Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business.
The financial statements presented in this Annual Report are the consolidated financial statements of TETRA Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation and its subsidiaries. When the terms “TETRA,” “the Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our” are used in this document, those terms refer to TETRA Technologies, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.
TETRA is a Delaware corporation incorporated in 1981. Our corporate headquarters are located at 24955 Interstate 45 North, The Woodlands, Texas, 77380. Our phone number is 281-367-1983 and our website is www.tetratec.com. Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the symbol “TTI.”
Our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct, Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers, Audit Committee Charter, Human Capital Management and Compensation Committee Charter, and Nominating, Governance and Sustainability Committee Charter, as well as our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports are all available, free of charge, on our website at www.tetratec.com as soon as practicable after we file the reports with the SEC. Information contained on or connected to our website is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or incorporated into any other filings with the SEC. The documents referenced above are available in print at no cost to any stockholder who requests them from our Corporate Secretary.
About TETRA
TETRA Technologies, Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries, is a leading, industrial oil and gas products and services company operating on six continents, focused on bromine-based completion fluids, calcium chloride, water management solutions, frac flowback and production well testing services. We have two reportable segments - Completion Fluids & Products Division and Water & Flowback Services Division.
Our Completion Fluids & Products Division manufactures and markets clear brine fluids, additives, and associated products and services to the oil and gas industry for use in well drilling, completion, and workover operations in the United States and in certain countries in Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The Division also markets liquid and dry calcium chloride products manufactured at its production facilities or purchased from third-party suppliers to a variety of markets outside the energy industry.
Our Water & Flowback Services Division provides onshore oil and gas operators with comprehensive water management services. The Division also provides frac flowback, production well testing, and other associated services in many of the major oil and gas producing regions in the United States and Mexico, as well as in oil and gas basins in certain countries in Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.
We continue to pursue a long-term growth strategy that includes expanding our core businesses, domestically and internationally, through the introduction of new technology, organic growth and accretive acquisitions.
Products and Services
Completion Fluids & Products Division
Liquid calcium chloride, calcium bromide, zinc bromide, zinc calcium bromide, sodium bromide, and blends of such products manufactured by our Completion Fluids & Products Division are referred to as clear brine fluids (“CBFs”) in the oil and gas industry. CBFs are salt solutions that have variable densities and are used to control bottom-hole pressures during oil and gas completion and workover operations. The Division sells CBFs and various CBF additives to U.S. and foreign oil and gas exploration and production companies and to other companies that service customers in the oil and gas industry.
The Completion Fluids & Products Division provides both stock and custom-blended CBFs based on each customer’s specific needs and the proposed application. It provides a broad range of associated CBF services, including: on-site fluids filtration, handling and recycling; wellbore cleanup; custom fluids blending; and fluid
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management services. The Division’s flagship CBF technology, TETRA CS Neptune ® completion fluids, are high-density monovalent and divalent fluids that are free of undissolved solids, zinc, priority pollutants, and formate ions. They were developed by TETRA to be environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional zinc bromide high-density completion fluids and environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternatives to cesium formate high-density completion fluids, all of which are used in well completion and workover operations, as well as low-solids reservoir drilling fluids.
The Completion Fluids & Products Division offers to repurchase, or “buy-back”, certain used CBFs from customers, which can be reconditioned and recycled. Selling used CBFs back to us reduces the net cost of the CBFs to customers and minimizes our customers’ need to dispose of used fluids. We recondition used CBFs through filtration, blending and the use of proprietary chemical processes, and then market the reconditioned CBFs.
By blending different CBFs and using various additives, we are able to modify the specific density, crystallization temperature, and chemical composition of the CBFs as required to meet our customers’ specific needs. The Division’s fluid engineering personnel determine the optimal CBF blend for a customer’s particular application to maximize its effectiveness and lifespan. Our filtration services use a variety of techniques and equipment to remove particulates from CBFs at the customer’s site so the CBFs can be reused. Filtration also enables recovery of a greater percentage of used CBFs for reconditioning.
