UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D. C. 20549

 

 

FORM 10-K

 

 

(Mark one)

 

x

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the periodfiscal year ended December 31, 20082010

or

 

¨

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission File Number: 1-8182

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

TEXAS 74-2088619

(State or other jurisdiction

of
incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

1250 N.E. Loop 410, Suite 1000

San Antonio, Texas

 78209
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (210) 828-7689

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class

 

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock, $0.10 par value American Stock Exchange (NYSE Alternext US)NYSE Amex

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ¨    No  xþ

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act.    Yes  ¨    No  xþ

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  xþ    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  ¨    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “non-accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Large accelerated filer  x¨

   

Accelerated filer  ¨þ

Non-accelerated filer  ¨

 

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

  

Smaller reporting company  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  xþ

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by nonaffiliates of the registrant on the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter (based on the closing sales price on the American Stock Exchange (NYSE Alternext US)Amex) on June 30, 2008)2010) was approximately $932.0$303.8 million.

As of February 6, 2009,4, 2011, there were 49,997,57854,243,452 shares of common stock, par value $0.10 per share, of the registrant issued and outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the proxy statement related to the registrant’s 20092011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report.

 

 

 


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

      Page
  PART I  
  

Introductory Note

  

1

Item 1.

  

Business

  

2

Item 1A.

  

Risk Factors

  

17

19

Item 1B.

  

Unresolved Staff Comments

  

27

30

Item 2.

  

Properties

  

27

30

Item 3.

  

Legal Proceedings

  

28

Item 4.

30
  

Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

28

  PART II  

Item 5.

  

Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

  

28

31

Item 6.

  

Selected Financial Data

  

30

33

Item 7.

  

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

  

31

34

Item 7A.

  

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

  

53

59

Item 8.

  

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

  

55

61

Item 9.

  

Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

  

86

100

Item 9A.

  

Controls and Procedures

  

86

100

Item 9B.

  

Other Information

  

88

100
  PART III  

Item 10.

  

Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

  

88

101

Item 11.

  

Executive Compensation

  

88

101

Item 12.

  

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and RelateRelated Shareholder Matters

  

88

101

Item 13.

  

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

  

88

101

Item 14.

  

Principal Accountant Fees and Services

  

88

101
  PART IV  

Item 15.

  

Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

  

89

102


PART I

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

From time to time, our management or persons acting on our behalf make forward-looking statements to inform existing and potential security holders about our company. These statements may include projections and estimates concerning the timing and success of specific projects and our future backlog, revenues, income and capital spending. Forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by words such as “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” “seek,” “will,” “should,” “goal” or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are first made, which in the case of forward-looking statements made in this report is the date of this report. Sometimes we will specifically describe a statement as being a forward-looking statement and refer to this cautionary statement.

In addition, various statements thatcontained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, contains, including those that express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. ThoseSuch forward-looking statements appear in Item 1—“Business” and Item 3—“Legal Proceedings” in Part I of this report; in Item 5—“Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities,” Item 7—“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” Item 7A—“Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” and in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements we have included in Item 8 of Part II of this report; and elsewhere in this report. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this report. We disclaim any obligation to update these statements, and we caution you not to rely on them unduly. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and assumptions about future events. While our management considers these expectations and assumptions to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. These risks, contingencies and uncertainties relate to, among other matters, the following:

 

general economic and business conditions and industry trends;

 

risks associated with the current global crisis and its impact on capital markets and liquidity;

the continued strength of the drilling services or production services in the geographic areas where we operate;

levels and volatility of oil and gas prices;

 

decisions about onshore exploration and development projects to be made by oil and gas exploration and production companies;

economic cycles and their impact on capital markets and liquidity;

the continued demand for drilling services or production services in the geographic areas where we operate;

 

the highly competitive nature of our business;

 

our future financial performance, including availability, terms and deployment of capital;

the supply of marketable drilling rigs, workoverwell service rigs and wireline units within the industry;

the continued availability of drilling rig, well service rig and wireline unit components;

the continued availability of qualified personnel;

 

the success or failure of our acquisition strategy, including our ability to finance acquisitions and manage growth;

the continued availability of drilling rig, workover rig and wireline unit components;

our future financial performance, including availability, terms and deployment of capital;

the continued availability of qualified personnel; and

 

changes in, or our failure or inability to comply with, governmental regulations, including those relating to the environment.

We believe the items we have outlined above are important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in a forward-looking statement contained in this report or elsewhere. We

have discussed many of these factors in more detail elsewhere in this report. These factors are not necessarily all

the important factors that could affect us. Unpredictable or unknown factors we have not discussed in this report could also have material adverse effects on actual results of matters that are the subject of our forward-looking statements. We do not intend to update our description of important factors each time a potential important factor arises, except as required by applicable securities laws and regulations. We advise our security holders that they should (1) be aware that importantunpredictable or unknown factors not referred to above could affect the accuracy of our forward-looking statements and (2) use caution and common sense when considering our forward-looking statements. Also, please read the risk factors set forth in Item 1A—“Risk Factors.”

 

Item 1.Item 1.BusinessBusiness

In December 2007, our Board of Directors approved a change in our fiscal year end from March 31st to December 31st. The fiscal year end change was effective December 31, 2007 and resulted in a nine month reporting period from April 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007. Fiscal years beginning with the year ended December 31, 2008, will represent twelve month reporting periods. We implemented the fiscal year end change to align our United States reporting period with the required Colombian statutory reporting period as well as the reporting periods of peer companies in the industry.

General

Pioneer Drilling Company provides drilling services and production services to independent and major oil and gas exploration and production companies throughout much of the onshore oil and gas producing regions of the United States and internationally in Colombia. Our companyPioneer Drilling Company was incorporated under the laws of the State of Texas in 1979 as the successor to a business that had been operating since 1968. Over the years, ourOur business has grown through acquisitions and through organic growth. Since September 1999, we have significantly expanded our drilling rig fleet by adding 4235 rigs through acquisitions and by adding 2731 rigs through the construction of rigs from new and used components. On March 1, 2008, weWe significantly expanded our service offerings in March 2008, when we acquired the production services businesses of WEDGE Group Incorporated (“WEDGE”) for $314.7 million and Prairie Investors d/b/a Competition Wireline (“Competition”) for $30.0 million, which provide well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services. We funded the WEDGE acquisition primarily with $311.5 million of borrowings under our $400 million senior secured revolving credit facility. As of February 23, 2009, the senior secured revolving credit facility has an outstanding balance of $257.5 million, all of which matures in February 2013. Drilling services and production services are fundamental to establishing and maintaining the flow of oil and natural gas throughout the productive life atof a well site and enable us to meet multiple needs of our customers.

We currently conduct our operations through two operating segments: our Drilling Services Division and our Production Services Division. The following is a description of these two operating segments. Financial information about our operating segments is included in Note 11,Segment Information, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II Item 8,Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

  

Drilling Services Division—Our Drilling Services Division provides contract land drilling services with its fleet of 7071 drilling rigs in the following locations:

 

Drilling Division Locations

  Rig Count

South Texas

  1719

East Texas

  2213

West Texas

3

North Dakota

9

North Texas

  93

Utah

  6

North Dakota

3
  6

Oklahoma

  56

Appalachia

7

Colombia

  58

As of February 23, 2009, 364, 2011, 48 drilling rigs are operating 29under drilling contracts. We have 17 drilling rigs that are idle and fivesix drilling rigs located in our Oklahoma drilling division have been placed in storage or “cold stacked” in our Oklahoma drilling division location due to low

demand for drilling rigs in thisthat region. We are actively marketing all our idle drilling rigs. During the second quarter of 2009, we established our Appalachia drilling division location and now have seven drilling rigs andoperating in the Marcellus Shale. In early 2011, we are earning revenue on two

established our West Texas drilling division location with three drilling rigs that were previously included in our East Texas drilling division location. One of these rigs through early termination fees on theirhas begun drilling contracts with terms expiring in March 2009the Permian Basin and May 2009. We are constructing a 1500 horsepower drilling rig that we expect the remaining two rigs to be completed and available for operationbegin operations in the in our North Dakota drilling division under a contract with a three year term beginning March 2009.late February 2011. In addition to our drilling rigs, we provide the drilling crews and most of the ancillary equipment needed to operate our drilling rigs. We obtain our contracts for drilling oil and natural gas wells either through competitive bidding or through direct negotiations with customers. Our drilling contracts generally provide for compensation on either a daywork, turnkey or footage basis. Contract terms generally depend on the complexity and risk of operations, the on-site drilling conditions, the type of equipment used, and the anticipated duration of the work to be performed.

 

  

Production Services Division—Our Production Services Division provides a broad range of well services to oil and gas drillingexploration and producingproduction companies, including workoverwell services, wireline services, and fishing and rental services. Our production services operations are managed regionally and arethrough locations concentrated in the major United States onshore oil and gas producing regions in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and Rocky Mountain and Appalachian states. We provide our services to a diverse group of oil and gas exploration and production companies. The primary productionsproduction services we offer are the following:

 

Well Services. Existing and newly-drilled wells require a range of services to establish and maintain production over their useful lives. We use our premium well service rig fleet of 74 workover rigs in seven division locations to provide these required services, including maintenance of existing wells, workover of existing wells, completion of newly-drilled wells, and plugging and abandonment of wells at the end of their useful lives. We haveacquired one well service rig in early 2011, resulting in a premium workovertotal of 75 well service rigs in nine locations as of February 4, 2011. Our well service rig fleet consistingconsists of sixty-nineseventy 550 horseposewerhorsepower rigs, four 600 horsepower rigs, and one 400 horsepower rig. Therig, with an average age of this fleet is 1.4 years as of December 31, 2008. As of February 23, 2009, 62 workover3.4 years. All our well service rigs are currently operating and 12 workoveror are being actively marketed, with January 2011 utilization of approximately 88%. We plan to add another five well service rigs are idle with no crews assigned.to our fleet by mid-2011.

 

Wireline Services. In order for oil and gas exploration and production companies to better understand the reservoirs they are drilling or producing, they require logging services to accurately characterize reservoir rocks and fluids. When a producing well is completed, they also must perforate the production casing to establish a flow path between the reservoir and the wellbore. We use our fleet of 59 truck mounted wireline units in 15 division locations to provide these important logging and perforating services. We provide both open and cased-hole logging services, including the latest pulsed-neutron technology. In addition, we provide services which allow oil and gas exploration and production companies to evaluate the integrity of wellbore casing, recover pipe, or install bridge plugs. Our truck mountedWe acquired 21 wireline units have an average ageduring 2010 and two additional wireline units in early 2011, resulting in a total of 3.7 years86 wireline units in 22 locations as of December 31, 2008.February 4, 2011. We plan to add another 12 wireline units by mid-2011.

 

Fishing and Rental Services. During drilling operations, oil and gas exploration and production companies are often required tofrequently rent unique equipment such as power swivels, foam aircirculating units, blow-out preventers, air drilling equipment, pumps, tanks, pipe, tubing, and fishing tools. We have approximately $15 million worth of fishing andprovide rental tools that we provideservices out of four locations in Texas and Oklahoma. As of December 31, 2010 our fishing and rental tools have a gross book value of $13.5 million.

Pioneer Drilling Company’s corporate office is located at 1250 N.E. Loop 410, Suite 1000, San Antonio, Texas 78209. Our phone number is (210) 828-7689 and our website address iswww.pioneerdrlg.com. We make available free of charge though our website our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Information on our website is not incorporated into this report or otherwise made part of this report.

Industry Overview

In recent months, there has been substantial volatility and a decline in oil and natural gas prices due to the deteriorating global economic environment. In addition, there has been substantial uncertainty in the capital markets and access to financing is uncertain. These conditions have adversely affected our business environment.

Our customers have curtailed their drilling programs and reduced their production activities, which has resulted in a decrease in demand for drilling and production services and a reduction in day rates and utilization. In addition, certain of our customers could experience an inability to pay suppliers in the event they are unable to access the capital markets to fund their business operations.

Demand for oilfield services offered by our industry is a function of our customers’ willingness to make operating expenditures and capital expenditures to explore for, develop and produce hydrocarbons, which in turn is affected by current and expected levels of oil and natural gas prices. For three years before the end of

From 2004 through 2008, domestic exploration and production spending increased as oil and natural gas prices increased. OilSince late 2008, there has been substantial volatility and a decline in oil and natural gas prices declined significantly atdue to the end of 2008downturn in the global economic environment. In response, our customers curtailed their drilling programs and reduced their production activities, particularly in recent monthsnatural gas producing regions, which resulted in a deteriorating global economic environment, and exploration and production companies have announced cutsdecrease in their exploration budgets for 2009. We expect these reductions in oil and gas exploration budgets to result in a reduction in our rig utilizationdemand and revenue rates for certain of our drilling rigs and production services equipment. Additionally, there was uncertainty in 2009. In addition, we may experience a shiftthe capital markets and access to more turnkey and footage drilling contracts from daywork drilling contracts.financing was limited. These conditions adversely affected our business environment. For additional information concerning the effects of the volatility in oil and gas prices and uncertainty in capital markets, see Item 1A—“Risk Factors” in Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

With increasing oil and natural gas prices through 2010, exploration and production companies modestly increased their exploration and production spending for 2010 and industry rig utilization and revenue rates improved, particularly in oil-producing regions and in certain shale regions. We expect continued modest increases in exploration and production spending for 2011, which we expect will result in modest increases in industry rig utilization and revenue rates in 2011, as compared to 2010.

