What changed in this filing

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Item 1. Business

2021-02-19 compared with 2020-03-16 · 145 added, 115 removed, 88 unchanged (75% of the section changed)

Weatherford International plc, an Irish public limited company, together with its subsidiaries (“Weatherford,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our”), is a multinational oilfield service company.

Weatherford is the leading wellbore and production solution company providing equipment and services used in the drilling, evaluation, completion, production and intervention of oil and natural gas wells.

We are a leading wellbore and production solution company providing equipment and services used in the drilling, evaluation, completion, production and intervention of oil and natural gas wells.

We were originally incorporated in Delaware in 1972, and are currently incorporated in Ireland.

Many of our businesses, including those of our predecessor companies, have been operating for more than 50 years.

We conduct operations in over 80 countries and have service and sales locations in virtually all of the major oil and natural gas producing regions in the world.

We conduct operations in over 75 countries, answering the challenges of the energy industry with approximately 390 operating locations including manufacturing, research and development, service, and training facilities.

Our operational performance is reviewed on a geographic basis and we report our Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere as separate and distinct reporting segments.

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Our internet address is www.weatherford.com.

General information about us, including our corporate governance policies, code of business conduct and charters for the committees of our Board of Directors, can be found on our website under the “Investor Relations” section.

On our website we make available, free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish them to the SEC.

General information about us, including our corporate governance policies, code of business conduct and charters for the committees of our Board of Directors, can be found on our website.

On our website we make available, free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish them to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

The SEC maintains a website that contains our reports, proxy and information statements, and our other SEC filings.

The address of that site is www.sec.gov.

While our ordinary shares remain registered on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”), the NYSE suspended trading in our ordinary shares in May 2019 and our appeal of that suspension is pending.

Since our emergence from bankruptcy, our ordinary shares have been quoted on the OTC Pink Marketplace under the symbol “WFTLF”.

Recent Developments – Reorganization and Emergence from Bankruptcy Proceedings

On July 1, 2019 (the “Petition Date”), Weatherford International plc, Weatherford International Ltd., and Weatherford International, LLC (collectively, the “Weatherford Parties” or the “Company”) commenced voluntary cases (the “Cases”), seeking relief under Chapter 11 of Title 11 (“Chapter 11”) of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the U.S.

Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Bankruptcy Court”).

On September 9, 2019, the Company filed with the Bankruptcy Court the proposed Second Amended Joint Prepackaged Plan of Reorganization of Weatherford International plc and its Affiliate Weatherford Parties (as amended, the “Plan”).

On September 11, 2019 , the Bankruptcy Court entered an order, Docket No.

343 (the “Confirmation Order”), confirming and approving the Plan.

On December 13, 2019 (the “Effective Date”), the conditions to effectiveness of the Plan were satisfied and the Weatherford Parties emerged from Chapter 11, including, but not limited to, the effectiveness of the schemes of arrangement in Ireland and Bermuda.

Upon emergence from bankruptcy on December 13, 2019, the Company’s then-existing unsecured senior and exchangeable senior notes (including unpaid interest) totaling $7.6 billion were cancelled pursuant to the terms of the Plan, resulting in a gain on settlement of liabilities subject to compromise included in “Reorganization Items” on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

See “ Note 2 – Emergence from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Proceedings ” and “ Note 3 – Fresh Start Accounting ” for additional details on bankruptcy emergence.

On the Effective Date, we adopted and applied the relevant guidance with respect to the accounting and financial reporting for entities that have emerged from bankruptcy proceedings, or “Fresh Start Accounting.” Under Fresh Start Accounting, our balance sheet on the Effective Date reflects all our assets and liabilities at fair value.

Our emergence from bankruptcy and the adoption of Fresh Start Accounting resulted in a new reporting entity, referred to herein as the “Successor,” for financial reporting purposes.

To facilitate discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations herein, we refer to the reorganized Weatherford Parties as the Successor for periods subsequent to December 13, 2019 and as the “Predecessor” for periods on or prior to December 13, 2019.

