock during the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to the year ended December 31, 2019.
Credit Agreement
On November 1, 2017, in connection with the closing of the Rockwater Merger (the “Closing”), SES Holdings and Select LLC entered into a $300.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility (the “Credit Agreement”), by and among SES Holdings, as parent, Select LLC, as borrower, certain of SES Holdings’ subsidiaries, as guarantors, each of the lenders party thereto and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, issuing lender and swingline lender (the “Administrative Agent”). The Credit Agreement has a sublimit of $40.0 million for letters of credit and a sublimit of $30.0 million for swingline loans. The maturity date of the Credit Agreement is the earlier of (a) November 1, 2022, and (b) the termination in whole of the Commitments pursuant to Section 2.1(b) of Article VII of the Credit Agreement.
The Credit Agreement permits extensions of credit up to the lesser of $300.0 million and a borrowing base that is determined by calculating the amount equal to the sum of (i) 85.0% of the Eligible Billed Receivables (as defined in the Credit Agreement), plus (ii) 75.0% of Eligible Unbilled Receivables (as defined in the Credit Agreement), provided that this amount will not equal more than 35.0% of the borrowing base, plus (iii) the lesser of (A) the product of 70.0% multiplied by the value of Eligible Inventory (as defined in the Credit Agreement) at such time and (B) the product of 85.0% multiplied by the Net Recovery Percentage (as defined in the Credit Agreement) identified in the most recent Acceptable Appraisal of Inventory (as defined in the Credit Agreement), multiplied by the value of Eligible Inventory at such time, provided that this amount will not equal more than 30.0% of the borrowing base, minus (iv) the aggregate amount of Reserves (as defined in the Credit Agreement), if any, established by the Administrative Agent from time to time, including, if any, the amount of the Dilution Reserve (as defined in the Credit Agreement). The borrowing base is calculated on a monthly basis pursuant to a borrowing base certificate delivered by Select LLC to the Administrative Agent.
Borrowings under the Credit Agreement bear interest, at Select LLC’s election, at either the (a) one-, two-, three- or six-month LIBOR (“Eurocurrency Rate”) or (b) the greatest of (i) the federal funds rate plus 0.5%, (ii) the one-month Eurocurrency Rate plus 1.0% and (iii) the Administrative Agent’s prime rate (the “Base Rate”), in each case plus an applicable margin, and interest shall be payable monthly in arrears. The applicable margin for Eurocurrency Rate loans ranges from 1.50% to 2.00% and the applicable margin for Base Rate loans ranges from 0.50% to 1.00%, in each case, depending on Select LLC’s average excess availability under the Credit Agreement. During the continuance of a bankruptcy event of default, automatically and during the continuance of any other default, upon the Administrative Agent’s or the required lenders’ election, all outstanding amounts under the Credit Agreement will bear interest at 2.00% plus the otherwise applicable interest rate.
The obligations under the Credit Agreement are guaranteed by SES Holdings and certain subsidiaries of SES Holdings and Select LLC and secured by a security interest in substantially all of the personal property assets of SES Holdings, Select LLC and their domestic subsidiaries.
The Credit Agreement contains certain customary representations and warranties, affirmative and negative covenants and events of default. If an event of default occurs and is continuing, the lenders may declare all amounts outstanding under the Credit Agreement to be immediately due and payable.
In addition, the Credit Agreement restricts SES Holdings’ and Select LLC’s ability to make distributions on, or redeem or repurchase, its equity interests, except for certain distributions, including distributions of cash so long as, both at the time of the distribution and after giving effect to the distribution, no default exists under the Credit Agreement and either (a) excess availability at all times during the preceding 30 consecutive days, on a pro forma basis and after giving effect to such distribution, is not less than the greater of (1) 25.0% of the lesser of (A) the maximum revolver amount and (B) the then-effective borrowing base and (2) $37.5 million or (b) if SES Holdings’ fixed charge coverage ratio is at least 1.0 to 1.0 on a pro forma basis, and excess availability at all times during the preceding 30 consecutive days, on a pro forma basis and after giving effect to such distribution, is not less than the greater of (1) 20.0% of the lesser of (A) the maximum revolver amount and (B) the then-effective borrowing base and (2) $30.0 million. Additionally, the Credit Agreement generally permits Select LLC to make distributions to allow the Company to make payments required under the existing Tax Receivable Agreements.