The Completion Fluids & Products Division manufactures liquid and dry calcium chloride and liquid calcium bromide, zinc bromide, zinc calcium bromide, and sodium bromide for distribution, primarily into energy markets. Liquid and dry calcium chloride are also sold into water treatment, industrial, cement, food processing, road maintenance, ice melt, agricultural, and consumer products markets. Sodium bromide is also sold into industrial water treatment markets, where it is used as a biocide in recirculated cooling tower waters and in other applications.
Our calcium chloride manufacturing facilities are located in the United States and Finland. In the United States, we manufacture liquid calcium chloride products at four manufacturing plant facilities. Liquid and flake calcium chloride are also produced at our Kokkola, Finland plant. We operate our European calcium chloride operations under the name TETRA Chemicals Europe. We also manufacture liquid calcium chloride at our facilities in Parkersburg, West Virginia and Lake Charles, Louisiana, and we have two solar evaporation facility locations located in San Bernardino County, California, that produce liquid calcium chloride and sodium chloride from underground brine reserves, which are replenished naturally. Our calcium chloride production facilities have a combined production capacity of approximately 1.0 million equivalent liquid tons per year. We also acquire calcium chloride inventory from other producers.
Our Completion Fluids & Products Division manufactures liquid calcium bromide, zinc bromide, zinc calcium bromide, and sodium bromide at our West Memphis, Arkansas facility. A proprietary process applied at this facility uses bromine and zinc to manufacture zinc bromide. This facility also uses proprietary processes to manufacture calcium bromide and sodium bromide and to recondition and upgrade used CBFs that we have repurchased from our customers.
We are also pursuing low-carbon energy initiatives that leverage our fluids and aqueous chemistry core competencies, our significant bromine and lithium assets (including our approximately 31,100 net acres of brine leases in Arkansas) and technologies, and our leading calcium chloride production capabilities. In May 2021, we signed a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) with CarbonFree Chemicals Holdings, LLC (“CarbonFree”), a carbon capture company with patented technologies that capture CO 2 and mineralize emissions to make commercial, carbon-negative chemicals. During the one-year MOU period, both Companies will work towards a definitive agreement that may include investments by TETRA into CarbonFree, a joint venture, or other commercial arrangements. In December 2021, we invested $5.0 million in a convertible note issued by CarbonFree. This was an investment alongside other investors that provided CarbonFree the necessary capital to construct the first SkyCycle TM facility. We have also reached agreement with CarbonFree on the potential use of a unique solution proposed by TETRA to produce low carbon calcium chloride to support SkyCycle TM technology.
In August 2021, we announced completion of a preliminary technical assessment by an independent geological consulting firm to assess lithium and bromine exploration targets in our Southwest Arkansas brine leases. Bromine has been identified as a key mineral resource in zinc-bromide energy storage systems and our TETRA PureFlow™ high purity zinc bromide has been qualified by several battery technology companies. The lithium
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battery market is a rapidly growing market, affording us the opportunity to participate in a meaningful way. In December, 2021, we announced a strategic agreement with Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc. ("Eos") (NASDAQ: EOSE)
involving a long-term supply and collaboration agreement to supply our high purity zinc bromide solution, TETRA PureFlow TM . TETRA and Eos expect to collaborate for improved battery performance, cost and system life including an end-of-life solution using TETRA's extensive experience with reclaiming and recycling zinc bromide. In addition, as of February 25, 2022, we are in the process of drilling an exploratory brine well on our dedicated acreage in the Smackover Formation in Arkansas. The results of the well, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, are expected to advance our exploratory target lithium and bromine assets to more refined resources targets. We will assess the next steps towards determining whether we can develop these key minerals to augment our current global infrastructure and chemistry expertise, allowing us to further expand beyond the oil and gas market.