On February 6, 20094, 2011, the spot price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil was $40.17,$89.03, the spot price for Henry Hub natural gas was $4.67$4.47 and the Baker Hughes land rig count was 1,330,1,696, a 21% decrease33% increase from 1,6771,280 on February 8, 2008.5, 2010. The average weekly spot prices of West Texas Intermediate crude oil and Henry Hub natural gas, the average weekly domestic land rig count per the Baker Hughes land rig count, and the average monthly domestic workoverwell service rig count for the year ended December 31, 2008, the nine months ended December 31, 2007 and each of the previouslast five years ended March 31 were:

 

   Year Ended
December 31,
2008
  Nine Months
Ended
December 31,
2007
  Years Ended March 31,
       2007  2006  2005  2004

Oil (West Texas

            

Intermediate)

  $99.86  $77.42  $64.96  $59.94  $45.04  $31.47

Natural Gas (Henry Hub)

  $8.81  $6.82  $6.53  $9.10  $5.99  $5.27

U.S. Land Rig Count

   1,792   1,684   1,589   1,329   1,110   964

U.S. Workover Rig Count

   2,514   2,394   2,376   2,271   2,087   1,996
   Years Ended December 31, 
   2010   2009   2008   2007   2006 

Oil (West Texas Intermediate)

  $79.39    $61.81    $99.86    $72.71    $66.28  

Natural Gas (Henry Hub)

  $4.35    $3.85    $8.81    $6.90    $6.66  

U.S. Land Rig Count

   1,493     1,035     1,792     1,670     1,537  

U.S. Well Service Rig Count

   1,854     1,735     2,514     2,388     2,364  

Increased expenditures for exploration and production activities generally lead to increased demand for our drilling services and production services. OverAs represented in the past several years, risingtable above, increases in oil and natural gas prices and thefrom 2004 to late 2008 resulted in corresponding increase in onshore oil and natural gas exploration and production spending led to expanded drilling and well service activity as reflected by the increases in the U.S. land rig counts and U.S. workoverwell service rig counts, overwhile declines in prices from late 2008 to late 2009 led to decreases in the previous five years.U.S. land rig counts and U.S. well service rig counts. Since late 2009, increases in oil and natural gas prices have caused modest increases in exploration and production spending and the corresponding increases in drilling and well services activities is reflected by increases in the U.S. land rig counts and the U.S. well service rig counts in 2010.

Our business is influenced substantially by both operating and capital expenditures by exploration and production companies. Exploration and production spending is generally categorized as either a capital expenditure or an operating expenditure. Activities designed to add hydrocarbon reserves are classified as capital expenditures, while those associated with maintaining or accelerating production are categorized as operating expenditures.

Capital expenditures by oil and gas exploration and production companies tend to be relatively sensitive to volatility in oil or natural gas prices because project decisions are tied to a return on investment spanning a number of years. As such, capital expenditure economics often require the use of commodity price forecasts which may prove inaccurate in the amount of time required to plan and execute a capital expenditure project (such as the drilling of a deep well). When commodity prices are depressed for even a short periodlong periods of time, capital expenditure projects are routinely deferred until prices return to an acceptable level.

In contrast, both mandatory and discretionary operating expenditures are more stable than capital expenditures for exploration. Mandatory operating expenditure projects involve activities that cannot be avoided in the short term, such as regulatory compliance, safety, contractual obligations and certain projects to maintain the well and related infrastructure in operating condition. Discretionary operating expenditure projects may not be critical

to the short-term viability of a lease or field, but these projects are less sensitive to commodity price volatility as compared to capital expenditures for exploration. Discretionary operating expenditure work is evaluated according to a simple short-term payout criterion which is far less dependent on commodity price forecasts.

Our business is influenced substantially by both operating and capital expenditures by exploration and production companies. Because existing oil and natural gas wells require ongoing spending to maintain production, expenditures by exploration and production companies for the maintenance of existing wells are relatively stable and predictable. In contrast, capital expenditures by exploration and production companies for exploration and drilling are more directly influenced by current and expected oil and natural gas prices and generally reflect the volatility of commodity prices.

Competitive Strengths

Our competitive strengths include:

One of the Leading Providers in the Most Attractive Basins.Our 71 drilling rigs operate in many of the most attractive producing basins in the Americas, including the Bakken, Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales, as well as Colombia. Our rigs are located in nine divisions throughout the United States and Colombia, diversifying our geographic exposure and limiting the impact of any regional slowdown. We believe the varied capabilities of our rigs make them well suited to these areas where the optimal rig configuration is dictated by local geology and market conditions. Furthermore, certain of our division locations, such as Colombia, North Dakota, West Texas and parts of our South Texas division location, are in basins with oil-focused drilling, which reduces our relative exposure to changes in natural gas drilling activity.

High Quality Assets.We believe our drilling rig fleet is modern and well maintained, with 31 new-build rigs purchased since 2001, and the majority of these constructed from 2004 to 2006. The majority of our rig fleet has preferred equipment such as more efficient and lower emission engines, rounded bottom mud tanks, matched horsepower mud pumps and mobile or fast-paced substructures. In addition, 69% of our rig fleet has a horsepower rating of 1000 to 2000 horsepower and 49% has top drives, which allows us to pursue opportunities in shale plays, which typically require higher specification rigs than traditional areas. Our wireline and well servicing assets are among the newest in the industry, with 54% having been built in 2007 or later, and all but one of the well service rigs having at least 550 horsepower. We expect to add a total of 13 wireline units and six well service rigs during the first half of 2011. We believe that our modern and well maintained fleet allows us to realize higher contract and utilization rates by being able to offer our customers equipment that is more reliable and requires less downtime than older equipment.

Provide Services Throughout the Well Life Cycle. By offering our customers drilling, production and related services, we capture revenue throughout the life cycle of a well and diversify our business. Our Drilling Services Division performs work prior to initial production, and our Production Services Division provides services such as logging, completion, perforation, workover and maintenance throughout the productive life of a well. We also provide certain end-of-well-life activities such as plugging and abandonment. Drilling and production services activity have historically exhibited different degrees of demand fluctuation, and we believe the diversity of our services reduces our exposure to decreases in demand for any single service activity. The diversity of our services also enhances customer revenues by allowing us to cross-sell services in our various business divisions.

Excellent Safety Record.We believe that our excellent safety record and reputation are critical to winning new business and expanding our relationships with existing customers. Our commitment to

safety also reduces our business risk by keeping our employees safe and our equipment in good condition. We have consistently exceeded the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) average for recordable incidents and have achieved a 70% improvement in recordable incidents since 2005. Much of our equipment contains additional safety features such as the iron roughnecks we have installed on 63% of our drilling rigs. We received scores of 100% on several health, safety and environment audits conducted during 2009 and 2010 by Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE: EC), one of the leading oil companies in Latin America, for whom we currently operate eight drilling rigs in Colombia. We believe our strong performance on such measures has contributed significantly to our growing business with Ecopetrol.

Experienced Management Team.We believe that important competitive factors in establishing and maintaining long-term customer relationships include having an experienced and skilled management team and maintaining employee continuity. Our CEO, Wm. Stacy Locke, joined Pioneer in 1995 as President and has over 25 years of industry experience. Our two division presidents, F.C. “Red” West and Joe Eustace, have over 70 years of combined oilfield services experience. Our management team has operated through numerous oilfield services cycles and provides us with valuable long-term experience and a detailed understanding of customer requirements. We also seek to maximize employee continuity and minimize employee turnover by maintaining modern equipment, a strong safety record, ongoing growth and competitive compensation. We have devoted, and will continue to devote, substantial resources to our employee safety and training programs and maintaining low employee turnover.

Longstanding and Diversified Customers.We maintain long-standing, high quality customer relationships with a diverse group of major independent oil and gas exploration and production companies including Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation, Whiting Petroleum Corporation and Chesapeake Energy Corporation. We also maintain a high quality relationship with Ecopetrol, which accounted for approximately 17.8% of our 2010 consolidated revenues. No other single customer accounted for more than 8.9% of consolidated revenues during the same period. We believe our relationships with our customers are excellent and offer numerous opportunities for future growth.

Strategy

In past years, our strategy was to become a premier land drilling and production services company through steady and disciplined growth. We executed this strategy by acquiring and building a high quality drilling rig fleet and production services business that operatesoperate in active drilling markets in the United States.States and Colombia. Our long-term strategy is to maintain and leverage our position as a leading land drilling and production services company, continue to expand our relationships with existing customers, expand our customer base in the areas in which we currently operate and evolve into a premier multi-service,further enhance our geographic diversification through selective international oilfield services provider.expansion. The key elements of this long-term strategy include:

 

  

ExpandFurther Strengthen our Operations into International Markets—Competitive Position in the Most Attractive Domestic Markets.In early 2007, we announced our intentionShale plays are expected to expand internationallybecome increasingly important to domestic hydrocarbon production in the coming years and began negotiatingnot all drilling contractsrigs are capable of successfully drilling in Colombia.these shale play opportunities. We currently have five39 drilling rigs locatedcapable of operating in Colombia.unconventional plays. Of these 39 drilling rigs, 30 are currently operating in unconventional plays, eight are currently operating in Colombia under term contracts and one is operating domestically on a conventional well. We have 21 other drilling rigs that would require additional upgrades such as top drives to be capable of operating in unconventional plays. We may consider further upgrades in the future if they will result in profitable contract terms that justify the additional investment. We also intend to continue adding capacity to our wireline and well servicing product offerings, which are well positioned to capitalize on increased shale development.

Increase our Exposure to Oil-Driven Drilling Activity.We have intentionally increased our exposure to oil-related activities by redeploying certain of our assets into predominately oil-producing regions and actively seeking contracts with oil-focused producers. Currently, 60% of both our working drilling rigs and our well service rigs are operating on wells that are targeting or producing oil. In addition, we currently have one rig drilling in the Permian Basin, an oil producing region, and expect to have another two drilling rigs operating in this area by the end of February 2011. We believe that by targeting a balanced mix of oil and natural gas activities, we can lessen our exposure to fluctuations in capital spending associated with changes in any single commodity price. We believe that our flexible rig fleet and production services assets allow us to target opportunities focused on both natural gas and oil.

 

  

Pursue Opportunities into Other Oilfield Services—Selectively Expand our International OperationsWe strive. In early 2007, we announced our intention to mitigate the cyclical riskselectively expand internationally and began a relationship with Ecopetrol S.A. in oilfield services by complementing our drilling services with certain production services. Effective March 1, 2008,Colombia after a comprehensive review of international opportunities wherein we acquired the production services businessesdetermined that Colombia offered an attractive mix of WEDGEfavorable business conditions, political stability, and Competition which provide well services, wireline servicesa long-term commitment to expanding national oil and fishing and rental services.gas production. We now have a fleeteight drilling rigs operating under term drilling contracts in Colombia. We are continuously evaluating additional international expansion opportunities and intend to target international markets that share the favorable characteristics of 74 workover rigs, 59 wireline unitsour Colombian operations and approximately $15 millionwhich would allow us to deploy sufficient assets in order to realize economies of fishing and rental tools equipment that operate out of facilities in Texas, Kansas, North Dakota, Colorado, Utah, Montana, Louisiana and Oklahoma. We expanded our Production Services Division with the acquisitions of Paltec, Inc. (Paltec) in August 2008 and Pettus Well Service (Pettus) in October 2008, both operating in Texas.scale.

 

  

Continue Growth with Select Capital Deployment—Deployment. We intend to continue growinginvest in the growth of our business by continuing to strategically upgrade our existing assets, selectively engaging in new-build opportunities, and potentially making selective acquisitions, continuing new-build programs and / or upgrading our existing assets.acquisitions. Our capital investment decisions are determined by strategic fit and an analysis of the projected return on capital employed, which is based on eachthe terms of those alternatives.secured contracts whenever possible, and the investment must be consistent with our strategic objectives. For example, we began our operations in Colombia in 2007 to diversify our operations into the international market, and we established our Appalachia drilling division location in 2009 to supply drilling rigs to the rapidly growing demand in the Marcellus Shale. We are currently constructing one 1500 horsepowercontinued investing in these opportunities during 2010, exporting an additional two rigs to Colombia and placing an additional four rigs in the Appalachia drilling rig thatdivision location, all of which were equipped with upgrades such as top drives and walking/skidding systems. We now have a total of 15 drilling rigs in these locations as of February 4, 2011. We also significantly increased our production services wireline fleet with the addition of 21 wireline units during 2010, and we expect to be completed and available for operation in our North Dakota drilling division underadd a contract with a three year term beginning March 2009. In addition, we will take deliverytotal of two new14 wireline units in 2009.and six well service rigs during the first half of 2011.