The Credit Agreement also requires SES Holdings to maintain a fixed charge coverage ratio of at least 1.0 to 1.0 at any time availability under the Credit Agreement is less than the greater of (i) 10.0% of the lesser of (A) the maximum revolver amount and (B) the then-effective borrowing base and (ii) $15.0 million and continuing through and including the first day after such time that availability under the Credit Agreement has equaled or exceeded the greater of (i) 10.0% of the lesser of (A) the maximum revolver amount and (B) the then-effective borrowing base and (ii) $15.0 million for 60 consecutive calendar days.
We were in compliance with all debt covenants as of December 31, 2020.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2020, we had no material off-balance sheet arrangements. As such, we are not exposed to any material financing, liquidity, market or credit risk that could arise if we had engaged in such financing arrangements.
Contractual Obligations
The table below provides estimates of the timing of future payments that we are obligated to make based on agreements in place at December 31, 2020.
Payments Due by Period
Contractual Obligations
Year 1
Years 2-3
Years 4-5
More than 5 years
Total
(in thousands)
Estimated interest payments
$
1,515
$
1,262
$
-
$
-
$
2,777
Operating lease obligations
17,478
25,814
21,494
22,907
87,693
Finance lease obligations
-
-
Total
$
19,308
$
27,171
$
21,494
$
22,907
$
90,880
Tax Receivable Agreements
We intend to fund any obligation under the Tax Receivable Agreements with cash from operations or borrowings under our Credit Agreement. With respect to obligations under each of our Tax Receivable Agreements (except in cases where we elect to terminate the Tax Receivable Agreements early, the Tax Receivable Agreements are terminated early due to certain mergers or other changes of control or we have available cash but fail to make payments when due), generally we may elect to defer payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreements if we do not have available cash to satisfy our payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreements or if our contractual obligations limit our ability to make these payments. Any such deferred payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements generally will accrue interest.
We intend to account for any amounts payable under the Tax Receivable Agreements in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 450, Contingent Consideration. For further discussion regarding such an acceleration and its potential impact, please read “Item 1A. Risk Factors-Risks Related to Our Organizational Structure-In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual benefits, if any, we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreements.”
We have assessed the amount of any liability under the Tax Receivable Agreements required under the provisions of ASC 450 in connection with preparing the consolidated financial statements. We determined that there was no liability related to the Tax Receivable Agreements arising from the corporate reorganization and subsequent exchanges as of December 31, 2020, due to there not being any payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements that are probable under the provisions of ASC 450 within the foreseeable future. The Company would generally expect to recognize the liability under the Tax Receivable Agreements as probable in conjunction with the conclusion that deferred tax assets are more likely than not to be realized and, therefore, part or all of the valuation allowance on the deferred tax assets is released. We believe this correlation is appropriate given the relationship between the likelihood of realization of deferred tax assets and the probability of utilization of certain tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreements.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures about any contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Our critical accounting policies are described below to provide a better understanding of how we develop our assumptions and judgments about future events and related estimations and how they can impact our financial statements. The following accounting policies involve critical accounting estimates because they are dependent on our judgment and assumptions about matters that are inherently uncertain.
We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions we believe to be reasonable according to the current facts and circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Estimates and assumptions about future events and their effects are subject to uncertainty and, accordingly, these estimates may change as new events occur, as more experience is acquired, as additional information is obtained, and as the business environment in which we operate changes. We believe the current assumptions, judgments and estimates used to determine amounts reflected in our consolidated financial statements are appropriate, however, actual results may differ under different conditions. This discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Annual Report.
Goodwill and other intangible assets: The purchase price of acquired businesses is allocated to its identifiable assets and liabilities based upon estimated fair values as of the acquisition date. Goodwill and other intangible assets are initially recorded at their fair values. Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price of acquisitions over the fair value of the net assets acquired in a business combination. Our goodwill at December 31, 2020 and 2019, totaled zero and $266.9 million, respectively. Goodwill and other intangible assets not subject to amortization are tested for
impairment annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. Intangible assets with finite useful lives are amortized either on a straight-line basis over the asset’s estimated useful life or on a basis that reflects the pattern in which the economic benefits of the intangible assets are realized.