Water & Flowback Services Division
Our Water & Flowback Services Division provides a wide variety of water management services that support hydraulic fracturing in unconventional well completions for domestic onshore oil and gas operators. These services include fresh and produced water analysis, treatment and recycling, blending and distribution, storage and pit lining, transfer, engineering, and environmental risk mitigation. The Water & Flowback Services Division’s patented and patent-pending equipment and processes include advanced hydrocyclones for sand management, certain produced- and fresh-water blending technologies, and the TETRA Steel™ 1200 rapid deployment water transfer system. The Water & Flowback Services Division seeks to design sustainable solutions that meet the unique needs of each customer in order to maximize operational performance and efficiency and minimize the use of fresh water. These solutions include tailored “Last Mile” infrastructure to transfer water around well pads in a safe, efficient and environmentally responsible manner - which consists of water storage ponds, movable storage tanks, a network of water transfer lines including poly pipe and TETRA Steel™ lay-flat hose, automated transfer and blending of produced water, and water treatment and recycling systems. These systems include the TETRA SwiftWater Automated Treatment (SWAT™) system that chemically treats produced water through a clarification process and the TETRA Oil Recovery After Production Technology (Orapt™) mobile oil separation system that recovers oil from produced water. Automation has also been deployed throughout 2020 and 2021 across the TETRA water management portfolio, and across TETRA flowback services in 2021, to reduce health, safety and environmental risks and enhance reliability and cost-effectiveness.
Our Water & Flowback Services Division also provides frac flowback services, early production facilities and services, production well testing services, and other associated services, including well flow management and evaluation services that enable operators to quantify oil and gas reserves, optimize oil and gas production and minimize oil and gas reservoir damage. In certain basins, water, sand, and other abrasive materials commonly accompany the initial production of natural gas or oil, often under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions and, in some cases, from reservoirs containing high levels of hydrogen sulfide gas. The Water & Flowback Services Division provides the specialized equipment and qualified personnel to address these impediments to production. Early production services typically include sophisticated evaluation techniques for reservoir management, including unconventional shale reservoir exploitation and optimization of well workover programs. Frac flowback and production well testing services may include well control, well cleanup and laboratory analysis. These services are used in the completion process after hydraulic fracturing and in the production phase of oil and gas wells.
This Division maintains one of the largest fleets of high-pressure production testing equipment in the United States, including equipment designed to work in environments where high levels of hydrogen sulfide gas are present. The Division has domestic operating locations in Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The Division also has locations in certain countries in Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.
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Former Compression Division
Our former Compression Division provided compression services and equipment for natural gas and oil production, gathering, artificial lift, transmission, processing and storage. O ur former Compression Division’s operations were conducted through our partially-owned CSI Compressco LP (“CSI Compressco”) subsidiary. Through one of our former wholly-owned subsidiaries, CSI Compressco GP LLC (f/k/a CSI Compressco GP Inc.) (the “general partner”), we managed and controlled CSI Compressco, and accordingly, we consolidated CSI Compressco’s results of operations in our consolidated results of operations through January 31, 2021. On January 29, 2021, we entered into the Purchase and Sale Agreement with Spartan Energy Partners, LP and Energy Holdco, LLC (together, “Spartan”) pursuant to which we sold the general partner of CSI Compressco, including the incentive distribution rights (“IDRs”) in CSI Compressco and approximately 23.1% of the outstanding limited partner interests in CSI Compressco, in exchange for a combination of $13.9 million in cash and $3.1 million in contingent consideration in the form of cash and/or CSI Compressco common units if CSI Compressco achieves certain financial targets on or before December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2021, we retained an interest in CSI Compressco consisting of approximately 3.8% of the outstanding common units. Throughout this Annual Report, we refer to the transaction with Spartan as the “GP Sale.” We have reflected the operations of our former Compression Division as discontinued operations for all periods presented. See Note 3 - “Discontinued Operations” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further information.
Sources of Raw Materials
Our Completion Fluids & Products Division manufactures calcium chloride, calcium bromide, zinc bromide, zinc calcium bromide, and sodium bromide for sale to its customers. The Division also recycles used calcium bromide and zinc bromide CBFs repurchased from its oil and gas customers.
The Completion Fluids & Products Division manufactures liquid calcium chloride, either from underground brine or by reacting hydrochloric acid with limestone. We produce calcium chloride and sodium chloride at our two facilities in San Bernardino County, California, by solar evaporation of pumped underground brine reserves that contain calcium chloride. The underground reserves of this brine are deemed adequate to supply our foreseeable need for calcium chloride at those plants. The Division also purchases liquid and dry calcium chloride from a number of U.S. and foreign chemical manufacturers.