With the recent decline in oil and natural gas prices due to the deteriorating global economic environment and the expected reductions in our rig utilization and revenue rates in 2009, our near-term strategy is to maintain a strong balance sheet and ample liquidity. Management has initiated certain cost reduction measures including workforce and wage rate reductions that will reduce operating expenses during the downturn in the industry cycle. Budgeted capital expenditures for 2009 represent routine capital expenditures necessary to keep our equipment in safe and efficient working order and limited discretionary capital expenditures of new equipment or upgrades of existing equipment. In addition, our marketing initiatives are focused on identifying regional opportunities and evaluating more turnkey drilling contract opportunities. We believe this near-term strategy will position us to take advantage of business opportunities and continue our long-term growth strategy.

Overview of Our Segments and Services

Drilling Services Division

A land drilling rig consists of engines, a hoisting system, a rotating system, pumps and related equipment to circulate drilling fluid, blowout preventers and related equipment.

Diesel or gas engines are typically the main power sources for a drilling rig. Power requirements for drilling jobs may vary considerably, but most land drilling rigs employ two or more engines to generate between 500 and 2,000 horsepower, depending on well depth and rig design. Most drilling rigs capable of drilling in deep formations, involving depths greater than 15,000 feet, use diesel-electric power units to generate and deliver electric current through cables to electrical switch gears, then to direct-current electric motors attached to the equipment in the hoisting, rotating and circulating systems.

Drilling rigs use long strings of drill pipe and drill collars to drill wells. Drilling rigs are also used to set heavy strings of large-diameter pipe, or casing, inside the borehole. Because the total weight of the drill string and the casing can exceed 500,000 pounds, drilling rigs require significant hoisting and braking capacities.

Generally, a drilling rig’s hoisting system is made up of a mast, or derrick, a traveling block and hook assembly that attaches to the rotating system, a mechanism known as the drawworks, a drilling line and ancillary equipment. The drawworks mechanism consists of a revolving drum, around which the drilling line is wound, and a series of shafts, clutches and chain and gear drives for generating speed changes and reverse motion. The drawworks also houses the main brake, which has the capacity to stop and sustain the weights used in the drilling process. When heavy loads are being lowered, a hydraulic or electric auxiliary brake assists the main brake to absorb the great amount of energy developed by the mass of the traveling block, hook assembly, drill pipe, drill collars and drill bit or casing being lowered into the well.

The rotating equipment from top to bottom consists of a top drive or a swivel, the kelly, and kelly bushing, the rotary table, drill pipe, drill collars and the drill bit. We refer to the equipment between the top drive or swivel and the drill bit as the drill stem. In a top drive system, the top drive hangs from a hook at the bottom of the traveling block. The top drive has a passageway for drilling mud to get into the drill pipe, and it has a heavy-duty electric motor connected to a threaded drive shaft which connects to and rotates the drill pipe. In a kelly drive system, Thethe swivel assembly sustains the weight of the drill stem, permits its rotation and affords a rotating pressure seal and passageway for circulating drilling fluid into the top of the drill string. The swivel also has a large handle that fits inside the hook assembly at the bottom of the traveling block. Drilling fluid enters the drill stem through a hose, called the rotary hose, attached to the side of the swivel. The kelly is a triangular, square or hexagonal piece of pipe, usually 40 feet long, that transmits torque from the rotary table to the drill stem and permits its vertical movement as it is lowered into the hole. The bottom end of the kelly fits inside a corresponding triangular, square or hexagonal opening in a device called the kelly bushing. The kelly bushing, in turn, fits into a part of the rotary table called the master bushing. As the master bushing rotates, the kelly bushing also rotates, turning the kelly, which rotates the drill pipe and thus the drill bit. Drilling fluid is pumped through the kelly on its way to the bottom. The rotary table, equipped with its master bushing and kelly bushing, supplies the necessary torque to turn the drill stem. The drill pipe and drill collars are both steel tubes through which drilling fluid can be pumped. Drill pipe, sometimes called drill string, comes in 30-foot sections, or joints, with threaded sections on each end. Drill collars are heavier than drill pipe and are also threaded on the ends. Collars are used on the bottom of the drill stem to apply weight to the drilling bit. At the end of the drill stem is the bit, which chews up the formation rock and dislodges it so that drilling fluid can circulate the fragmented material back up to the surface where the circulating system filters it out of the fluid.

Drilling fluid, often called mud, is a mixture of clays, chemicals and water or oil, which is carefully formulated for the particular well being drilled. Drilling mud accounts for a major portion of the cost incurred and equipment used in drilling a well. Bulk storage of drilling fluid materials, the pumps and the mud-mixing equipment are placed at the start of the circulating system. Working mud pits and reserve storage are at the other end of the system. Between these two points, the circulating system includes auxiliary equipment for drilling fluid maintenance and equipment for well pressure control. Within the system, the drilling mud is typically

routed from the mud pits to the mud pump and from the mud pump through a standpipe and the rotary hose to the drill stem. The drilling mud travels down the drill stem to the bit, up the annular space between the drill stem and the borehole and through the blowout preventer stack to the return flow line. It then travels to a shale shaker for removal of rock cuttings, and then back to the mud pits, which are usually steel tanks. The reserve pits, usually one or two fairly shallow excavations, are used for waste material and excess water around the location.

In a continuing effort to improve our drilling rig fleet, we have installed top drives in 1035 rigs (with four additional spare top drives available for installation), iron roughnecks in 3745 rigs, walkingwalking/skidding systems in one rig13 rigs (with three otheradditional walking/skidding systems available for installation) and automatic catwalks in twoeight rigs. These upgrades provide our customers with drilling rigs that have more varied capabilities for drilling in unconventional plays, and they improve our efficiency and safety. Top drives provide maximum torque and rotational control, improved well control and better hole conditioning. In horizontal drilling, operators can utilize top drives to reach formations that may not be accessible with conventional rotary drilling. An iron roughneck is a remotely operated pipe handling feature on the rig floor, which is used to help reduce the occurrence of repetitive motion injuries and decrease drill pipe tripping time. Walking systems increase efficiency by allowing

multiple wells to be drilled on the same pad site and permitting the drilling rig to move between wells while drill pipe remains in the derrick, thus reducing move times and costs. Our walking system enables the drilling rig to move forward, backward, and side to side which affords the operator additional flexibility. An automated catwalk is a drill pipe handling feature used to raise drill pipe, drill collars, casing, and other necessary items to the drilling rig floor. Its function drastically reduces pick up and lay down time, thereby decreasing operator costs for handling casing.

There are numerous factors that differentiate land drilling rigs, including their power generation systems and their drilling depth capabilities. The actual drilling depth capability of a rig may be less than or more than its rated depth capability due to numerous factors, including the size, weight and amount of the drill pipe on the rig. The intended well depth and the drill site conditions determine the amount of drill pipe and other equipment needed to drill a well. Generally, land rigs operate with crews of five to six persons.

Our drilling rig fleet consists of 70 rigs. Not included in our 70 drilling rig count is a 1500 horsepower rig that we expect to be completed and available for operation in our North Dakota drilling division under a contract with a three year term beginning March 2009. We own all the rigs in our fleet. With the recent decline in demand for drilling services, as of February 23, 2009, we have 36 drilling rigs operating, 29 drilling rigs are idle and five drilling rigs located in our Oklahoma division have been placed in storage or “cold stacked” due to low demand for drilling rigs in this region. We are actively marketing all our idle drilling rigs and we are earning revenues on two of these rigs through early termination fees on these drilling contracts with terms expiring in March 2009 and May 2009.

The following table sets forth historical information regarding utilization for our drilling rig fleet:

 

  Year
Ended
December 31,
 Nine
Months
Ended
December 31,
 Years ended March 31,   Years ended December 31, 
  2008 2007 2007 2006 2005 2004   2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 

Average number of operating rigs for the period

  67.4  66.7  60.8  52.3  40.1  27.3    71.0    70.7    67.4    66.1    58.5  

Average utilization rate

  89% 89% 95% 95% 96% 88%   59  41  89  89  96

We believe that our drilling rigs and other related equipment are in good operating condition. Our employees perform periodic maintenance and minor repair work on our drilling rigs. We rely on various oilfield service companies for major repair work and overhaul of our drilling equipment when needed. We also engage in periodic improvement of our drilling equipment. In the event of major breakdowns or mechanical problems, our rigs could be subject to significant idle time and a resulting loss of revenue if the necessary repair services are not immediately available.

As of February 6, 2009,4, 2011, we ownedown a fleet of 8055 trucks and related transportation equipment that we use to transport our drilling rigs to and from drilling sites. By owning our own trucks, we reduce the overall cost of rig moves and reduce downtime between rig moves.

As a provider of contract land drilling services, our business and the profitability of our operations depend on the level of drilling activity by oil and gas exploration and production companies operating in the geographic markets where we operate. The oil and gas exploration and production industry is a historically cyclical industry characterized by significant changes in the levels of exploration and development activities. During periods of reduced drilling activity or excess rig capacity, price competition tends to increase and the profitability of daywork contracts tends to decrease. In this competitive price environment, we may be more inclined to enter into turnkey and footage contracts that expose us to greater risk of loss without commensurate increases in potential contract profitability.

We obtain our contracts for drilling oil and gas wells either through competitive bidding or through direct negotiations with customers. Our drilling contracts generally provide for compensation on either a daywork, turnkey or footage basis. The contract terms we offer generally depend on the complexity and risk of operations, the on-site drilling conditions, the type of equipment used and the anticipated duration of the work to be performed. Generally, our contracts provide for the drilling of a single well and typically permit the customer to terminate on short notice. However, we have entered into more longer-term drilling contracts during periods of high rig demand. In addition, we generally construct new drilling rigs once we have entered into longer-term drilling contracts for such rigs. As of February 6, 2009,Currently, we had 27have 32 contracts with terms of six months to three years in duration,duration. Of these 32 contracts, if not renewed at the end of which 18their terms, 14 will expire by August 6, 2009,15, 2011, 11 will expire by February 15, 2012, one will expire by August 15, 2012 and six have a remaining term of six to 12 months, one has a remaining term of 12 to 18 months and two have a remaining term in excess of 18 months. We have one additional drilling rig under contract that we expect will begin operating in late February 2011 with a six month term.

As a provider of contract land drilling services, our business and the profitability of our operations depend on the level of drilling activity by oil and gas exploration and production companies operating in the geographic markets where we operate. The oil and gas exploration and production industry is a historically cyclical industry characterized by significant changes in the levels of exploration and development activities. During periods of reduced drilling activity or excess rig capacity, price competition tends to increase and the profitability of daywork contracts tends to decrease. In this competitive price environment, we may be more inclined to enter into turnkey contracts that expose us to greater risk of loss but which offer potential contract profitability.

The following table presents, by type of contract, information about the total number of wells we completed for our customers during each of the last three fiscal years.

 

  Years ended December 31, 

Type of Contract

  Year
Ended
December 31,
2008
  Nine
Months
Ended
December 31,
2007
  Year
Ended
March 31,
2007
  2010   2009   2008 

Daywork

  828  606  742   453     323     828  

Turnkey

  10  5  2   11     14     10  

Footage

  71  66  60   —       1     71  
                     

Total number of wells

  909  677  804   464     338     909  
                     

Daywork Contracts. Under daywork drilling contracts, we provide a drilling rig and required personnel to our customer who supervises the drilling of the well. We are paid based on a negotiated fixed rate per day while the rig is used. Daywork drilling contracts specify the equipment to be used, the size of the hole and the depth of the well. Under a daywork drilling contract, the customer bears a large portion of the out-of-pocket drilling costs and we generally bear no part of the usual risks associated with drilling, such as time delays and unanticipated costs.

Turnkey Contracts.Under a turnkey contract, we agree to drill a well for our customer to a specified depth and under specified conditions for a fixed price, regardless of the time required or the problems encountered in drilling the well. We provide technical expertise and engineering services, as well as most of the equipment and drilling supplies required to drill the well. We often subcontract for related services, such as the provision of casing crews, cementing and well logging. Under typical turnkey drilling arrangements, we do not receive progress payments and are paid by our customer only after we have performed the terms of the drilling contract in full.