Impairment of goodwill, long-lived assets and intangible assets: Long-lived assets, such as property and equipment and finite-lived intangible assets, are evaluated for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying value may not be recoverable. Recoverability is measured by a comparison of their carrying amount to the estimated undiscounted cash flows to be generated by those assets. If the undiscounted cash flows are less than the carrying amount, we record impairment losses for the excess of their carrying value over the estimated fair value. Fair value is determined, in part, by the estimated cash flows to be generated by those assets. Our cash flow estimates are based upon, among other things, historical results adjusted to reflect our best estimate of future market rates, utilization levels, and operating performance. Development of future cash flows also requires management to make assumptions and to apply judgment, including the timing of future expected cash flows, using the appropriate discount rates and determining salvage values. The estimate of fair value represents our best estimates of these factors based on current industry trends and reference to market transactions and is subject to variability. Assets are generally grouped at the lowest level of identifiable cash flows. We operate within the oilfield service industry, and the cyclical nature of the oil and gas industry that we serve and our estimates of the period over which future cash flows will be generated, as well as the predictability of these cash flows, can have a significant impact on the estimated fair value of these assets and, in periods of prolonged down cycles, may result in impairment charges. Changes to our key assumptions related to future performance, market conditions and other economic factors could adversely affect our impairment valuation. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we impaired $7.9 million of property and equipment because the carrying values were deemed not recoverable and were comprised of leasehold improvements related to abandoned facilities, abandonment of certain saltwater and fresh water wells and obsolete machinery and equipment. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we impaired $3.7 million of property and equipment as the carrying values were deemed not recoverable, including $1.1 million of pipelines with low utilization, $1.0 million of layflat hose considered obsolete, $0.9 million related to divesting Canadian fixed assets, and $0.6 million related to an owned facility for sale.
We conduct our annual goodwill impairment tests in the fourth quarter of each year, and whenever impairment indicators arise, by examining relevant events and circumstances which could have a negative impact on our goodwill, such as macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions, cost factors that have a negative effect on earnings and cash flows, overall financial performance, acquisitions and divestitures and other relevant entity-specific events. If a qualitative assessment indicates that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, then we would be required to perform a quantitative impairment test for goodwill comparing the reporting unit’s carrying value to its fair value. The Company’s reporting units are based on its organizational and reporting structure. In determining fair values for the reporting units, the Company relies primarily on the income, market and cost approaches for valuation. In the income approach, the Company discounts predicted future cash flows using a weighted-average cost of capital calculation based on publicly-traded peer companies. In the market approach, valuation multiples are developed from both publicly-traded peer companies as well as other company transactions. The cost approach considers replacement cost as the primary indicator of value.
If the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, impairment is calculated based on the difference between the fair value and carrying value in accordance with our early adoption of Accounting Standards Update (“ASU “) 2017-04- Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. Application of the goodwill impairment test requires judgment, including the identification of reporting units, allocation of assets (including goodwill) and liabilities to reporting units and determining the fair value. The determination of reporting unit fair value relies upon certain estimates and assumptions that are complex and are affected by numerous factors, including the general economic environment and levels of E&P activity of oil and gas companies, our financial performance and trends and our strategies and business plans, among others. Unanticipated changes, including immaterial revisions, to these assumptions could result in a provision for impairment in a future period. Given the nature of these evaluations and their application to specific assets and time frames, it is not possible to reasonably quantify the impact of changes in these assumptions. During the first quarter of 2020, we recorded $266.9 million of goodwill impairment due to the significant decline in oil prices coupled with the uncertainty associated with future recovery. This impairment brought our goodwill balance to zero. During the first quarter of 2019, we recorded $4.4 million of goodwill impairment in connection with divesting and
winding down our Affirm subsidiary. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the fair values of our reporting units were greater than the carrying values resulting in no additional impairment. Although we believe the historical assumptions and estimates we have made are reasonable and appropriate, different assumptions and estimates could materially impact our reported financial results.