As a result of the adoption of Fresh Start Accounting and the effects of the implementation of the Plan, our consolidated financial statements subsequent to December 13, 2019 may not be comparable to our consolidated financial statements on or prior to December 13, 2019, and as such, “black-line” financial statements are presented to distinguish between the Predecessor and Successor companies.

On April 17, 2020, the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) filed a Form 25 with the SEC.

The delisting of our ordinary shares from the NYSE became effective on April 27, 2020, and our ordinary shares were subsequently deregistered under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act on July 16, 2020.

We continue to evaluate listing options and intend to relist our ordinary shares when our Board of Directors determines market conditions are appropriate.

Until such time as our ordinary shares are relisted, the Company intends to continue filing periodic reports with the SEC on a voluntary basis.

Our ordinary shares trade on the OTC Pink Marketplace under the ticker symbol “WFTLF”.

COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic, travel constraints and access restrictions to customer work locations continue to cause significant uncertainty for the global economy, resulting in the continued significant decline in the global demand for oil and gas and related customer activity shutdowns.

This continues to cause an imbalance in the supply and demand for oil and gas.

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic together with uncertainty around the extent and timing for an economic recovery, have caused significant market volatility of commodity prices in the first half of 2020 and resulted in significant reductions to the capital spending during 2020 of our primary customer base which consists of exploration and production companies, with lowering expectations of oil and gas related spending into 2021 and beyond.

In addition, the risk of additional COVID-19 related restrictions or lockdowns remains, which creates further uncertainty in the global economic outlook and impact on oil and gas markets.

We continue to closely monitor the global impacts surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, including operational and manufacturing disruptions, logistical constraints and travel restrictions.

These factors have negatively impacted our ability to operate and we expect these negative impacts to continue.

We have experienced and expect to continue to experience delays or a lack of availability of key components from our suppliers, shipping and other logistical delays and disruptions, customer restrictions that prevent access to their sites, community measures to contain the spread of the virus, and changes to Weatherford’s policies that have both restricted and changed the way our employees work.

We expect most, if not all, of these disruptions and constraints to have lasting effects on how we and our customers and suppliers work in the future.

Faced with these challenges, we have evolved our digital portfolio and enhanced our applications to offer fully-integrated digital oilfield solutions.

We have also increased our offerings of automated well construction and remote monitoring and predictive analytics related to our production offerings.

Finally, we continuously improve crew rotations and management practices to minimize our employees’ exposure to COVID-19.

Our identification and management of COVID-19 cases continues to improve, through updated protocols, advanced testing and response procedures.

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References to the year ended December 31, 2019 relate to the combined Successor and Predecessor Periods for the year ended December 31, 2019 as the 18 days of the Successor Period is not a significant period of time impacting the combined results.

Our primary objective is to build stakeholder value through profitable growth in our core product lines with disciplined use of capital and a strong customer focus.

Reorganization and Emergence from Bankruptcy Proceedings

On July 1, 2019 (the “Petition Date”), Weatherford and two of our subsidiaries (collectively, the “Weatherford Parties”) commenced voluntary reorganization proceedings (the “Cases”), including under Chapter 11 of Title 11 (“Chapter 11”) of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the U.S.

Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Bankruptcy Court”), with ancillary proceedings filed in Ireland and Bermuda.

The plan of reorganization (as amended, the “Plan”), together with the schemes of arrangement in Ireland and Bermuda, became effective on December 13, 2019 (the “Effective Date”) and the Weatherford Parties emerged from Chapter 11.

On the Effective Date, the Weatherford Parties’ then-existing unsecured senior and exchangeable senior notes totaling $7.6 billion were cancelled pursuant to the terms of the Plan.

Upon emergence from Chapter 11, on the Effective Date, we adopted and applied the relevant guidance with respect to the accounting and financial reporting for entities that have emerged from bankruptcy proceedings (“Fresh Start Accounting”).

For additional details regarding the Chapter 11, see “Note 2 – Emergence from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Proceedings” and for Fresh Start Accounting see “Note 3 – Fresh Start Accounting”.

Under Fresh Start Accounting, our balance sheet on the Effective Date reflected all our assets and liabilities at fair value.