The risks to us under a turnkey contract are substantially greater than on a well drilled on a daywork basis. This is primarily because under a turnkey contract we assume most of the risks associated with drilling operations generally assumed by the operator in a daywork contract, including the risk of blowout, loss of hole, stuck drill pipe, machinery breakdowns, abnormal drilling conditions and risks associated with subcontractors’ services, supplies, cost escalations and personnel. We employ or contract for engineering expertise to analyze seismic, geologic and drilling data to identify and reduce some of the drilling risks we assume. We use the results of this analysis to evaluate the risks of a proposed contract and seek to account for such risks in our bid preparation. We believe that our operating experience, qualified drilling personnel, risk management program, internal engineering expertise and access to proficient third-party engineering contractors have allowed us to reduce some of the risks inherent in turnkey drilling operations. We also maintain insurance coverage against some, but not all, drilling hazards. However, the occurrence of uninsured or under-insured losses or operating cost overruns on our turnkey jobs could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations.

Footage Contracts. Under footage contracts, we are paid a fixed amount for each foot drilled, regardless of the time required or the problems encountered in drilling the well. We typically pay more of the out-of-pocket costs associated with footage contracts as compared to daywork contracts. Similar to a turnkey contract, the risks to us on a footage contract are greater because we assume most of the risks associated with drilling operations generally assumed by the operator in a daywork contract, including loss of hole, stuck drill pipe, machinery breakdowns, abnormal drilling conditions and risks associated with subcontractors’ services, supplies, cost escalation and personnel. As with turnkey contracts, we manage this additional risk through the use of engineering expertise and bid the footage contracts accordingly. We also maintain insurance coverage against some, but not all, drilling hazards. However, the occurrence of uninsured or under-insured losses or operating cost overruns on our footage jobs could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations.

Production Services Division

Well Services. We provide rig-based well services, including maintenance of existing wells, workover of existing wells, completion of newly-drilled wells, and plugging and abandonment of wells at the end of their useful lives.

Regular maintenance is generally required throughout the life of a well to sustain optimal levels of oil and gas production. We believe regular maintenance comprises the largest portion of our work in this business segment. Common maintenance services include repairing inoperable pumping equipment in an oil well and replacing defective tubing in a gas well. Our maintenance services involve relatively low-cost, short-duration jobs which are part of normal well operating costs. The need for maintenance does not directly depend on the level of drilling activity, although it is somewhat impacted by short-term fluctuations in oil and gas prices. Accordingly, maintenance services generally experience relatively stable demand; however, when oil or gas prices are too low to justify additional expenditures, operating companies may choose to temporarily shut in producing wells rather than incur additional maintenance costs.

In addition to periodic maintenance, producing oil and gas wells occasionally require major repairs or modifications called workovers, which are typically more complex and more time consuming than maintenance operations. Workover services include extensions of existing wells to drain new formations either through perforating the well casing to expose additional productive zones not previously produced, deepening well bores to new zones or the drilling of lateral well bores to improve reservoir drainage patterns. Our workoverwell service rigs are also used to convert former producing wells to injection wells through which water or carbon dioxide is then pumped into the formation for enhanced oil recovery operations. Workovers also include major subsurface repairs such as repair or replacement of well casing, recovery or replacement of tubing and removal of foreign objects from the well bore. These extensive workover operations are normally performed by a workoverwell service rig with additional specialized auxiliary equipment, which may include rotary drilling equipment, mud pumps, mud tanks and fishing tools, depending upon the particular type of workover operation. All of our well servicingservice rigs are designed to perform complex workover operations. A workover may require a few days to several weeks and generally requires additional auxiliary equipment. The demand for workover services is sensitive to oil and gas producers’ intermediate and long-term expectations for oil and gas prices.

Completion services involve the preparation of newly drilled wells for production. The completion process may involve selectively perforating the well casing in the productive zones to allow oil or gas to flow into the well bore, stimulating and testing these zones and installing the production string and other downhole equipment. We provide well service rigs to assist in this completion process. Newly drilled wells are frequently completed by well servicingservice rigs to minimize the use of higher cost drilling rigs in the completion process. The completion process typically requires a few days to several weeks, depending on the nature and type of the completion, and generally requires additional auxiliary equipment. Accordingly, completion services require less well-to-well mobilization of equipment and generally provide higher operating margins than regular maintenance work. The demand for completion services is directly related to drilling activity levels, which are sensitive to changes in oil and gas prices.

Well servicingservice rigs are also used in the process of permanently closing oil and gas wells no longer capable of producing in economic quantities. Many well operators bid this work on a “turnkey” basis, requiring the service company to perform the entire job, including the sale or disposal of equipment salvaged from the well as part of the compensation received, and complying with state regulatory requirements. Plugging and abandonment work can provide favorable operating margins and is less sensitive to oil and gas pricing than drilling and workover activity since well operators must plug a well in accordance with state regulations when it is no longer productive. We perform plugging and abandonment work throughout our core areas of operation in conjunction with equipment provided by other service companies.

When we provide well services, we typically bill customers on an hourly basis during the period that the rig providing services is actively working. As of December 31, 2008,February 4, 2010, our fleet of well service rigs totaled 7475 rigs.

These rigs are located mostly in Texas, serving the Gulf Coast and ArkLaTex regions, though we also have fivenine rigs in Louisiana and fourMississippi and nine rigs in North Dakota. We estimate that approximately 20% of our rigs are located in predominantly oil regions while 80% of our rigs are located in predominantly natural gas regions. Our fleet is one ofamong the youngestnewest in the industry, consisting primarily of premium, 550 HPhorsepower rigs capable of working at depths of 20,000 feet.

Wireline Services. We provide both open and cased-hole wireline services with our fleet of 5986 wireline trucks.units, as of February 4, 2011. We provide these services in Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Montana, North Dakota, Louisiana, West Virginia, Wyoming and North Dakota.Mississippi. Wireline services typically utilize a single truck equipped with a spool of wireline that is used to lower and raise a variety of specialized tools in and out of the wellbore. These tools can be used to measure pressures and temperatures as well as the condition of the casing and the cement that holds the casing in place. Other applications for wireline tools include placing equipment in or retrieving equipment from the wellbore, or perforating the casing and cutting off pipe that is stuck in the well so that the free section can be recovered. Electric wireline contains a conduit that allows signals to be transmitted to or from tools located in the well. Wireline trucks are often used in place of a well servicingservice rig when there is no requirement to remove tubulars from the well in order to make repairs. Wireline trucks, like well servicingservice rigs, are utilized throughout the life of a well.

Fishing and Rental Services. Our rental and fishing tool business provides a range of specialized services and equipment that are utilized on a non-routine basis for both drilling and well servicing operations. Drilling and well servicingservice rigs are equipped with a complement of tools to complete routine operations under normal conditions for most projects in the geographic area where they are employed. When downhole problems develop with drilling or servicing operations, or conditions require non-routine equipment, our customers will usually rely on a provider of rental and fishing tools to augment equipment that is provided with a typical drilling or well servicingservice rig package. The important rental tools that we offer include air drilling equipment, foam units, power swivels, and blowout preventers.

The term “fishing” applies to a wide variety of downhole operations designed to correct a problem that has developed when drilling or servicing a well. Often, the problem involves equipment that has become lodged in the well and cannot be removed without special equipment. Our customers employ our technicians and our tools that are specifically suited to retrieve the trapped equipment, or “fish,” in order for operations to resume.

Our Production Services operations are impacted by seasonal factors. Our business can be negatively impacted during the winter months due to inclement weather, fewer daylight hours, and holidays. Because our well service rigs and wireline units are mobile, during periods of heavy snow, ice or rain, we may not be able to move our equipment between locations.

Customers

We provide drilling services and production services to numerous major and independent oil and gas exploration and production companies that are active in the geographic areas in which we operate. The following table shows our three largest customers as a percentage of our total revenue for each of our last three fiscal years.

 

Customer

  Total
Revenue
Percentage
 

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2010:

Ecopetrol

17.7

Whiting Petroleum Corporation

8.9

Chesapeake Operating, Inc.

3.7

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2009:

Ecopetrol

16.2

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

5.9

Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation

5.6

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2008:

  

EOG Resources, Inc.

  10.0%

Ecopetrol

  7.4%

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

  6.4%

Nine Months Ended December 31, 2007:

EOG Resources, Inc.

13.1%

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

8.8%

Chesapeake Operating Inc.

7.7%

Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2007:

EOG Resources, Inc.

9.7%

Chesapeake Operating Inc.

9.1%

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

6.1%

Competition

Drilling Services Division

We encounter substantial competition from other drilling contractors. Our primary market areas are highly fragmented and competitive. The fact that drilling rigs are mobile and can be moved from one market to another in response to market conditions heightens the competition in the industry.

The drilling contracts we compete for are usually awarded on the basis of competitive bids. Our principal competitors are Helmerich & Payne, Inc., Precision Drilling Trust, Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. and Nabors Industries, Inc.Ltd. In addition to pricing and rig availability, we believe the following factors are also important to our customers in determining which drilling contractors to select:

 

the type and condition of each of the competing drilling rigs;

 

the mobility and efficiency of the rigs;

 

the quality of service and experience of the rig crews;

 

the safety records of the rigs;

 

the offering of ancillary services; and

 

the ability to provide drilling equipment adaptable to, and personnel familiar with, new technologies and drilling techniques.

While we must be competitive in our pricing, our competitive strategy generally emphasizes the quality of our equipment, the safety record of our rigs and the experience of our rig crews to differentiate us from our competitors.

Contract drilling companies compete primarily on a regional basis, and the intensity of competition may vary significantly from region to region at any particular time. If demand for drilling services improves in a region where we operate, our competitors might respond by moving in suitable rigs from other regions. An influx of rigs from other regions could rapidly intensify competition and make any improvement in demand for drilling rigs in a particular region short-lived.

ManySome of our competitors have greater financial, technical and other resources than we do. Their greater capabilities in these areas may enable them to:

 

better withstand industry downturns;

 

compete more effectively on the basis of price and technology;

 

better retain skilled rig personnel; and

 

build new rigs or acquire and refurbish existing rigs so as to be able to place rigs into service more quickly than us in periods of high drilling demand.

Production Services Division

The market for production services is highly competitive. Competition is influenced by such factors as price, capacity, availability of work crews, type and condition of equipment and reputation and experience of the service provider. We believe that an important competitive factor in establishing and maintaining long-term customer relationships is having an experienced, skilled and well-trained work force. In recent years, many of our larger customers have placed increased emphasis on the safety performance and quality of the crews, equipment and services provided by their contractors. We have devoted, and will continue to devote, substantial resources toward employee safety and training programs. Although we believe customers consider all of these factors, price is generally the primary factor in determining which service provider is awarded the work. However, we believe that most customers are willing to pay a slight premium for the quality and efficient service we provide.

The largest well service providers that we compete with are Key Energy Services, Basic Energy Services, Nabors Industries, Complete Production Services and CC Forbes. In addition, there are numerous smaller companies that compete in our well service markets.

The wireline market is dominated by Schlumberger Ltd. and Halliburton Company. These companies have a substantially larger asset base than Pioneerwe do and operate in all major U.S. oil and natural gas producing basins. Other competitors include Weatherford International, Baker Atlas, Superior Energy Services, Basic Energy Services, and Key Energy Services. The market for wireline services is very competitive, but historically we have competed effectively with our competitors based on performance and strong customer service.

The fishing and rental tools market is fragmented compared to our other product lines. Companies which provide fishing services generally compete based on the reputation of their fishing tool operators and their relationships with customers. Competition for rental tools is sometimes based on price; however, in most cases, when a customer chooses a specific fishing tool operator for a particular job, then the necessary rental equipment will be part of that job as well. Our primary competitors include: Baker Oil Tools, Weatherford International, Basic Energy Services, Key Energy Services, Quail Tools (owned by Parker Drilling) and Knight Oil Tools.

The need for well servicing, wireline, and fishing and rental services fluctuates, primarily, in relation to the price (or anticipated price) of oil and natural gas, which, in turn, is driven by the supply of and demand for oil and natural gas. Generally, as supply of those commodities decreases and demand increases, service and maintenance requirements increase as oil and natural gas producers attempt to maximize the productivity of their wells in a higher priced environment.

The level of our revenues, earnings and cash flows are substantially dependent upon, and affected by, the level of domestic and international oil and gas exploration and development activity, as well as the equipment capacity in any particular region. For a more detailed discussion, see Item 7. “Management’s7—“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

Raw Materials

The materials and supplies we use in our drilling and production services operations include fuels to operate our drilling and well service equipment, drilling mud, drill pipe, drill collars, drill bits and cement. We do not rely on a single source of supply for any of these items. While we are not currently experiencing any shortages, from time to time there have been shortages of drilling equipment and supplies during periods of high demand. Shortages could result in increased prices for drilling equipment or supplies that we may be unable to pass on to customers. In addition, during periods of shortages, the delivery times for equipment and supplies can be substantially longer. Any significant delays in our obtaining drilling equipment or supplies could limit drilling operations and jeopardize our relations with customers. In addition, shortages of drilling equipment or supplies could delay and adversely affect our ability to obtain new contracts for our rigs, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Operating Risks and Insurance

Our operations are subject to the many hazards inherent in the contract land drilling business, including the risks of:

 

blowouts;

 

fires and explosions;

 

loss of well control;

 

collapse of the borehole;

lost or stuck drill strings; and

 

damage or loss from natural disasters.