Self-insurance: We self-insure, through deductibles and retentions, up to certain levels for losses related to general liability, workers’ compensation and employer’s liability, vehicle liability, and effective June 1, 2020, health insurance. Our exposure (i.e. the retention or deductible) per occurrence is $2.0 million for general liability, $1.0 million for workers’ compensation and employer’s liability, $2.0 million for vehicle liability and $0.2 million for health insurance. We also have an excess loss policy over these coverages with a limit of $100.0 million in the aggregate. Management regularly reviews its estimates of reported and unreported claims and provides for losses through reserves. We use actuarial estimates to record our liability for future periods. If the number of claims or the costs associated with those claims were to increase significantly over our estimates, additional charges to earnings could be necessary to cover required payments. As of December 31, 2020, we estimate the range of exposure to be from $12.9 million to $14.9 million and have recorded liabilities of $13.9 million, which represents management’s best estimate of probable loss related to workers’ compensation and employer’s liability, and vehicle liability. Additionally, as of December 31, 2020, accrued health insurance and accrued general liabilities were $1.7 million and $0.5 million, respectively.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Recent accounting pronouncements: In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which amends GAAP by introducing a new impairment model for financial instruments that is based on expected credit losses rather than incurred credit losses. The new impairment model applies to most financial assets, including trade accounts receivable. The amendments are effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and requires a modified retrospective transition approach. After reviewing the new standard and reexamining current and prior year bad debt expense from trade receivables, as well as updating future expectations, the adoption of the new standard in the first quarter of 2020 did not have a material impact to the Company’s financial statements.
In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes” (“ASU 2019-12”), which simplifies the accounting for income taxes by removing certain exceptions to the general principles in Topic 740 and also clarifies and amends existing guidance to improve consistent application. We adopted ASU 2019-12 in the third quarter of 2020 and elected all aspects of this standard as of the beginning of 2020. The adoption did not have a material impact to the Company’s financial statements.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
The demand, pricing and terms for oilfield services provided by us are largely dependent upon the level of drilling and completion activity in the U.S. oil and gas industry. The level of drilling and completion activity is influenced by numerous factors over which we have no control, including, but not limited to: global health events, including the COVID-19 pandemic; the supply of and demand for oil and gas; current price levels as well as expectations about future prices of oil and gas; the magnitude and timing of capital spending by our customers; the cost of exploring for, developing, producing and delivering oil and gas; the extent to which our E&P customers choose to drill and complete new wells to offset decline from their existing wells; the extent to which our E&P customers choose to invest to grow production; discoveries of new oil and gas reserves; available storage capacity and pipeline and other transportation capacity; weather conditions; domestic and worldwide economic conditions; political instability in oil-producing countries; environmental regulations; technical advances in alternative forms of energy (e.g. wind and solar electricity, electric vehicles) that encourage substitution for or displacement of oil and gas consumption in end-use markets; the price and availability of alternative fuels; the ability of oil and gas producers to raise equity capital and debt financing; merger and acquisition activity and consolidation in our industry, and other factors.
Any combination of these factors that results in sustained low oil and gas prices and, therefore, lower capital spending and / or reduced drilling and completion activity by our customers, would likely have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Interest Rate Risk
At December 31, 2020, we had no outstanding borrowings under our Credit Agreement. As of February 22, 2021, we had no outstanding borrowings and $105.5 million of available borrowing capacity under our Credit Agreement. Interest is calculated under the terms of our Credit Agreement based on our selection, from time to time, of one of the index rates available to us plus an applicable margin that varies based on certain factors. We do not currently have or intend to enter into any derivative arrangements to protect against fluctuations in interest rates applicable to our outstanding indebtedness.
Foreign Currency Exchange Risk
We have been exposed to fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar with regard to the activities of our former Canadian subsidiary, which had designated the Canadian dollar as its functional currency. With the divestitures of our Canadian operations, we anticipate minimal future exposure to foreign currency exchange risk.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
The report of our independent registered public accounting firm and our consolidated financial statements and supplementary data are included in this Annual Report beginning on page.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC's rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our chief executive officer ("CEO") (principal executive officer) and chief financial officer ("CFO") (principal financial officer), as appropriate, to allow for timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well-designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, and management is required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures.
As required by SEC Rule 13a-15(b), we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our CEO and CFO, of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2020. Based on their evaluation, the Company's CEO and CFO have concluded that the Company's disclosure controls and procedures were effective at a reasonable level of assurance as of December 31, 2020.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) promulgated under the Exchange Act as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by our Board of Directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Under the supervision and with the participation of management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, the Company conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on the framework in “Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013)” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). Based on this assessment, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2020. Grant Thornton LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, audited the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f)) during the quarter ended December 31, 2020 which materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Board of Directors and Shareholders
Select Energy Services, Inc.
Opinion on internal control over financial reporting
We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of Select Energy Services, Inc. (a Delaware corporation) and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in the 2013 Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in the 2013 Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by COSO.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the consolidated financial statements of the Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020, and our report dated February 24, 2021 expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.
Basis for opinion
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and limitations of internal control over financial reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ GRANT THORNTON LLP
Dallas, Texas
February 24, 2021

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
None.