The Completion Fluids & Products Division’s primary sources of hydrochloric acid are co-product streams obtained from chemical manufacturers. Substantial quantities of limestone are also consumed when converting hydrochloric acid into calcium chloride. Currently, hydrochloric acid and limestone are generally available from multiple sources.
To produce calcium bromide, zinc bromide, zinc calcium bromide, and sodium bromide at our West Memphis, Arkansas facility, we use bromine, hydrobromic acid, zinc, ammonia water and lime as raw materials. There are multiple sources of zinc that we can use in the production of zinc bromide and zinc calcium bromide. We have a long-term supply agreement with Lanxess, AG (“Lanxess”) under which the Completion Fluids & Products Division purchases its requirements of raw material bromine from Lanxess’ Arkansas bromine production facilities.
The Completion Fluids & Products Division also owns a calcium bromide manufacturing plant near Magnolia, Arkansas, which was constructed in 1985. This plant was acquired in 1988 and is not operable. We currently lease over 31,100 net acres of brine leases in the vicinity of this plant, which contain bromine and lithium. See our disclosures titled “Bromine and Lithium Exploration Targets” set forth in Item 2 of this Annual Report. While this plant is designed to produce calcium bromide, it could be modified to produce elemental bromine or select bromine compounds. Development of the brine field, construction of necessary pipelines and reconfiguration of the plant would require a substantial capital investment. The long-term Lanxess bromine supply agreement discussed above provides a secure supply of bromine to support the Division’s current operations. We do, however, continue to evaluate our strategy related to the Magnolia, Arkansas, assets and their future development. Lanxess has certain rights to participate in future development of the Magnolia, Arkansas assets. In addition, we are party to agreements with Standard Lithium Ltd. (“Standard Lithium”) (NYSE: SLI), under which Standard Lithium has the right to explore, produce and extract lithium in our Arkansas leases as well as additional potential resources in the Mojave region (San Bernardino County) of California. See Note 2 - “Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies” and Note 14 - “Fair Value Measurements” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further information.
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The Water & Flowback Services Division purchases water management and production testing equipment and components from third-party manufacturers.
Market Overview and Competition
Our operations are highly dependent upon the demand for, and production of, natural gas and oil in the various domestic and international locations in which we operate, and were significantly affected by the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Demand for products and services of our Completion Fluids & Products Division remained resilient despite pandemic impacts on commodity prices in 2020 and experienced significant recoveries during the second half of 2021. West Texas Intermediate oil prices improved from an average of $39.16 per barrel during 2020 to an average of $77.33 per barrel during the fourth quarter of 2021.
Completion Fluids & Products Division
Our Completion Fluids & Products Division provides its products and services to oil and gas exploration and production companies in the United States and certain foreign markets, and to other customers that service such companies. Current areas of market presence include the onshore U.S., the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, Mexico and certain countries in South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Customers with deepwater operations frequently use high volumes of CBFs, which can be subject to harsh downhole conditions, such as high pressure and high temperatures. Demand for CBF products is generally driven by offshore completion and workover activity.
The Completion Fluids & Products Division’s principal competitors in the sale of CBFs to the oil and gas industry are other major international drilling fluids and energy services companies, to many of which we provide products and services. This market is highly competitive and competition is based primarily on service, availability, and price. Customers of the Completion Fluids & Products Division include significant oilfield service companies, major and independent U.S. and international oil and gas producers, and U.S. and international chemical providers. The Division also sells its CBF products through various distributors.
The Completion Fluids & Products Division’s liquid and dry calcium chloride products have a wide range of uses outside the energy industry. Non-energy market segments where these products are used include water treatment, industrial, food processing, road maintenance, ice melt, agricultural, and consumer products. We also sell sodium bromide into industrial water treatment markets as a biocide under the BioRid ® tradename. Most of these markets are highly competitive. The Completion Fluids & Products Division’s European calcium chloride operations market our calcium chloride products to certain European markets. Our principal competitors in the non-energy related calcium chloride markets include Occidental Chemical Corporation and Vitro in North America and NedMag in Europe.