Any of these hazards can result in substantial liabilities or losses to us from, among other things:

 

suspension of drilling operations;

 

damage to, or destruction of, our property and equipment and that of others;

 

personal injury and loss of life;

 

damage to producing or potentially productive oil and gas formations through which we drill; and

 

environmental damage.

We seek to protect ourselves from some but not all operating hazards through insurance coverage. However, some risks are either not insurable or insurance is available only at rates that we consider uneconomical. Those risks include pollution liability in excess of relatively low limits. Depending on competitive conditions and other factors, we attempt to obtain contractual protection against uninsured operating risks from our customers. However, customers who provide contractual indemnification protection may not in all cases maintain adequate insurance to support their indemnification obligations. We can offer no assurance that ourOur insurance or indemnification arrangements willmay not adequately protect us against liability or loss from all the hazards of our operations. The occurrence of a significant event that we have not fully insured or indemnified against or the failure of a customer to meet its indemnification obligations to us could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, we may not be able to maintain adequate insurance in the future at rates we consider reasonable.

Our current insurance coverage includes property insurance on our rigs, drilling equipment, production services equipment and real property. Our insurance coverage for property damage to our rigs, drilling equipment and to our drillingproduction services equipment is based on our estimates of the cost of comparable used equipment to replace the insured property. The policy provides for a deductible on drilling rigs of $250,000 per occurrence ($500,000 deductible for rigs with an insured value greater than $10 million)., and a deductible on production services equipment of $100,000 per occurrence. Our third-party liability insurance coverage is $51 million per occurrence and in the aggregate, with a deductible of $260,000 per occurrence. We believe that we are adequately insured for public liability and property damage to others with respect to our operations. However, such insurance may not be sufficient to protect us against liability for all consequences of well disasters, extensive fire damage or damage to the environment.

In addition, we generally carry insurance coverage to protect against certain hazards inherent in our turnkey contract drilling operations. This insurance covers “control-of-well,” including blowouts above and below the surface, redrilling, seepage and pollution. This policy provides coverage of $3 million, $5 million, $10 million, $15 million or $20 million depending on the area in which the well is drilled and its target depth, subject to a deductible of the greater of 15% of the well’s anticipated dry hole cost or $150,000. This policy also provides care, custody and control insurance, with a limit of $1 million, subject to a $100,000 deductible.

Employees

We currently have approximately 1,9522550 employees. Approximately 247300 of these employees are salaried administrative or supervisory employees. The rest of our employees are hourly employees working in operations for our Drilling Services Division and Production Services Division.Division and are primarily compensated on an hourly basis. The number of hourly employees in operations fluctuates depending on the utilization of our drilling rigs, workoverwell service rigs and wireline units at any particular time. None of our employment arrangements are subject to collective bargaining arrangements.

Our operations require the services of employees having the technical training and experience necessary to obtain proper operational standards. As a result, our operations depend, to a considerable extent, on the

continuing availability of such personnel. Although we have not encountered material difficulty in hiring and retaining employees in our operations, shortages of qualified personnel have occurred in our industry. If we should suffer any material loss of personnel to competitors or be unable to employ additional or replacement personnel with the requisite level of training and experience to adequately operate our equipment, our operations could be materially and adversely affected. While we believe our wage rates are competitive and our relationships with our employees are satisfactory, a significant increase in the wages paid by other employers could result in a reduction in our workforce, increases in wage rates, or both. The occurrence of either of these events for a significant period of time could have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Facilities

Our corporate office facilities are located at 1250 N.E. Loop 410, Suite 1000 San Antonio, Texas 78209 and are leased with costspayments escalating from $26,809$27,911 per month in January 2011 to $29,316 per month with a non-cancelable lease term expiring in December 2013.

We conduct our business operations through 4050 other real estate locations in the United States (Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wyoming, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Kansas) and internationally in Colombia. These real estate locations are primarily used for divisionregional offices and storage and maintenance yards. We own 1011 of these real estate locations and the remaining 3039 real estate locations are leased with costspayments ranging from $175$250 per month to $8,917$27,169 per month with non-cancelable lease terms expiring through April 2013.August 2015.

Governmental Regulation

Our operations are subject to stringent laws and regulations relating to containment, disposal and controlling the discharge of hazardous oilfield waste and other non-hazardous waste material into the environment, requiring removal and cleanup under certain circumstances, or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment. In addition, our operations are often conducted in or near ecologically sensitive areas, such as wetlands and coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico, which are

subject to special protective measures and which may expose us to additional operating costs and liabilities for accidental discharges of oil, natural gas, drilling fluids or contaminated water, or for noncompliance with other aspects of applicable laws. We are also subject to the requirements of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”) and comparable state statutes. The OSHA hazard communication standard, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) “community right-to-know” regulations under Title III of the Federal Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act and comparable state statutes require us to organize and report information about the hazardous materials we use in our operations to employees, state and local government authorities and local citizens.

Environmental laws and regulations are complex and subject to frequent change. In some cases, they can impose liability for the entire cost of cleanup on any responsible party, without regard to negligence or fault, and can impose liability on us for the conduct of others or conditions others have caused, or for our acts that complied with all applicable requirements when we performed them. We may also be exposed to environmental or other liabilities originating from businesses and assets that we purchased from others. Compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations has not, to date, materially affected our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position, although compliance measures have added to our costs of operating drilling equipment in some instances. We do not expect to incur material capital expenditures in our next fiscal year in order to comply with current environment control regulations. However, our compliance with amended, new or more stringent requirements, stricter interpretations of existing requirements or the future discovery of contamination may require us to make material expenditures or subject us to liabilities that we currently do not anticipate.

There are a variety of regulatory developments, proposals or requirements and legislative initiatives that have been introduced in the United States and international regions in which we operate that are focused on

restricting the emission of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases. Among these developments are the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as the “Kyoto Protocol” (an internationally applied protocol, which has been ratified in Colombia, one of our reporting segments), the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or “RGGI” in the Northeastern United States, and the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative in the Western United States, including partners states New Mexico, Utah, and Montana and observer states Colorado and Wyoming.

The U.S. Congress has been actively considering legislation to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily through the development of greenhouse gas cap and trade programs. In June of 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a cap and trade bill known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which is now being considered by the U.S. Senate, among other alternative bills. In addition, more than one-third of the states already have begun implementing legal measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

In 2007, the United States Supreme Court in Massachusetts, et al. v. EPA, held that carbon dioxide may be regulated as an “air pollutant” under the federal Clean Air Act. On December 7, 2009, the EPA responded to the Massachusetts, et al. v. EPA decision and issued a finding that the current and projected concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations, and that certain greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles and motor vehicle engines contribute to the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and hence to the threat of climate change.

On September 22, 2009, the EPA finalized a rule requiring nation-wide reporting of greenhouse gas emissions beginning January 1, 2010. The rule applies primarily to large facilities emitting 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions per year, and to most upstream suppliers of fossil fuels and industrial greenhouse gas, as well as to manufacturers of vehicles and engines. In addition, the EPA recently proposed a rule that would, in general, require facilities that emit more than 25,000 tons per year of greenhouse gas equivalents to obtain permits to demonstrate that best practices and technology are being used to minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

Although it is not possible at this time to predict whether proposed legislation or regulations will be adopted as initially written, if at all, or how legislation or new regulations that may be adopted to address greenhouse gas emissions would impact our business, any such future laws and regulations could result in increased compliance costs or additional operating restrictions. Any additional costs or operating restrictions associated with legislation or regulations regarding greenhouse gas emissions could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and cash flows. In addition, these developments could curtail the demand for fossil fuels such as oil and gas in areas of the world where our customers operate and thus adversely affect demand for our services, which may in turn adversely affect our future results of operations. Finally, we cannot predict with any certainty whether changes to temperature, storm intensity or precipitation patterns as a result of climate change will have a material impact on our operations.

The EPA has recently focused on citizen concerns about the risk of water contamination and public health problems from drilling and hydraulic fracturing activities. The EPA is conducting a comprehensive research study on the potential adverse effects that hydraulic fracturing may have on water quality and public health. It is possible that resulting federal, state and local laws and regulations might be imposed on fracturing activities. The potential adoption of federal and state legislative and regulatory initiatives related to hydraulic fracturing could result in operating restrictions or delays in the completion of oil and gas wells. A decline in the drilling of new wells and related well servicing activities caused by these initiatives could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

In addition, our business depends on the demand for land drilling and production services from the oil and gas industry and, therefore, is affected by tax, environmental and other laws relating to the oil and gas industry generally, by changes in those laws and by changes in related administrative regulations. It is possible that these laws and regulations may in the future add significantly to our operating costs or those of our customers, or otherwise directly or indirectly affect our operations.

Our wireline operations involve the use of radioactive isotopes along with other nuclear, electrical, acoustic, and mechanical devices. Our activities involving the use of isotopes are regulated by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and specified agencies of certain states. Additionally, we use high explosive charges for perforating casing and formations, and we use various explosive cutters to assist in wellbore cleanout. Such operations are regulated by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and require us to obtain licenses or other approvals for the use of densitometers as well as explosive charges. We have obtained these licenses and approvals when necessary and believe that we are in substantial compliance with these federal requirements.

Among the services we provide, we operate as a motor carrier for the transportation of our own equipment and therefore are subject to regulation by the U.S. Department of Transportation and by various state agencies. These regulatory authorities exercise broad powers, governing activities such as the authorization to engage in motor carrier operations and regulatory safety. 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. Some of these possible changes include increasingly stringent environmental regulations, changes in the hours of service regulations which govern the amount of time a driver may drive in any specific period, onboard black box recorder devices or limits on vehicle weight and size.

Interstate motor carrier operations are subject to safety requirements prescribed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. To a large degree, intrastate motor carrier operations are subject to state safety regulations that mirror federal regulations. Such matters as weight and dimension of equipment are also subject to federal and state regulations.

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 impact the recruitment of drivers. We cannot predict whether, or in what form, any increase in such taxes applicable to us will be enacted.

Available Information

Our Web siteWebsite address iswww.pioneerdrlg.com. Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports, are available free of charge through our Website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file those materials with, or furnish those materials to, the Securities and Exchange Commission. The public may read and copy these materials at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20549. For additional information on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Public Reference Room, please call 1-800-SEC-0330. In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission maintains an Internet site atwww.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically. We have also posted on our Web siteWebsite our: Charters for the Audit, Compensation, and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees of our Board; Code of Conduct and Ethics; Rules of Conduct; and Company Contact Information.

Item 1A.Item 1A.Risk Factors

The information set forth in this Item 1A should be read in conjunction with the rest of the information included in this report, including “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Item 7 and the historical financial statements and related notes this report contains. While we attempt to identify, manage and mitigate risks and uncertainties associated with our business to the extent practical under the circumstances, some level of risk and uncertainty will always be present. Additional risks and uncertainties that are not presently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial also may negatively impact our business, financial condition or operating results.

Set forth below are various risks and uncertainties that could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Risks Relating to the Oil and Gas Industry

We derive all our revenues from companies in the oil and gas exploration and production industry, a historically cyclical industry with levels of activity that are significantly affected by the levels and volatility of oil and gas prices.

As a provider of contract land drilling services and oil and gas production services, our business depends on the level of exploration and production activity by oil and gas companies operating in the geographic markets where we operate. The oil and gas exploration and production industry is a historically cyclical industry characterized by significant changes in the levels of exploration and development activities. Oil and gas prices, and market expectations of potential changes in those prices, significantly affect the levels of those activities. Worldwide political, economic, and military events as well as natural disasters have contributed to oil and gas price volatility and are likely to continue to do so in the future. Any prolonged reduction in the overall level of exploration and development activities, whether resulting from changes in oil and gas prices or otherwise, could materially and adversely affect us in many ways by negatively impacting:

 

our revenues, cash flows and profitability;

 

the fair market value of our drilling rig fleet and production service assets;

 

our ability to maintain or increase our borrowing capacity;

 

our ability to obtain additional capital to finance our business and make acquisitions, and the cost of that capital; and

 

our ability to retain skilled rig personnel whom we would need in the event of an upturn in the demand for our services.