As described in “Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” references to “Predecessor” relate to the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the period from January 1, 2019 through and including the adjustments from the application of Fresh Start Accounting on December 13, 2019 and for the year ended December 31, 2018 and (“Predecessor Periods”).

References to “Successor” relate to the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2020 and the period from December 14, 2019 through December 31, 2019 (“Successor Periods”).

References and comparisons to results for the year ended December 31, 2019 relate to the combined Successor and Predecessor Periods for the year ended December 31, 2019 (“2019 Combined Period”) as the 18 days of the Successor Period is not a significant period of time impacting the combined 2019 results.

Our primary objective is to build value through profitable growth in our core product lines with disciplined use of capital and a strong customer focus.

Our customers’ objectives are continually evolving and are currently focused on lowering capital and operational expenditures, generating positive cash flow, reducing emissions, and enhancing safety.

Weatherford is aligning its technology development and operations around these trends and expanding its role as a leading “Tier 1 solutions provider” that assists our customers in addressing their key operational challenges related to four domains:

Weatherford has aligned its technology development and operations around these trends and expanding its role as a market leading solutions provider that assists our customers in addressing their key operational challenges related to four domains:

• Mature Fields :

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• Unconventionals :

enabling customers to monetize wells by drilling faster, deeper, and cheaper and combating production declines through accurate reservoir evaluation, efficient well construction, effective stimulation, and optimizing production;

enabling customers to solve reservoir challenges and maximize production by drilling faster, deeper, safer and cheaper and combating production declines through accurate reservoir evaluation, efficient well construction, effective stimulation, and optimizing production;

supporting customers sustain high-margin, long-term production with a focus on reducing rig time, enhancing safety and reliability, and increasing well integrity through the optimization of well placement and construction;

• Digitalization and Automation :

leveraging our core competencies and applying Industry 4.0, including internet of things (IoT), data analytics, and cloud computing across our many solutions.

We are enabling this solution-based focus across our organization through a commitment to improving safety and service quality, embedding a returns-focused mindset in our organization, and developing and commercializing new technologies.

We are the leading wellbore and production solutions company providing equipment and services to the oil and natural gas exploration and production industry.

Demand for our industry’s services and products depends upon commodity prices for oil and gas, the number of oil and natural gas wells drilled, the depth and drilling conditions of wells, the number of well completions, the depletion and age of existing wells and the level of workover activity worldwide.

leveraging our core competencies and significant presence at well sites to capture, analyze and present information for our customers by leveraging the internet of things, data analytics, and cloud computing across our many solutions.

We have enabled this solution-based focus across our organization through a commitment to improving safety and service quality, embedding a returns-focused mindset in our organization, and developing and commercializing new technologies.

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We are a leading global wellbore and production solutions company providing equipment and services to the oil and natural gas exploration and production industry.

Demand for our industry’s services and products depends in part upon commodity prices for oil and gas, the number of oil and natural gas wells drilled, the depth and drilling conditions of wells, the number of well completions, the depletion and age of existing wells and the level of workover activity worldwide.

Technology is critical to the oil and natural gas marketplace as a result of the maturity of the world’s oil and natural gas reservoirs, the acceleration of production decline rates and the focus on complex well designs, including deepwater prospects.

Customers continue to seek, test and use production-enabling technologies at an increasing rate.

We have invested substantial resources into building our technology offerings, which helps us to provide our customers with more efficient tools to find and produce oil and natural gas.

We invested substantial resources into building our technology offerings, which helps us to provide our customers with more efficient tools to find and produce oil and natural gas.

Our products and services enable our customers to reduce their costs of drilling and production, increase production rates, or both.

Furthermore, these offerings afford us additional opportunities to sell our core products and services to our clients.

On April 30, 2019, we completed the sale of our Reservoir Solutions business, also known as our laboratory services business, to Oil & Gas Labs, LLC, an affiliate of CSL Capital Management, L.P., for an aggregate purchase price of $206 million in cash, subject to escrow release and customary post-closing working capital adjustments.

The business disposition included our laboratory and geological analysis business, including the transfer of substantially all personnel and associated contracts related to the business.