Water & Flowback Services Division
The Water & Flowback Services Division provides comprehensive water management and frac flowback services to a wide-range of onshore oil and gas operators located in all active North America unconventional oil and gas basins.
The Division also provides frac flowback services, early production facilities and services, production well testing services, sand filtration, and other associated services in various domestic and international locations, including well flow management and evaluation services that enable operators to quantify oil and gas reserves, optimize oil and gas production, and minimize oil and gas reservoir production damage.
The water management, flowback, and production testing markets are highly competitive, and competition is based on availability of appropriate equipment and qualified personnel, as well as price, quality of service, and safety record. The Division’s skilled personnel, operating procedures, integrated closed-loop water management solution, automation systems, and safety record give us a competitive advantage. Competition in the U.S. water management markets includes Select Energy and various regional companies, while competition in onshore U.S. production testing markets is primarily dominated by numerous small, privately owned operators. Halliburton and Schlumberger are competitors in the international production testing markets we serve although we provide these services to their customers on a subcontract basis from time to time. Customers for the Water & Flowback Services Division include major integrated and independent U.S. and international oil and gas producers that are active in the areas in which we operate.
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No single customer provided 10% or more of our total consolidated revenues during the years ended December 31, 2021 or 2020. One customer provided more than 10% of our total consolidated revenues during the year ended December 31, 2019.
Other Business Matters
Human Capital Management
We collaborate as a team to execute for each other, our customers, and our shareholders. As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately 1,100 people worldwide. None of our U.S. employees are presently covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Our employees outside the U.S. are generally members of labor unions and associations in the countries in which they are employed. We believe that our relations with our employees are good.
Diversity and Inclusion
The diversity of our global workforce stimulates creativity and innovation as we use our collective talents to develop unique solutions to address the world's energy challenges. Our executive management sponsored Diversity & Inclusion Committee focuses on sharing information and promoting key initiatives across the company to educate and create awareness about the importance of a diverse and inclusive culture. The committee also assists the talent management group to attract, retain, develop, and reward a high-performing and diverse workforce, provide forums and sponsor training activities to share best practices concerning diversity and inclusion education, and develop communication platforms to share information about diversity and inclusion and promote the committee’s activities.
Career Development
The board of directors, the chief executive officer, and the vice president of Human Resources, evaluate, from time to time each year, executive development and succession planning to prepare us for future success. The succession planning process covers all senior management positions and certain other key positions. This review of executive talent determines readiness to take on additional leadership roles and identifies developmental opportunities needed to prepare our executives for greater responsibilities. Our short and long-term business strategy is considered when evaluating candidates and their skills.
Compensation and Benefits
The Company’s compensation programs are designed to incentivize performance, maximize returns, and build shareholder value. We work with consultants to benchmark our compensation and benefits programs to help us offer competitive compensation packages to attract and retain high-performing talent. We also offer competitive benefits to attract and retain exceptional talent.
Safety
Recognizing that safety, service quality, and environmental protection are conditions of employment, all employees and contractors are responsible for their safety, the safety of those around them, the quality of their work, and protection of the environment. As part of our safety-focused culture, it is customary that each meeting starts with an employee-led safety moment.
To ensure our work remains safe and of the highest quality, the Company has a comprehensive HSEQ Management System and program designed to improve the capacity of the organization by controlling worksite risks, developing proper work practices and procedures, and empowering employees with stop-work authority if they observe unsafe conditions, omissions, errors, or actions that could result in safety or environmental incidents, or product and service quality issues. If an incident takes place, we investigate all serious occurrences to root causes and implement corrective actions to ensure we expand our capacity to operate safely.
Driving is one of the highest exposure activities that we undertake in our day-to-day operations. We maintain a fleet of DOT and non-DOT vehicles and provide positive, real-time behavior feedback to our drivers via real-time monitors. Coupled with Journey Management, vehicle selection guidelines, and driver training, we have a comprehensive approach to reducing our driving exposure and incidents.