Depending on the market prices of oil and gas, oil and gas exploration and production companies may cancel or curtail their drilling programs and may lower production spending on existing wells, thereby reducing demand for our services. Oil and gas prices have been volatile historically and, we believe, will continue to be so in the future. Many factors beyond our control affect oil and gas prices, including:

 

the cost of exploring for, producing and delivering oil and gas;

 

the discovery rate of new oil and gas reserves;

 

the rate of decline of existing and new oil and gas reserves;

 

available pipeline and other oil and gas transportation capacity;

 

the levels of oil and gas storage;

the ability of oil and gas exploration and production companies to raise capital;

 

economic conditions in the United States and elsewhere;

actions by OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries;

political instability in the Middle East and other major oil and gas producing regions;

 

governmental regulations, both domestic and foreign;

 

domestic and foreign tax policy;

 

weather conditions in the United States and elsewhere;

 

the pace adopted by foreign governments for the exploration, development and production of their national reserves;

 

the price of foreign imports of oil and gas; and

 

the overall supply and demand for oil and gas.

As a result of recent declinesOil and gas prices have been volatile historically and, we believe, will continue to be so in the future. During 2009, oil and natural gas prices fell significantly below the levels seen in late 2008, and substantial uncertainty in the capital markets due to the deteriorating global economic environment, our customerswhile oil prices have reduced spending on exploration and production and this has resulted in a decrease in demand for our services. We are unable to determine whether customers and/or vendors and suppliers will be able to access financing necessary to sustain their current level of operations, fulfill their commitments and/or fund future operations and obligations. The deteriorating global economic environment may impact industry fundamentals, and the potential resulting decrease in demand for drilling and production services could adversely affect our business.

Oil and natural gas prices, and market expectations of potential changes in these prices, significantly impact the level of worldwide drilling and production services activities. Oil andimproved during 2010, natural gas prices have declined significantly during recent monthsremained depressed. Future declines in a deteriorating global economic environment. This declineand volatility in oil and natural gas prices as well as the current crisis in the global credit markets, have caused exploration and production companies to reduce their overall level of drilling and production services activity and spending. When drilling and production activity and spending declines, both day rates and utilization have historically declined. As a result, the recent declines in oil and natural gas prices and the global economic crisis could materially and adversely affect our business and financial results.

Moreover, the deteriorating global economic environment may impact fundamentals that are critical to our industry, such as the global demand for, and consumption of, oil and natural gas. Reduced demand for oil and natural gas generally results in lower prices for these commodities and may impact the economics of planned drilling projects and ongoing production projects, resulting in the curtailment, reduction, delay or postponement of such projects for an indeterminate period of time. Companies that planned to finance exploration, development or production projects through the capital markets may be forced to curtail, reduce, postpone or delay drilling or production services activities, and also may experience inability to pay suppliers. The deteriorating global economic environment could also impact our vendors and suppliers’ ability to meet obligations to provide materials and services in general. If any of the foregoing were to occur, it could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

Risks Relating to Our Business

Reduced demand for or excess capacity of drilling services or production services could adversely affect our profitability.

Our profitability in the future will depend on many factors, but largely on pricing and utilization rates for our drilling and production services. A reduction in the demand for drilling rigs or an increase in the supply of drilling rigs, whether through new construction or refurbishment, could decrease the dayrates and utilization rates for our drilling services, which would adversely affect our revenues and profitability. An increase in supply of well service rigs, wireline units and fishing and rental tools equipment, without a corresponding increase in demand, could similarly decrease the pricing and utilization rates of our production services, which would adversely affect our revenues and profitability. We experienced a substantial decrease in revenue and utilization rates during the last quarter of 2008 and during 2009. During 2010, revenue and utilization rates modestly increased and we expect continued modest increases in 2011.

We operate in a highly competitive, fragmented industry in which price competition could reduce our profitability.

We encounter substantial competition from other drilling contractors and other oilfield service companies. Our primary market areas are highly fragmented and competitive. The fact that drilling workover and well-servicingwell service rigs are mobile and can be moved from one market to another in response to market conditions heightens the competition in the industry and may result in an oversupply of rigs in an area. Contract drilling companies and other oilfield service companies compete primarily on a regional basis, and the intensity of competition may vary significantly from region to region at any particular time. If demand for drilling or production services improves in a region where we operate, our competitors might respond by moving in suitable rigs from other regions. An influx of rigs from other regions could rapidly intensify competition, reduce profitability and make any improvement in demand for drilling or production services short-lived.

Most drilling services contracts and production services contracts are awarded on the basis of competitive bids, which also results in price competition. In addition to pricing and rig availability, we believe the following factors are also important to our customers in determining which drilling services or production services provider to select:

 

the type and condition of each of the competing drilling, workover and well-servicingwell service rigs;

the mobility and efficiency of the rigs;

 

the quality of service and experience of the rig crews;

 

the safety records of the rigs;

 

the offering of ancillary services; and

 

the ability to provide drilling and production equipment adaptable to, and personnel familiar with, new technologies and drilling and production techniques.

While we must be competitive in our pricing, our competitive strategy generally emphasizes the quality of our equipment, the safety record of our rigs, our ability to offer ancillary services and the quality of service and experience of our rig crews to differentiate us from our competitors. This strategy is less effective as lower demand for drilling and production services or an oversupply of drilling workover and well-servicingwell service rigs intensifies price competition and makes it more difficult for us to compete on the basis of factors other than price. In all of the markets in which we compete, an oversupply of rigs can cause greater price competition, which can reduce our profitability.

We face competition from many competitors with greater resources.

ManySome of our competitors have greater financial, technical and other resources than we do. Their greater capabilities in these areas may enable them to:

 

better withstand industry downturns;

 

compete more effectively on the basis of price and technology;

 

retain skilled rig personnel; and

 

build new rigs or acquire and refurbish existing rigs so as to be able to place rigs into service more quickly than us in periods of high drilling demand.

Additionally, although we take measures to ensure that we use advanced technologies for drilling and production services equipment, changes in technology or improvements in our competitors’ equipment could make our equipment less competitive or require significant capital investments to keep our equipment competitive.

Unexpected cost overruns on our turnkey drilling jobs and our footage contracts could adversely affect our financial position and our results of operations.

We have historically derived a portion of our revenues from turnkey drilling contracts, and we expect turnkey contracts maywill continue to represent a component of our future revenues. The occurrence of uninsured or under-insured losses or operating cost overruns on our turnkey jobs could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and

results of operations. Under a typical turnkey drilling contract, we agree to drill a well for our customer to a specified depth and under specified conditions for a fixed price. We provide technical expertise and engineering services, as well as most of the equipment and drilling supplies required to drill the well. We often subcontract for related services, such as the provision of casing crews, cementing and well logging.Under typical turnkey drilling arrangements, we do not receive progress payments and are paid by our customer only after we have performed the terms of the drilling contract in full. For these reasons, the risk to us under a turnkey drilling contract is substantially greater than for a well drilled on a daywork basis because we must assume most of the risks associated with drilling operations that the operator generally assumes under a daywork contract, including the risks of blowout, loss of hole, stuck drill pipe, machinery breakdowns, abnormal drilling conditions and risks associated with subcontractors’ services, supplies, cost escalations and personnel. Similar to our turnkey contracts, under a footage contract we assume most of the risks associated with drilling operations that the operator generally assumes under a daywork contract. In addition, since we are only paid by our customers after we have performed the terms of the drilling contract in full, our liquidity can be affected by the number of turnkey and footage contracts that we enter into.

Although we attempt to obtain insurance coverage to reduce certain of the risks inherent in our turnkey drilling operations, adequate coverage may be unavailable in the future and we might have to bear the full cost of such risks, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our operations involve operating hazards, which, if not insured or indemnified against, could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Our operations are subject to the many hazards inherent in the drilling workover and well-servicingwell services industries, including the risks of:

 

blowouts;

 

cratering;

 

fires and explosions;

 

loss of well control;

 

collapse of the borehole;

 

damaged or lost drilling equipment; and

 

damage or loss from natural disasters.

Any of these hazards can result in substantial liabilities or losses to us from, among other things:

 

suspension of operations;

 

damage to, or destruction of, our property and equipment and that of others;

 

personal injury and loss of life;

 

damage to producing or potentially productive oil and gas formations through which we drill; and

 

environmental damage.

We seek to protect ourselves from some but not all operating hazards through insurance coverage. However, some risks are either not insurable or insurance is available only at rates that we consider uneconomical. Those risks include, among other things, pollution liability in excess of relatively low limits. Depending on competitive conditions and other factors, we attempt to obtain contractual protection against uninsured operating risks from our customers. However, customers who provide contractual indemnification protection may not in all cases maintain adequate insurance or otherwise have the financial resources necessary to support their indemnification obligations. Our insurance or indemnification arrangements may not adequately protect us against liability or loss from all the hazards of our operations. The occurrence of a significant event that we have not fully insured or indemnified against or the failure of a customer to meet its indemnification obligations to us could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, we may be unable to maintain adequate insurance in the future at rates we consider reasonable.

We face increased exposure to operating difficulties because we primarily focus on providing drilling and production services for natural gas.

Most of our drilling and production contracts are with exploration and production companies in search of natural gas. Drilling on land for natural gas generally occurs at deeper drilling depths than drilling for oil. Although deep-depth drilling and production services expose us to risks similar to risks encountered in shallow-depth drilling and production services, the magnitude of the risk for deep-depth drilling and production services is greater because of the higher costs and greater complexities involved in providing drilling and production services for deep wells. We generally do not insure risks related to operating difficulties other than blowouts. If we do not adequately insure the increased risk from blowouts or if our contractual indemnification rights are insufficient or unfulfilled, our profitability and other results of operations and our financial condition could be adversely affected in the event we encounter blowouts or other significant operating difficulties while providing drilling or production services at deeper depths.

Our current primary focus on drilling for customers in search of natural gas could place us at a competitive disadvantage if we were to change our primary focus to drilling for customers in search of oil.

Our drilling rig fleet consists of rigs capable of drilling on land at drilling depths of 6,000 to 18,000 feet because most of our contracts are with customers drilling in search of natural gas, which generally occurs at deeper drilling depths than drilling in search of oil, which often occurs at drilling depths less than 6,000 feet. Generally, larger drilling rigs capable of deep drilling generally incur higher mobilization costs than smaller drilling rigs drilling at shallower depths. If our primary focus shifts from drilling for customers in search of natural gas to drilling for customers in search of oil, the majority of our rig fleet would be disadvantaged in competing for new oil drilling projects as compared to competitors that primarily use shallower drilling depth rigs when drilling in search of oil.

We could be adversely affected if shortages of equipment, supplies or personnel occur.

From time to time there have been shortages of drilling and production services equipment and supplies during periods of high demand which we believe could recur. Shortages could result in increased prices for drilling and production services equipment or supplies that we may be unable to pass on to customers. In addition, during periods of shortages, the delivery times for equipment and supplies can be substantially longer. Any significant delays in our obtaining drilling and production services equipment or supplies could limit drilling and production services operations and jeopardize our relations with customers. In addition, shortages of drilling and production services equipment or supplies could delay and adversely affect our ability to obtain new contracts for our rigs, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our strategy of constructing drilling rigs during periods of peak demand requires that we maintain an adequate supply of drilling rig components to complete our rig building program. Our suppliers may be unable to continue providing us the needed drilling rig components if their manufacturing sources are unable to fulfill their commitments.

Our operations require the services of employees having the technical training and experience necessary to obtain the proper operational results. As a result, our operations depend, to a considerable extent, on the continuing availability of such personnel. Shortages of qualified personnel are occurringhave occurred in our industry. If we should suffer any material loss of personnel to competitors or be unable to employ additional or replacement personnel with the requisite level of training and experience to adequately operate our equipment, our operations could be materially and adversely affected. A significant increase in the wages paid by other employers could result in a reduction in our workforce, increases in wage rates, or both. The occurrence of either of these events for a significant period of time could have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our acquisition strategy exposes us to various risks, including those relating to difficulties in identifying suitable 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 key component of our business strategy, we have pursued and intend to continue to pursue acquisitions of complementary assets and businesses. For example, since March 31, 2003,September 1999, we have significantly expanded our drilling rig fleet has increased from 24 to 70 drillingby adding 35 rigs as a result ofthrough acquisitions and rig construction.by adding 31 rigs through the construction of rigs from new and used components. In addition, during the first quarter of 2008, we completed the acquisition of the production services businesses of WEDGE and Competition.Competition during the first quarter of 2008. We have continued to invest in the expansion of our operations and plan to add a total of six well service rigs and 14 wireline units in the first half of 2011.

Our acquisition strategy in general, and our recent acquisitions in particular, involve numerous inherent risks, including:

 

unanticipated costs and assumption of liabilities and exposure to unforeseen liabilities of acquired businesses, including 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 in order to comply with applicable periodic reporting requirements;

 

potential losses of key employees and customers of the acquired businesses;

 

risks of entering markets in which we have limited prior experience; and

 

increases in our expenses and working capital requirements.