PART III

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ITEM 10.DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The information required in response to this Item 10 will be set forth in our definitive proxy statement for the 2021 annual meeting of stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
ITEM 11.EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The information required in response to this Item 11 will be set forth in our definitive proxy statement for the 2021 annual meeting of stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
ITEM 12.
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
The information required in response to this Item 12 will be set forth in our definitive proxy statement for the 2021 annual meeting of stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
ITEM 13.
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
The information required in response to this Item 13 will be set forth in our definitive proxy statement for the 2021 annual meeting of stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
ITEM 14.PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
The information required in response to this Item 14 will be set forth in our definitive proxy statement for the 2021 annual meeting of stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
ITEM 15.EXHIBIT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a)(1) and (a)(2) Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedules
Our consolidated financial statements are incorporated under Item 8 of this Annual Report. For a listing of these statements and accompanying notes, see “Index to Financial Statements” on Page of this Annual Report.
(a)(3) Exhibits
The exhibits required to be filed or furnished under Item 15 of this Annual Report are set forth below in the Exhibit Index included within this Annual Report.
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit
Number
Description
2.1
Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of July 18, 2017, by and among Select Energy Services, Inc., SES Holdings, LLC, Raptor Merger Sub, Inc., Raptor Merger Sub, LLC, Rockwater Energy Solutions, Inc. and Rockwater Energy Solutions, LLC (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 2.1 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed July 19, 2017 (File No. 001-38066)).
3.1
Fourth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Select Energy Services, Inc. (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 3.1 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed May 15, 2019 (File No. 001-38066)).
3.2
Second Amended and Restated Bylaws of Select Energy Services, Inc. (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 3.2 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed May 15, 2019 (File No. 001-38066)).
4.1
Form of Stock Certificate (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 4.1 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, filed March 2, 2017 (Registration No. 333-216404)).
4.2
Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreements, dated as of July 18, 2017, by and among Select Energy Services, Inc., SES Legacy Holdings, LLC, Crestview Partners II SES Investment B, LLC, SCF-VI, L.P., SCF-VII, L.P., SCF-VII(A), L.P. and WDC Aggregate LLC (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 4.1 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed July 19, 2017 (File No. 001-38066)).
4.3
Registration Rights Agreement, dated December 20, 2016, by and between Select Energy Services, Inc. and FBR Capital Markets & Co. (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 4.3 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, filed March 2, 2017 (Registration No. 333-216404)).
4.4
Assignment and Assumption Agreement, dated November 1, 2017, by and between Select Energy Services, Inc. and Rockwater Energy Solutions, Inc. (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 4.1 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed November 2, 2017 (File No. 001-38066)).
4.5
Registration Rights Agreement, dated February 16, 2017, by and between Rockwater Energy Solutions, Inc. and FBR Capital Markets & Co. (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 4.2 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed November 2, 2017 (File No. 001-38066)).
4.6
Description of Securities Registered Under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, amended (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 4.6 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed February 25, 2020 (File No. 001-38066)).
10.1
Credit Agreement, dated November 1, 2017, by and among Select Energy Services, LLC, SES Holdings, LLC, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, and the lenders named therein (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.1 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed November 2, 2017 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.2
Select Energy Services, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.3 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, dated March 2, 2017 (Registration No. 333-216404)).
†10.3
First Amendment to Select Energy Services, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.2 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed August 11, 2017 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.4
Second Amendment to Select Energy Services, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.1 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed May 14, 2020 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.5
Form of Indemnification Agreement (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.4 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, dated March 2, 2017 (Registration No. 333-216404)).
10.6
Tax Receivable Agreement, dated December 19, 2016, by and among Select Energy Services, Inc., SES Legacy Holdings, LLC and Crestview Partners II GP, L.P. (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.5 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, dated March 2, 2017 (Registration No. 333-216404)).
10.7
Amendment No. 1 to Tax Receivable Agreement, dated July 18, 2017, by and among Select Energy Services, Inc., SES Legacy Holdings, LLC and Crestview Partners II GP, L.P. (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.3 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed August 11, 2017 (File No. 001-38066)).
10.8
Tax Receivable Agreement, dated December 19, 2016, by and among Select Energy Services, Inc., Crestview Partners II SES Investment B, LLC and Crestview Partners II GP, L.P. (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.6 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, dated March 2, 2017 (Registration No. 333-216404)).