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Proprietary Technology and Trademarks
As of December 31, 2021, we owned or licensed 42 issued U.S. patents and had 9 patent applications pending in the United States. We also had 19 owned or licensed patents and 39 patent applications pending in various other countries. The foreign patents and patent applications are primarily foreign counterparts to certain of our U.S. patents or patent applications. The issued patents expire at various times through 2037. We have elected to maintain certain other internally developed technologies, know-how, and inventions as trade secrets. While we believe that our patents and trade secrets are important to our competitive positions in our businesses, we do not believe any one patent or trade secret is essential to our success.
It is our practice to enter into confidentiality agreements with key employees, consultants and third parties to whom we disclose our confidential and proprietary information, and we have typical policies and procedures designed to maintain the confidentiality of such information. There can be no assurance, however, that these measures will prevent the unauthorized disclosure or use of our trade secrets and expertise, or that others may not independently develop similar trade secrets or expertise.
We sell various products and services under a variety of trademarks and service marks, some of which are registered in the United States or other countries.
Health, Safety, and Environmental Affairs Regulations
Our service and sales operations and manufacturing plants are subject to stringent and complex U.S. and foreign health, safety, and environmental laws and regulations. Although we are committed to conducting all of our operations under the highest standards of safety and respect for the environment, risks of substantial costs and liabilities pursuant to such laws and regulations are inherent in certain of our operations and in the development and handling of certain products and equipment produced or used at our plants, well locations, and worksites. Because of these risks, there can be no assurance that significant costs and liabilities will not be incurred now or in the future. Changes in environmental and health and safety laws and regulations could subject us to more rigorous standards and could affect demand for our customers’ products which in turn would impact demand for our products. We cannot predict the extent to which our operations may be affected by any changes to existing laws, regulations and enforcement policies, new interpretations of existing laws, regulations and policies, or any new laws, regulations, or policies promulgated in the future.
We are subject to numerous federal, state, local, and foreign laws and regulations relating to health, safety, and the environment, including regulations regarding air emissions, wastewater and storm water discharges, and the disposal of certain hazardous and nonhazardous wastes. Compliance with such laws and regulations may expose us to significant costs and liabilities, and cause us to incur significant capital expenditures in our operations. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations or associated permits may result in the assessment of administration, civil or criminal fines and penalties, the imposition of other corrective action obligations or other injunctive relief, or both.
Our operations in the United States are subject to various evolving environmental laws and regulations that are enforced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”); the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) of the U.S. Department of the Interior; the U.S. Coast Guard; and various other federal, state, and local environmental authorities. Similar laws and regulations, designed to protect the health and safety of our employees and visitors to our facilities, are enforced by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and other state and local agencies and authorities. Some of the primary environmental laws and regulations applicable to our operations include: (i) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 (the “Clean Water Act”); (ii) the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976; (iii) the Clean Air Act of 1977 (“CAA”); (iv) the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”); (v) the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986; (vi) the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976; (vii) the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act of 1975; (viii) the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990; and (ix) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (“ESA”). Our operations outside the United States are subject to various foreign governmental laws and regulations relating to the environment, health and safety, and other regulated activities in the countries in which we operate, which may in some cases impose more stringent requirements than applicable laws in the United States.
Our operations routinely involve the handling of hydrocarbons and produced water. Hydrocarbons or hazardous and nonhazardous wastes may have been released during our operations, by third parties on wellhead sites where we provide services or store our equipment, or on or under other locations where wastes have been taken for disposal. Although most wastes associated with the exploration, development and production of oil and
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natural gas are currently exempt from the more stringent hazardous waste regulations under RCRA and its state analogs, it is possible that some of the material we handle now or may handle in the future may be subject to regulation under RCRA as a hazardous waste. Additionally, we cannot assure you that such materials will not be subject to more stringent requirements or characterized as hazardous wastes in the future. Separately, properties where such hydrocarbons and/or wastes are released or disposed of may be subject to investigatory, remediation, and monitoring requirements under foreign, federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations. CERCLA and comparable state laws and regulations impose strict, joint, and several liabilities without regard to fault or the legality of the original conduct on certain classes of persons that contributed to the release of a hazardous substance into the environment. These persons include the owner or operator of a disposal site where a hazardous substance release occurred and any person that transported, disposed of, or arranged for the transport or disposal of such hazardous substances released at a site. Under CERCLA, such persons may be liable for the costs of remediating the hazardous substances that have been released into the environment, for damages to natural resources and for the costs of certain health studies.