The process of integrating an acquired business may involve unforeseen costs and delays or other operational, technical and financial difficulties that may require a disproportionate amount of management attention and financial and other resources. Possible future acquisitions may be for purchase prices significantly higher than those we paid for previous acquisitions. Our failure to achieve consolidation savings, to incorporate the acquired businesses and assets into our existing operations successfully or to minimize any unforeseen operational difficulties could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, we may not have sufficient capital resources to complete additional acquisitions. Historically, we have funded the growth of our rig fleet through a combination of debt and equity financing. We may incur substantial additional indebtedness to finance future acquisitions and also may issue equity securities 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 shareholders. 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 additional suitable acquisition opportunities, negotiate acceptable terms or successfully acquire identified targets.

Our indebtedness could restrict our operations and make us more vulnerable to adverse economic conditions.

For several years we have had little or no long-term debt. In connection with the acquisition of the production services businesses of WEDGE and Competition in March 2008, we entered into a new $400 million, five-year, senior secured revolving credit facility.facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility”) which was later amended in October 2009 and February 2010. In March 2010, we issued $250 million of Senior Notes with a coupon interest rate of 9.875% that are due in 2018 (the “Senior Notes”). We received $234.8 million of net proceeds from the issuance of the Senior Notes after deductions were made for the $10.6 million of original issue discount and $4.6 million for underwriters’ fees and other debt offering costs. The net proceeds were used to repay a portion of the borrowings outstanding under our Revolving Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2008,2010, our total debt was approximately $272.5$280.9 million.

Our current and future indebtedness could have important consequences, including:

 

impairing our ability to make investments and obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general corporate purposes;

 

limiting our ability to use operating cash flow in other areas of our business because we must dedicate a substantial portion of these funds to make principal and interest payments on our indebtedness;

making us more vulnerable to a downturn in our business, our industry or the economy in general as a substantial portion of our operating cash flow could be required to make principal and interest payments on our indebtedness, making it more difficult to react to changes in our business and in industry and market conditions;

limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate;

 

limiting our ability to obtain additional financing that may be necessary to operate or expand our business;

 

putting us at a competitive disadvantage to competitors that have less debt; and

 

increasing our vulnerability to rising interest rates.

We anticipate that our cash generated by operations and our ability to borrow under the currently unused portion of our senior secured revolving credit facilityRevolving Credit Facility should allow us to meet our routine financial obligations for the foreseeable future. However, our ability to make payments on our indebtedness, and to fund planned capital expenditures, will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future. This, to a certain extent, is subject to conditions in the oil and gas industry, general economic and financial conditions, competition in the markets where we operate, the impact of legislative and regulatory actions on how we conduct our business and other factors, all of which are beyond our control. If our business does not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to service our outstanding indebtedness, we may have to undertake alternative financing plans, such as:

 

refinancing or restructuring our debt;

 

selling assets;

 

reducing or delaying acquisitions or capital investments, such as refurbishments of our rigs and related equipment; or

 

seeking to raise additional capital.

However, we may be unable to implement alternative financing plans, if necessary, on commercially reasonable terms or at all, and any such alternative financing plans might be insufficient to allow us to meet our debt obligations. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow or are otherwise unable to obtain the funds required to make principal and interest payments on our indebtedness, or if we otherwise fail to comply with the various covenants in our senior secured revolving credit facilityRevolving Credit Facility or other instruments governing any future indebtedness, we could be in default under the terms of our senior secured revolving credit facilityRevolving Credit Facility or such instruments. In the event of a default, the Lenderslenders under our senior secured revolving credit facilityRevolving Credit Facility could elect to declare all the loans made under such facility to be due and payable together with accrued and unpaid interest and terminate their commitments thereunder and we or one or more of our subsidiaries could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation. Any of the foregoing consequences could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Our senior secured revolving credit facility imposesRevolving Credit Facility and our Senior Notes impose restrictions on us that may affect our ability to successfully operate our business.

Our senior secured revolving credit facilityRevolving Credit Facility limits our ability to take various actions, such as:

 

limitations on the incurrence of additional indebtedness;

 

restrictions on investments, capital expenditures, mergers or consolidations, asset dispositions, acquisitions, transactions with affiliates and other transactions without the lenders’ consent; and

 

limitation on dividends and distributions.

In addition, our senior secured revolving credit facilityRevolving Credit Facility requires us to maintain certain financial ratios and to satisfy certain financial conditions, which may require us to reduce our debt or take some other action in order to comply with them.

The Indenture governing our Senior Notes contains certain restrictions on our and certain of our subsidiaries’ ability to:

pay dividends on stock;

repurchase stock or redeem subordinated debt or make other restricted payments;

incur, assume or guarantee additional indebtedness or issue disqualified stock;

create liens on the our assets;

enter into sale and leaseback transactions;

pay dividends, engage in loans, or transfer other assets from certain of our subsidiaries;

consolidate with or merge with or into, or sell all or substantially all of our properties to another person;

enter into transactions with affiliates; and

enter into new lines of business.

The failure to comply with any of these financialrestrictions or conditions, some of which become more restrictive over time, such as financial ratios or

covenants, would cause an event of default under our senior secured revolving credit facility.Revolving Credit Facility or our Senior Notes. An event of default, if not waived, could result in acceleration of the outstanding indebtedness, under our senior secured revolving credit facility, in which case the debt would become immediately due and payable. If this occurs, we may not be able to pay our debt or borrow sufficient funds to refinance it. Even if new financing is available, it may not be available on terms that are acceptable to us. These restrictions could also limit our ability to obtain future financings,financing, make needed capital expenditures, withstand a downturn in our business or the economy in general, or otherwise conduct necessary corporate activities. We also may be prevented from taking advantage of business opportunities that arise because of the limitations imposed on us by the restrictive covenants under our senior secured revolving credit facility.Revolving Credit Facility and our Senior Notes.

Our international operations are subject to political, economic and other uncertainties not encountered in our domestic operations.

As we continue to implement our strategy of expanding into areas outside the United States, our international operations will be subject to political, economic and other uncertainties not generally encountered in our U.S. operations. These will include, among potential others:

 

risks of war, terrorism, civil unrest and kidnapping of employees;

 

expropriation, confiscation or nationalization of our assets;

 

renegotiation or nullification of contracts;

 

foreign taxation;

 

the inability to repatriate earnings or capital due to laws limiting the right and ability of foreign subsidiaries to pay dividends and remit earnings to affiliated companies;

 

changing political conditions and changing laws and policies affecting trade and investment;

 

concentration of customers;

regional economic downturns;

 

the overlap of different tax structures;

 

the burden of complying with multiple and potentially conflicting laws;

 

the risks associated with the assertion of foreign sovereignty over areas in which our operations are conducted;

 

difficulty in collecting international accounts receivable; and

 

potentially longer payment cycles.

Our international operations are concentrated in Colombia and our drilling contracts are currently with one customer, Ecopetrol. We believe our relationship with Ecopetrol is good; however, the loss of this large customer could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and result of operations.

Our international operations may also face the additional risks of fluctuating currency values, hard currency shortages and controls of foreign currency exchange. Additionally, in some jurisdictions, we may be subject to foreign governmental regulations favoring or requiring the awarding of contracts to local contractors or requiring foreign contractors to employ citizens of, or purchase supplies from, a particular jurisdiction. These regulations could adversely affect our ability to compete.

Our operations are subject to various laws and governmental regulations that could restrict our future operations and increase our operating costs.

Many aspects of our operations are subject to various federal, state and local laws and governmental regulations, including laws and regulations governing:

 

environmental quality;

 

pollution control;

 

remediation of contamination;

preservation of natural resources;

 

transportation, and

 

worker safety.

Our operations are subject to stringent federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations governing the protection of the environment and human health and safety. Some of those laws, rules and regulations relate to the disposal of hazardous substances, oilfield waste and other waste materials and restrict the types, quantities and concentrations of those substances that can be released into the environment. Several of those laws also require removal and remedial action and other cleanup under certain circumstances, commonly regardless of fault. Our operations routinely involve the handling of significant amounts of waste materials, some of which are classified as hazardous substances. Planning, implementation and maintenance of protective measures are required to prevent accidental discharges. Spills of oil, natural gas liquids, drilling fluids and other substances may subject us to penalties and cleanup requirements. Handling, storage and disposal of both hazardous and non-hazardous wastes are also subject to these regulatory requirements. In addition, our operations are often conducted in or near ecologically sensitive areas, such as wetlands, which are subject to special protective measures and which may expose us to additional operating costs and liabilities for accidental discharges of oil, gas, drilling fluids, contaminated water or other substances, or for noncompliance with other aspects of applicable laws and regulations.

The federal Clean Water Act, as amended by the Oil Pollution Act, the federal Clean Air Act, the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or CERCLA, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, or OSHA, and their state counterparts and similar statutes are the primary statutes that impose the requirements described above and provide for civil, criminal and administrative penalties and other sanctions for violation of their requirements. The OSHA hazard communication standard, the Environmental Protection Agency “community right-to-know” regulations under Title III of the federal Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act and comparable state statutes require us to organize and report information about the hazardous materials we use in our operations to employees, state and local government authorities and local citizens. In addition, CERCLA, also known as the “Superfund” law, and similar state statutes impose strict liability, without regard to fault or the legality of the original conduct, on certain classes of persons who are considered responsible for the release or threatened release of hazardous substances into the environment. These persons include the current owner or operator of a facility where a release has occurred, the owner or operator of a facility at the time a release occurred, and companies that disposed of or arranged for the disposal of hazardous substances found at a particular site. This liability may be joint and several. Such liability, which may be imposed for the conduct of others and for conditions others have caused, includes the cost of removal and remedial action as well as damages to natural resources. Few defenses exist to the liability imposed by environmental laws and regulations. It is also common for third parties to file claims for personal injury and property damage caused by substances released into the environment.

Environmental laws and regulations are complex and subject to frequent change. Failure to comply with governmental requirements or inadequate cooperation with governmental authorities could subject a responsible party to administrative, civil or criminal action. We may also be exposed to environmental or other liabilities originating from businesses and assets which we acquired from others. Our compliance with amended, new or more stringent requirements, stricter interpretations of existing requirements or the future discovery of contamination or regulatory noncompliance may require us to make material expenditures or subject us to liabilities that we currently do not anticipate.

There are a variety of regulatory developments, proposals or requirements and legislative initiatives that have been introduced in the United States and international regions in which we operate that are focused on restricting the emission of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases. Among these developments are the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as the “Kyoto Protocol” (an internationally applied protocol, which has been ratified in Colombia, one of our reporting segments), the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or “RGGI” in the Northeastern United States, and the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative in the Western United States, including partners states New Mexico, Utah, and Montana and observer states Colorado and Wyoming.

The U.S. Congress has been actively considering legislation to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily through the development of greenhouse gas cap and trade programs. In June of 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a cap and trade bill known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which is now being considered by the U.S. Senate, among other alternative bills. In addition, more than one-third of the states already have begun implementing legal measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

In 2007, the United States Supreme Court in Massachusetts, et al. v. EPA, held that carbon dioxide may be regulated as an “air pollutant” under the federal Clean Air Act. On December 7, 2009, the EPA responded to the Massachusetts, et al. v. EPA decision and issued a finding that the current and projected concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations, and that certain greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles and motor vehicle engines contribute to the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and hence to the threat of climate change.

On September 22, 2009, the EPA finalized a rule requiring nation-wide reporting of greenhouse gas emissions beginning January 1, 2010. The rule applies primarily to large facilities emitting 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions per year, and to most upstream suppliers of fossil fuels and industrial greenhouse gas, as well as to manufacturers of vehicles and engines. In addition, the EPA recently proposed a rule that would, in general, require facilities that emit more than 25,000 tons per year of greenhouse gas equivalents to obtain permits to demonstrate that best practices and technology are being used to minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

Although it is not possible at this time to predict whether proposed legislation or regulations will be adopted as initially written, if at all, or how legislation or new regulations that may be adopted to address greenhouse gas emissions would impact our business, any such future laws and regulations could result in increased compliance costs or additional operating restrictions. Any additional costs or operating restrictions associated with legislation or regulations regarding greenhouse gas emissions could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and cash flows. In addition, these developments could curtail the demand for fossil fuels such as oil and gas in areas of the world where our customers operate and thus adversely affect demand for our services, which may in turn adversely affect our future results of operations. Finally, we cannot predict with any certainty whether changes to temperature, storm intensity or precipitation patterns as a result of climate change will have a material impact on our operations.