10.9
Amendment No. 1 to Tax Receivable Agreement, dated July 18, 2017, by and among Select Energy Services, Inc., Crestview Partners II SES Investment B, LLC and Crestview Partners II GP, L.P. (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.4 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed August 11, 2017 (File No. 001-38066)).
10.10
Eighth Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of SES Holdings, LLC (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.9 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, dated March 2, 2017 (Registration No. 333-216404)).
10.11
Amendment No. 1 to Eighth Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of SES Holdings, LLC. (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.10 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 1, 2019 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.12
Form of Restricted Stock Unit Grant Notice and Restricted Stock Unit Agreement under the Select Energy Services, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 4.4 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form S-8, filed April 28, 2017 (Registration No. 333-217561)).
†10.13
Form of Stock Option Agreement under the Select Energy Services, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.10 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, dated March 2, 2017 (Registration No. 333-216404)).
†10.14
Form of Restricted Stock Grant Notice and Restricted Stock Agreement under the Select Energy Services, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.13 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 1, 2019 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.15
Form of Performance Share Unit Grant Notice and Performance Share Unit Agreement under the Select Energy Services, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.14 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 1, 2019 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.16
Global Amendment to Performance Share Unit Grant Notices and Agreements (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.1 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed January 24, 2020 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.17
Form of Stock Option Agreement for John Schmitz under the Select Energy Services, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.15 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 1, 2019 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.18
Form of Success Bonus Agreement under the Select Energy Services, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.12 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed May 19, 2017 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.19
Select Energy Services, Inc. Employee Stock Purchase Plan (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 4.3 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form S-8, filed February 1, 2018 (Registration No. 333-222816)).
†10.20
Employment Agreement between Holli C. Ladhani and Rockwater Energy Solutions, Inc., dated June 1, 2011 (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.18 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 1, 2019 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.21
First Amendment to Employment Agreement between Holli Ladhani, Rockwater Energy Solutions, LLC and Select Energy Services, LLC, dated February 21, 2020 (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.20 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed February 25, 2020 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.22
Employment Agreement between Paul Pistono and Rockwater Energy Solutions, Inc., dated September 4, 2012 (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.20 to Select Energy Services Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 1, 2019 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.23
First Amendment to Employment Agreement between Paul Pistono, Rockwater Energy Solutions, LLC and Rockwater Energy Solutions Administrative Services, LLC, dated February 21, 2020 (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.22 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed February 25, 2020 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.24
Employment Agreement between Michael Skarke and Select Energy Services, LLC, dated January 14, 2019 (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.22 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 1, 2019 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.25
Employment Agreement between Nick Swyka and Select Energy Services, LLC, dated March 1, 2019 (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.23 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 1, 2019 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.26
Employment Agreement between Adam Law and Select Energy Services, LLC, dated March 1, 2019 (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.24 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 1, 2019 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.27
Separation and Consulting Agreement by and between Select Energy Services, LLC and Mitchell M. Shauf, dated August 31, 2020 (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.1 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed November 4, 2020 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.28
Global Amendment to Performance Share Unit Grant Notices and Agreements (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.1 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed January 24, 2020 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.29
Form of Letter Agreement (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.2 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed May 14, 2020 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.30
Form of Performance Share Unit Grant Notice and Performance Share Unit Agreement - Adjusted Free Cash Flow - under the Select Energy Services, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.2 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed May 6, 2020 (File No. 001-38066)).
†10.31
Form of Performance Share Unit Grant Notice and Performance Share Unit Agreement - Return on Assets - under the Select Energy Services, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference herein to Exhibit 10.3 to Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed May 6, 2020 (File No. 001-38066)).
*21.1
List of subsidiaries of Select Energy Services, Inc.
*23.1
Consent of Grant Thornton LLP.
*31.1
Certification of the Chief Executive Officer Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a).
*31.2
Certification of the Chief Financial Officer Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a).
*32.1
Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, furnished herewith.
*32.2
Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, furnished herewith.
*101
Interactive Data Files
*101.INS
iXBRL Instance Document.
*101.SCH
iXBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document.
*101.CAL
iXBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document.
*101.DEF
iXBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document.
*101.LAB
iXBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document.
*101.PRE
iXBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document.
*101
The following materials from Select Energy Services, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 formatted in iXBRL (Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language): (i) Consolidated Balance Sheets; (ii) Consolidated Statements of Operations; (iii) Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss); (iv) Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity; (v) Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows; and (vi) Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)
*
Filed or furnished with this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
†
Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.