Also on April 30, 2019, we completed the sale of our surface data logging business to Excellence Logging for $50 million in total consideration, subject to customary post-closing working capital adjustments.

The business disposition included our surface data logging equipment, technology and associated contracts related to the business.

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We divested a majority of our land drilling rig operations during the year ended 2019 as well as in the fourth quarter of 2018.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, we completed the sale of a portion of the land drilling rigs operations we previously committed to divesting in the fourth quarter of 2017 and received gross cash proceeds of $216 million .

The sale represented two of a series of four closings pursuant to the purchase and sale agreements entered into with ADES International Holding Ltd.

(“ADES”) in July of 2018, to sell our land drilling rig operations in Algeria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, as well as, two idle land rigs in Iraq.

In the first quarter of 2019, we completed the final closings in the series of closings pursuant to the purchase and sale agreements entered into with ADES and received gross proceeds of $72 million .

The transactions with ADES included our land rigs and related drilling contracts, as well as the transfer of employees and contract personnel, for aggregate proceeds of $288 million , subject to customary post-closing adjustments based on working capital and net cash.

In the first quarter of 2018, we completed the sale of our continuous sucker rod service business in Canada for a purchase price of $25 million and recognized a gain of $2 million.

The carrying amounts of the major classes of assets divested total $23 million and included PP&E, allocated goodwill and inventory.

In the third quarter of 2018, we completed the sale of an equity investment in a joint venture for an insignificant gain.

In December of 2017, we completed the sale of our U.S.

pressure pumping and pump-down perforating assets for $430 million in cash.

We sold our related facilities, field assets, and supplier and customer contracts related to these businesses.

Our divestitures were subject to deferred closings, escrow releases and customary post-closing working capital adjustments and may result in subsequent adjustments that are recorded through the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Furthermore, these technology offerings afford us additional opportunities to sell our core products and services to our customers.

Reporting Segments

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Research and development expenses are included in the results of both our Western and Eastern Hemisphere segments.

Our corporate and other expenses that do not individually meet the criteria for segment reporting are reported separately under the caption Corporate General and Administrative.

Our corporate and other expenses that do not individually meet the criteria for segment reporting are reported separately under the caption Corporate General and Administrative in our Segment Information disclosures.

Products and Services

Our principal business is to provide equipment and services to the oil and natural gas exploration and production industry, both onshore and offshore.

Product and services include:

(1) Production, (2) Completions, (3) Drilling and Evaluation and (4) Well Construction.

Production offers production optimization services and a complete production ecosystem, featuring our artificial-lift portfolio, testing and flow-measurement solutions and optimization software, to boost productivity and profitability.

During the second quarter of 2020, in order to support the streamlining and realignment of the business, we combined our prior reported four product lines into two product lines.

Our two product lines are:

(1) Completion and Production and (2) Drilling, Evaluation and Intervention.

Our new combined Completion and Production product line was previously reported as two separate product lines.

Our new Drilling, Evaluation and Intervention product line was previously reported as two separate product lines of (i) Drilling and Evaluation, and (ii) Well Construction.

Completion and Production offers production optimization services and a complete production ecosystem, featuring our artificial-lift portfolio, testing and flow-measurement solutions, and optimization software to boost productivity and profitability.

In addition, we have a suite of modern completion products, reservoir stimulation designs, and engineering capabilities that isolate zones and unlock reserves in deepwater, unconventional, and aging reservoirs.

The following is a detailed description of our product and service offerings under our Completion and Production product line.

Artificial Lift Systems provides a mechanical method to produce oil or gas from a well lacking sufficient reservoir pressure for natural flow.

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Pressure Pumping offers customers advanced chemical technology and services for safe and effective production enhancements.

We provide pressure pumping and reservoir stimulation services, including acidizing, fracturing and fluid systems, cementing and coiled-tubing intervention, however, our U.S.

pressure pumping assets were sold in December of 2017.

In selected international markets, we provide pressure pumping and reservoir stimulation services, including acidizing, fracturing and fluid systems, cementing and coiled-tubing intervention.

Testing and Production Services provides well test data and slickline and intervention services.