The CAA and its implementing regulations, and comparable state laws and regulations, regulate the emissions of air pollutants from various industrial sources and impose monitoring and reporting requirements. These laws and regulations impose limits on the levels of various substances that may be emitted into the atmosphere. For example, in June 2016, the EPA adopted regulations under its New Source Performance Standards and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants that establish air emission controls for natural gas and natural gas liquids production, processing and transportation activities. These rules establish specific requirements associated with volatile organic compounds and methane emissions from certain hydraulically fractured natural gas wells, production-related wet seal and reciprocating compressors, and pneumatic controllers and storage vessels, and further require that most hydraulically fractured natural gas wells use so-called “green” completions. While the EPA under the Trump Administration finalized rules to rescind or modify certain of these requirements in September 2020, subsequently, the United States Congress approved, and President Biden signed into law, a resolution under the Congressional Review Act to repeal the September 2020 revisions, effectively reinstating the prior standards. Additionally, in November 2021, EPA issued a proposed rule that, if finalized, would establish OOOO(b) new source and OOOO(c) first-time existing source standards of performance for methane and volatile organic compound emissions for oil and gas facilities. Operators of affected facilities will have to comply with specific standards of performance to include leak detection using optical gas imaging and subsequent repair requirement, and reduction of emissions by 95% through capture and control systems. EPA plans to issue a supplemental proposal in 2022 containing additional requirements not included in the November 2021 proposed rule and anticipates the issuance of a final rule by the end of the year. We cannot predict the scope of any final methane regulatory requirements or the cost to comply with such requirements. However, additional or more stringent regulations could impose new air permitting or pollution control requirements on our equipment that could require us to incur material costs.
In accordance with Section 402 of the Clean Water Act, the EPA is authorized to issue National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) General Permits to regulate offshore discharges in the Gulf of Mexico which includes Treatment, Completion and Workover (“TCW”) fluids. Our operations include providing services and materials to oil and gas operators for the use of TCW fluids in the Gulf of Mexico. The EPA’s current NPDES permit for oil and gas operations in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico expires on September 30, 2022. While the terms of any subsequent NPDES General Permit applicable to our customers’ operations are uncertain at this time, any additional restrictions on oil and gas operation in the Gulf of Mexico under the Clean Water Act, could have an indirect effect on us. In addition, the Clean Water Act, and comparable state laws and regulations thereunder, also prohibit the discharge of pollutants into regulated waters without a permit, including industrial wastewater discharges and storm water runoff, and establish limits on the levels of pollutants contained in such discharges.
The modification or reinterpretation of existing environmental laws or regulations, the more vigorous enforcement of existing environmental laws or regulations, or the adoption of new environmental laws or regulations could adversely affect oil and natural gas exploration and production operations, which in turn could have an adverse effect on us. For example, the federal government regularly evaluates new species for listing under the ESA. The ESA provides broad protection for species of fish, wildlife and plants that are listed as threatened or endangered, as well as certain “critical habitat” for such species. Similar protections are offered to migratory birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The listing of any new species, the relisting of a species from threatened to endangered, or the designation of critical habitat for any such species may cause us or our customers to incur additional costs or become subject to operating restrictions or bans at certain times or in certain areas. Separately, regulators at both the federal and state levels have spent increasing attention on matters related to oil and gas operations, particularly hydraulic fracturing and the emission of greenhouse gases (“GHGs”). For more information, see our risk factors titled “Our operations, and those of our suppliers and customers, are subject to a series of risks arising from climate change” and “Regulatory initiatives related to hydraulic fracturing in the countries where we and
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our customers operate could result in operating restrictions or delays in the completion of oil and gas wells that may reduce demand for our services.”
We maintain various types of insurance intended to reimburse us for certain costs in the event of an accident, including an explosion or similar event, involving our onshore and offshore operations. Our insurance program is reviewed not less than annually with our insurance brokers and underwriters. Such insurance policies may not cover, or may only partially cover, certain losses or claims, which could result in a material adverse effect on our business and operations.