The service line includes drillstem test tools, surface well testing services, and multiphase flow measurement.

Completions is a suite of modern completion products, reservoir stimulation designs and engineering capabilities that isolate zones and unlock reserves in deepwater, unconventional and aging reservoirs.

Completion Systems offers customers a comprehensive line of completion tools-such as safety systems, production packers, downhole reservoir monitoring, flow control, isolation packers, multistage fracturing systems and sand-control technologies that set the stage for maximum production with minimal cost per barrel.

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Our cementing engineers analyze complex wells and provide all job requirements from pre-job planning to installation.

Drilling and Evaluation comprises a suite of services ranging from early well planning to reservoir management.

Drilling, Evaluation and Intervention comprises a suite of services ranging from early well planning to reservoir management.

The drilling services offer innovative tools and expert engineering to increase efficiency and maximize reservoir exposure.

The evaluation services merge wellsite capabilities including wireline, logging while drilling and surface logging with laboratory-fluid and core analyses to reduce reservoir uncertainty.

The evaluation services merge wellsite capabilities including wireline and managed pressure drilling.

We also build or rebuild well integrity for the full life cycle of the well.

Using conventional to advanced equipment, we offer safe and efficient tubular running services in any environment.

Our skilled fishing and re-entry teams execute under any contingency from drilling to abandonment, and our drilling tools provide reliable pressure control even in extreme wellbores.

The following is a detailed description of our product and service offerings currently provided by our Drilling, Evaluation and Intervention product line.

Drilling Services includes directional drilling, logging while drilling, measurement while drilling and rotary-steerable systems.

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The service line also executes well intervention and remediation operations by conveying equipment via cable into oil and natural gas wells.

Surface Data Logging Systems provides real-time formation evaluation data by analyzing cuttings, gases and fluids while drilling.

Our offerings include conventional mud-logging services, drilling instrumentation, advanced gas analysis and wellsite consultants.

On April 30, 2019, we completed the sale of our surface data logging business to Excellence Logging for $50 million in total consideration, subject to customary post-closing working capital adjustments.

The business disposition included our surface data logging equipment, technology and associated contracts related to the business.

Reservoir Solutions provides rock and fluid analysis to evaluate hydrocarbon resources, advisory solutions with engineering strategy and technologies to support assets at various development stages, and software products to optimize production and automate drilling.

On April 30, 2019, we completed the sale of our laboratory services for an aggregate consideration of $206 million.

Well Construction builds or rebuilds well integrity for the full life cycle of the well.

Using conventional to advanced equipment, we offer safe and efficient tubular running services in any environment.

Our skilled fishing and re-entry teams execute under any contingency from drilling to abandonment and our drilling tools provide reliable pressure control even in extreme wellbores.

We also include our land drilling rig business as part of Well Construction.

Tubular Running Services provides equipment, tubular handling, tubular management and tubular connection services for the drilling, completions and workover of oil or natural gas wells.

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Drilling Tools and Rental Equipment delivers our patented tools and equipment, including drillpipe and collars, bottom hole assembly tools, tubular-handling equipment, pressure-control equipment, and machine-shop services, for drilling oil and natural gas wells.

Land Drilling Rigs provides onshore contract drilling services and related operations on a fleet of land drilling and workover rigs primarily operated in the Eastern Hemisphere.

With our technologically diverse fleet, we have the ability to perform a

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broad range of advanced drilling projects that include multi-well pad drilling, high-pressure high-temperature drilling, deep gas drilling, special well design and other unconventional drilling methods in various climates.

We divested substantially all of our land drilling rig operations during the year ended 2019, as well as, in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Other Business Data

We provide our products and services worldwide and compete in a variety of distinct segments with a number of competitors.

Our principal competitors include Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, National Oilwell Varco, Nabors Industries, Apergy Corp.

and Frank’s International.

Our principal competitors include Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, National Oilwell Varco, Nabors Industries, ChampionX Corporation and Frank’s International.

We also compete with various other regional suppliers that provide a limited range of equipment and services tailored for local markets.

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Additionally, the impact of consolidation and acquisitions of our competitors is difficult to predict and may harm our business as a result.

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Raw Materials

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Substantially all of our customers are engaged in the energy industry.

Most of our international sales are to large international or national oil companies.

As of December 31, 2019 , the Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere accounted for 53% and 47% of our net outstanding accounts receivables.

As of December 31, 2019 , our net outstanding accounts receivable in the U.S.

accounted for 14% of our balance and Mexico accounted for approximately 17% of our net balance.

Most of our international sales are to large international or national oil companies and North America sales are to independent oil companies.

As of December 31, 2020, the Eastern and Western Hemisphere accounted for 54 % and 46 %, respectively, of our total net outstanding accounts receivable from customers balance.

As of December 31, 2020, customer receivables in Mexico and the U.S.

accounted for 23 % and 12 %, respectively, of our total net outstanding accounts receivables from customers.

No other country accounted for more than 10% of our net outstanding accounts receivables balance.

During the years ended December 31, 2019 , 2018 and 2017 no individual customer accounted for more than 10% of our consolidated revenues.

For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, no individual customer accounted for more than 10 % of our consolidated revenues.

Our services are usually short-term, day-rate based and cancellable should our customers wish to alter the scope of work.

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Additionally, we have research, development and engineering facilities that are focused on improving existing products and services and developing new technologies to meet customer demands for improved drilling performance and enhanced reservoir productivity.

Weatherford has also developed significant expertise, trade secrets, and know-how with respect to manufacturing equipment and providing services.

Weatherford has significant expertise, trade secrets, intellectual property and know-how with respect to manufacturing equipment and providing services.

As many areas of our business rely on patents and proprietary technology, we seek and ensure patent protection both inside and outside the U.S.

for products and methods that appear to have commercial significance.

With respect to the Successor, we amortize developed technology over 5 years.

With respect to the Predecessor, we amortized patents over the years that we expect to benefit from their existence, which typically extends from the grant of the patent through and until 20 years after the filing date of the patent application.

Although in the aggregate our patents are important to the manufacturing and marketing of many of our products and services, we do not believe that the expiration of any one of our patents would have a materially adverse effect on our business.

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With respect to the Successor, we amortize developed technology over 5 years.

With respect to the Predecessor, we amortized patents over the years that we expected to benefit from their existence, which typically extended from the grant of the patent through and until 20 years after the filing date of the patent application.

The widespread geographical locations of our operations serve to mitigate the overall impact of the seasonal nature of our business in certain geographic regions.

Weather and natural phenomena can temporarily affect the level of demand for our products and services.

Spring months in Canada and winter months in the North Sea and Russia can affect our operations negatively.

Additionally, heavy rains or an exceedingly cold winter in a given region or climate changes may impact our results.

The unpredictable or unusually harsh weather conditions could lengthen the periods of reduced activity and have a detrimental impact to our results of operations.

The widespread geographical locations of our operations serve to mitigate the overall impact of the seasonal nature of our business.

Additionally, heavy rains, hurricanes or an exceedingly cold winter in a given region or other climate changes may impact our results.

Unpredictable or unusually harsh weather conditions could lengthen the periods of reduced activity and have a detrimental impact to our results of operations.

In addition, customer spending patterns for our products and services may result in higher activity in the fourth quarter of each year as our customers seek to fully utilize their annual budgets.

Conversely, customer budget constraints may lead to lower demand for our services and products in the fourth quarter of each year.

Federal Regulation and Environmental Matters

Our operations are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the energy industry in general and the environment in particular.

Our operations are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations in the U.S.

and globally relating to the energy industry in general and the environment in particular.

Our 2020 expenditures to comply with environmental laws and regulations were not material, and we currently do not expect the cost of compliance with environmental laws and regulations for 2021 to be material.

As of December 31, 2019 , we employed approximately 24,000 employees, which is 9% and 18% lower than our workforce as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 , respectively.

In response to the price of crude oil and a lower level of exploration and production spending and have reduced our overall costs and workforce to better align with activity levels.

See “ Item 8.

– Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Note 11 – Restructuring, Facility Consolidation and Severance Charges ” for details on our workforce reductions.

In addition, our workforce has been reduced, as a result of the dispositions of certain businesses.

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We have obligations and expect to incur capital, operating and maintenance, and remediation expenditures, as a result of compliance with environmental laws and regulations.

Among those obligations, are the current requirements imposed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) at the former Universal Compression facility in Midland, Texas.

At this location we are performing a TCEQ-approved Remedial Action Plan (“RAP”) to address contaminated ground water.

The performance of the RAP and related expenses are scheduled to be performed over a ten to twenty-year period and, may cost as much as $ 6 million, all of which is recorded as an undiscounted obligation on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2020.

We continuously monitor and strive to maintain compliance with changes in laws and regulations that impact our business.

Human Capital Management

Focus on People and Culture

At Weatherford, our people are our most critical asset, vital to our sustained, long-term success.

We believe we have a dedicated and capable workforce and our employees have expertise in a variety of disciplines ranging from engineering to oilfield services support to multiple corporate functions.

We strive daily to provide a culture that focuses on delivering results through attracting, developing and retaining the talent we need to build, sustain and operate effectively and efficiently across our organization and within the oilfield equipment and services industry.

We understand the value that each individual brings to the table and we celebrate diversity in all its forms and are immensely proud of our workforce.

We are focused on building a high-performance culture through objective setting, ongoing and regular career discussions and individual development plans and regular coaching and feedback.

During this process, we are grounded by our core values:

ethics and integrity, discipline and accountability, flawless execution, collaboration and partnership, innovation and technology leadership and commitment to sustainability.

Focus on Safety

The safety of our employees remains the primary focus of our management.

Our vision is to be a company that is incident free, delivers on our promises to our customers, and leaves the environments and communities in which we operate better than we found them.

Our Eight GEMS (Getting Everyone Managing Safety) program is designed to educate employees and empower them to intervene when they see unsafe situations.

Each GEM focuses on a specific opportunity for risk prevention, including driver and vehicle safety, commitment and intervention, facility safety, induction and training, risk management, lifting equipment and operations, hazardous substances, hazardous environments, and occupational health.

Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, we have remained focused on protecting the health and safety of our customers and employees.

Shortly after the outset of COVID-19, we adopted enhanced safety measures and practices across our organization to protect employee health and safety and ensure that we would continue to be able to play a critical role in providing energy.

We monitor and track the impact of the pandemic on our employees and within our operations, and proactively modify or adopt new practices to promote their health and safety.

Our goal in our compensation programs is to provide competitive compensation opportunities to each of our employees that are well-balanced between our short- and long-term strategic priorities, that discourage excessive or unnecessary risk taking and that reward our employees appropriately for their efforts.

We are committed to maintaining and fostering a culture grounded in the principles inherent in pay-for-performance over the short and long-term for our employees eligible to receive a bonus.

Through this culture, we strive to attract, motivate, retain and reward our employees for their work that contributes to building our brand and to sustaining our success in the marketplace.

We believe our culture of aligning our strategic priorities with our compensation programs supports a cohesive drive towards value creation for all our stakeholders.

Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels comfortable bringing their true selves to work.

It is important that we operate in a collaborative and inclusive manner across all levels of our organization, embracing gender, racial and ethnic diversity among our employees and recognizing the strength and competitive advantages that

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our differences afford us as an individual and a company.

Our Diversity and Inclusion (“D&I”) Program promotes partnerships, engagement, and collaboration across our organization.

Our D&I Executive Council, which includes our executive leadership team and other senior leaders, provides strategic direction and oversight of the D&I Program.

In addition, we have a Global D&I Advisory Board with global employee representation.

Employee Resource Groups (“ERGs”) based on the needs and requests of our employees seek to align activities to enrich our culture and drive D&I initiatives at the local level that engage, educate and empower our workforce while having a positive impact on our business.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, we rolled out “Avoiding Unconscious Bias eLearning” as a global training course for employees and managers, and we conducted an interactive virtual session on Inclusive Leadership.

Employee Statistics

As of December 31, 2020, Weatherford had approximately 17,200 employees globally, located in 75 different countries.

In response to the price of crude oil and a lower level of exploration and production spending, in addition to other overall cost reductions, we reduced our workforce by 28% and 35% from our workforce totals at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Certain of our operations are subject to union contracts and these contracts cover approximately 17% of our employees.

We believe we have a dedicated and capable workforce despite the significant headcount reductions over the past three years which were necessary to adapt our Company to the market conditions.

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Information about our Executive Officers

The following table sets forth, as of March 16, 2020 , the names and ages of the executive officers of Weatherford, including all offices and positions held by each for at least the past five years.

Current Position and Five-Year Business Experience

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Weatherford International plc,

since April 2017

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Halliburton Company, July 2016 to March 2017

Executive Vice President and Chief Integration Officer of Halliburton Company, January 2015 to June 2016

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Halliburton Company, January 2008 to December 2014

Karl Blanchard (a) (b)

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Weatherford International plc, since August 2017

Chief Operating Officer of Seventy Seven Energy, June 2014 to April 2017

Vice President of Production Enhancement of Halliburton Company,

2012 to June 2014

Christian Garcia

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Weatherford International plc, since January 2020

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Visteon Corporation, October 2016 to October 2019

Senior Vice President, Finance and Acting Chief Financial Officer of Halliburton Company, from January 2015 to August 2016

Chief Accounting Officer of Halliburton Company, January 2014 to December 2015

Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary of Weatherford International plc, since October 2017

Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Weatherford International plc, May 2015 to September 2017

Vice President, Chief Commercial Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Halliburton Company, January 2015 to April 2015

Vice President, Corporate Secretary & Chief Commercial Counsel – Western Hemisphere of Halliburton Company, January 2014 to December 2014

On July 1, 2019 , the Weatherford Parties, filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the U.S.

The following table sets forth, as of February 19, 2021, the names and ages of the executive officers of Weatherford, including all offices and positions held by each for at least the past five years.

There are no family relationships between the executive officers of the Company or between any director and any executive officer of the Company.

Name Age Current Position and Five-Year Business Experience

Girishchandra K.

Saligram 49 President and Chief Executive Officer of Weatherford International plc, since October 2020

Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Exterran Corporation from August 2018 to September 2020

Senior Vice President Global Services of Exterran Corporation from August 2016 to August 2018

Positions of increasing responsibilities at GE Oil & Gas ending with General Manager, Downstream Products & Services, in August 2016

Karl Blanchard (a)

61 Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Weatherford International plc, from August 2017 to present;

Interim Chief Executive Officer of Weatherford International plc, from June 2020 to October 2020;

Principal Financial Officer of Weatherford International plc from August 2020 to September 2020

Chief Operating Officer of Seventy Seven Energy, Inc., June 2014 to April 2017

Keith Jennings 51 Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Weatherford International plc, since September 2020

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P.

from November 2019 to September 2020

Vice President, Finance of Eastman Chemical Company, May 2018 to October 2019

Vice President and Treasurer of Eastman Chemical Company from August 2016 to May 2018

Vice President and Treasurer of Cameron International Corporation from June 2009 to April 2016

Weatherholt (b)

43 Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer of Weatherford International plc, since July 2020

Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Arena Energy, L.P., from September 2019 to July 2020

Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary at Midstates Petroleum Company, Inc., from February 2015 to August 2019

(a) On July 1, 2019, the Weatherford Parties, filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the U.S.

Bankruptcy Code in the U.S.

8 unchanged sentences

The SSE Reorganization Plan became effective on August 1, 2016, pursuant to its terms and SSE emerged from its Chapter 11 case.

There are no family relationships between the executive officers of the registrant or between any director and any executive officer of the registrant.

(b) Prior to joining Weatherford, Mr.

Weatherholt was the General Counsel at Midstates Petroleum Company, Inc.

when the company filed for bankruptcy protection on May 1, 2016 in the Federal Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Houston Division) and served the company before, during and after its bankruptcy.

In addition, he was the Senior Vice President & General Counsel of Arena Energy, LP, which filed for bankruptcy protection on August 20, 2020 in the Federal Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Houston Division) approximately 4 weeks after his departure from the company.

Weatherford International plc – 2020 Form 10-K | 9

1 unchanged sentence

Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1. Business