The EPA has recently focused on citizen concerns about the risk of water contamination and public health problems from drilling and hydraulic fracturing activities. The EPA is conducting a comprehensive research study on the potential adverse effects that hydraulic fracturing may have on water quality and public health. It is possible that resulting federal, state and local laws and regulations might be imposed on fracturing activities. The potential adoption of federal and state legislative and regulatory initiatives related to hydraulic fracturing could result in operating restrictions or delays in the completion of oil and gas wells. A decline in the drilling of new wells and related well servicing activities caused by these initiatives could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

In addition, our business depends on the demand for land drilling and production services from the oil and gas industry and, therefore, is affected by tax, environmental and other laws relating to the oil and gas industry generally, by changes in those laws and by changes in related administrative regulations. It is possible that these laws and regulations may in the future add significantly to our operating costs or those of our customers, or otherwise directly or indirectly affect our operations.

Among the services we provide, we operate as a motor carrier and therefore are subject to regulation by the U.S. Department of Transportation and by various state agencies. These regulatory authorities exercise broad powers, governing activities such as the authorization to engage in motor carrier operations and regulatory safety. 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. Some of these possible changes include increasingly stringent environmental regulations, changes in the hours of service regulations which govern the amount of time a driver may drive in any specific period, onboard black box recorder devices or limits on vehicle weight and size.

Interstate motor carrier operations are subject to safety requirements prescribed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. To a large degree, intrastate motor carrier operations are subject to state safety regulations that mirror federal regulations. Such matters as weight and dimension of equipment are also subject to federal and state regulations.

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 impact the recruitment of drivers. We cannot predict whether, or in what form, any increase in such taxes applicable to us will be enacted.

Our combined operating history may not be sufficient for investors to evaluate our business and prospects.

The acquisition of the production services businesses of WEDGE and Competition significantly expanded our operations and assets. Our historical combined financial statements include financial information based on the separate production services businesses of WEDGE and Competition. As a result, the historical and pro forma information presented may not provide an accurate indication of what our actual results would have been if the acquisition of the production services businesses of WEDGE and Competition had been completed at the beginning of the periods presented or of what our future results of operations are likely to be. Our future results will depend on our ability to efficiently manage our combined operations and execute our business strategy.

Risk Relating to Our Capitalization and Organizational Documents

We do not intend to pay dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future, and therefore only appreciation of the price of our common stock will provide a return to our shareholders.

We have not paid or declared any dividends on our common stock and currently intend to retain any earnings to fund our working capital needs and growth opportunities. Any future dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors after taking into account various factors it deems relevant, including our financial condition and performance, cash needs, income tax consequences and restrictions imposed by the Texas Business Corporation ActOrganizations Code and other applicable laws and by our credit facilities. Our debt arrangements include provisions that generally prohibit us from paying dividends on our capital stock, including our common stock.

We may issue preferred stock whose terms could adversely affect the voting power or value of our common stock.

Our articles of incorporation authorize us to issue, without the approval of our shareholders, one or more classes or series of preferred stock having such designations, preferences, limitations and relative rights, including preferences over our 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 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 common stock.

Provisions in our organizational documents could delay or prevent a change in control of our company even if that change would be beneficial to our shareholders.

The existence of some provisions in our organizational documents could delay or prevent a change in control of our company even if that change would be beneficial to our shareholders. Our articles of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that may make acquiring control of our company difficult, including:

 

provisions regulating the ability of our shareholders to nominate candidates for election as directors or to bring matters for action at annual meetings of our shareholders;

 

limitations on the ability of our shareholders to call a special meeting and act by written consent;

 

provisions dividing our board of directors into three classes elected for staggered terms; and

 

the authorization given to our board of directors to issue and set the terms of preferred stock.

We may continue to experience market conditions that could adversely affect the liquidity of our auction rate preferred security investment.

At December 31, 2008, we held $15.9 million (par value) of investments comprised of tax exempt, auction rate preferred securities (“ARPSs”), which are variable-rate preferred securities and have a long-term maturity with the interest rate being reset through “Dutch auctions” that are held every 7 days. The ARPSs have historically traded at par because of the frequent interest rate resets and because they are callable at par at the option of the issuer. Interest is paid at the end of each auction period. Our ARPSs are AAA/Aaa rated securities, collateralized by municipal bonds and backed by assets that are equal to or greater than 200% of the liquidation preference. Until February 2008, the auction rate securities market was highly liquid. Beginning mid-February 2008, we experienced several “failed” auctions, meaning that there was not enough demand to sell all of the securities that holders desired to sell at auction. The immediate effect of a failed auction is that such holders cannot sell the securities at auction and the interest rate on the security resets to a maximum auction rate. We have continued to receive interest payments on our ARPSs in accordance with their terms. Unless a future auction is successful or the issuer calls the security pursuant to redemption prior to maturity, we may not be able to access the funds we invested in our ARPSs without a loss of principal. We have no reason to believe that any of the underlying municipal securities that collateralize our ARPSs are presently at risk of default. We believe we will ultimately be able to liquidate our investments without material loss primarily due to the collateral securing the ARPSs. We do not currently intend to attempt to sell our ARPSs at a discount since our liquidity needs are expected to be met with cash flows from operating activities and our senior secured revolving credit facility. Our ARPSs are designated as available-for-sale and are reported at fair market value with the related unrealized gains or losses, included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax, a component of shareholders’ equity. The estimated fair value of our ARPSs at December 31, 2008 was $13.9 million compared with a par value of $15.9 million. The $2.0 million difference represents a fair value discount due to the current lack of liquidity which is considered temporary and is recorded as an unrealized loss. We would recognize an impairment charge if the fair value of our investments falls below the cost basis and is judged to be other-than-temporary. Our ARPSs are classified with other long-term assets on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2008 because of our inability to the determine recovery period of our investments.

Item 1B.Item 1B.Unresolved Staff Comments

Not applicable.

 

Item 2.Item 2.PropertiesProperties

For a description of our significant properties, see “Business—Overview of Our Segments and Services”General” and “Business—Facilities” in Item 1 of this report. We consider each of our significant properties to be suitable for its intended use.

Item 3.Item 3.Legal Proceedings

Due to the nature of our business, we are, from time to time, involved in routine litigation or subject to disputes or claims related to our business activities, including workers’ compensation claims and employment-related disputes. In the opinion of our management, none of the pending litigation, disputes or claims against us will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.

Item 4.Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

We did not submit any matter to a vote of our shareholders during the quarter ended December 31, 2008.

PART II

 

Item 5.Item 5.Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

As of February 6, 2009, 49,997,5784, 2011, 54,243,452 shares of our common stock were outstanding, held by 560515 shareholders of record. The number of record holders does not necessarily bear any relationship to the number of beneficial owners of our common stock.

Our common stock trades on the American Stock Exchange (NYSE Alternext US)NYSE Amex under the symbol “PDC.” The following table sets forth, for each of the periods indicated, the high and low sales prices per share on the American Stock Exchange (NYSE Alternext US):NYSE Amex:

 

  Low   High 

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2010:

    

First Quarter

  $6.89    $9.79  

Second Quarter

   5.24     7.92  

Third Quarter

   5.40     6.90  

Fourth Quarter

   6.04     9.03  

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2009:

    

First Quarter

  $3.28    $6.70  

Second Quarter

   3.46     6.88  

Third Quarter

   3.96     7.34  

Fourth Quarter

   6.00     8.16  
  Low  High

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2008:

        

First Quarter

  $10.59  $16.70  $10.59    $16.70  

Second Quarter

   15.29   20.64   15.29     20.64  

Third Quarter

   12.49   18.82   12.49     18.82  

Fourth Quarter

   4.85   13.09   4.85     13.09  

Nine Months Ended December 31, 2007:

    

First Quarter

  $12.69  $16.00

Second Quarter

   11.81   14.88

Third Quarter

   11.49   12.49

Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2007:

    

First Quarter

  $12.60  $18.00

Second Quarter

   10.79   15.70

Third Quarter

   11.57   14.65

Fourth Quarter

   11.46   13.47

The last reported sales price for our common stock on the American Stock Exchange (NYSE Alternext US)NYSE Amex on February 6, 20094, 2011 was $5.08$9.56 per share.

We have not paid or declared any dividends on our common stock and currently intend to retain earnings to fund our working capital needs and growth opportunities. Any future dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors after taking into account various factors it deems relevant, including our financial condition and performance, cash needs, income tax consequences and the restrictions Texas and other applicable laws and our credit facilities then impose. Our debt arrangements include provisions that generally prohibit us from paying dividends, other than dividends on our preferred stock. We currently have no preferred stock outstanding.

No shares of our common stock were purchased by or on behalf of our company or any affiliated purchaser during the fiscal yearquarter ended December 31, 2008.2010.

Performance Graph

The following graph compares, for the periods from December 31, 20032005 to December 31, 2008,2010, the cumulative total shareholder return on our common stock with the (1) cumulative total return on the companies that comprise the AMEX Composite Index (2) an old peer group index that includes the five companies that primarily provide contract drilling services, and (3) a new peer group index that includes five companies that provide contract drilling services and / or production services. With the acquisition of WEDGE and Competition on March 1, 2008, we expanded our operations beyond providing only contract drilling services and began providing production services. We believe the companies included in the new peer group index better reflect our peers with similar service offerings. The comparison assumes that $100 was invested on December 31, 2003 in our common stock, the companies that compose the AMEX Composite Index and the companies that compose the old and new peer group indexes, and further assumes all dividends were reinvested.

The companies that comprise the old peer group index are Helmerich & Payne, Inc., Grey Wolf, Inc., Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc., Nabors Industries Ltd. and Unit Corp. The companies that comprise the new peer group index are Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc., Nabors Industries Ltd., Bronco Drilling Company, Precision Drilling Trust and Key Energy Services.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The following table provides informationcomparison assumes that $100 was invested on our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2008:2005 in our common stock, the companies that compose the AMEX Composite Index and the companies that compose the peer group index, and further assumes all dividends were reinvested.

Plan category

  Number of securities to be
issued upon exercise of
outstanding options,
warrants and rights
  Weighted-average
exercise price per share
of outstanding options,
warrants and rights
  Number of securities
remaining available for
future issuance under
equity compensation plans
(1)

Equity compensation plans approved by security holders

  3,769,695  $12.85  2,035,073

Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders

  —     —    —  
          

Total

  3,769,695  $12.85  2,035,073
          

(1)

Includes 822,489 shares that may be issued in the form of restricted stock or restricted stock units under the Amended and Restated Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan.

Item 6.Item 6.Selected Financial Data

The following information derives from our audited financial statements. You should review this information in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Item 7 of this report and the historical financial statements and related notes this report contains. The acquisitions of WEDGE and Competition, effective March 1, 2008, and the change in our fiscal year end, resulting in a nine month fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, affect the comparability from period to period of our historical results.

 

  Year Ended
December 31,
2008 (1)(2)
  Nine months
Ended
December 31,
2007
  Years Ended March 31,   Years Ended December 31, Nine months
Ended
December 31,

2007
  Year
Ended

March  31,
2007
 
 2007 2006 2005   2010(1) 2009(1) 2008(1)(2) 
  (In thousands, except per share amounts)   (In thousands, except per share amounts) 

Statement of Operations Data:

            

Revenues

  $610,884  $313,884  $416,178  $284,148  $185,246   $487,210   $325,537   $610,884   $313,884   $416,178  

(Loss) income from operations

   (43,954)  55,260   126,976   77,909   18,774 

(Loss) income before income taxes

   (56,688)  57,774   130,789   79,813   17,161 

Net (loss) earnings applicable to common stockholders

   (62,745)  39,645   84,180   50,567   10,812 

(Loss) earnings per common share-basic

  $(1.26) $0.80  $1.70  $1.08  $0.31 

(Loss) earnings per common share-diluted

  $(1.26) $0.79  $1.68  $1.06  $0.30 

Income (loss) from operations

   (18,572  (31,840  (43,954  55,260    126,976  

Income (loss) before income taxes

   (47,558  (40,172  (56,688  57,774    130,789  

Net earnings (loss) applicable to common stockholders

   (33,261  (23,215  (62,745  39,645    84,180  

Earnings (loss) per common share-basic

  $(0.62 $(0.46 $(1.26 $0.80   $1.70  

Earnings (loss) per common share-diluted

  $(0.62 $(0.46 $(1.26 $0.79   $1.68  

Other Financial Data:

            

Net cash provided by operating activities

  $186,391  $115,455  $131,530  $97,084  $33,665   $98,351   $123,313   $186,635   $115,455   $131,530  

Net cash used in investing activities

   (505,615)  (123,858)  (137,960)  (125,217)  (75,320)   (129,481  (113,909  (505,615  (123,858  (137,960

Net cash provided by financing activities

   269,342   161   201   49,634   109,513    12,762    4,154    269,098    161    201  

Capital expenditures

   148,096   128,038   147,230   128,871   80,388    135,151    110,453    148,096    128,038    147,230  

 

  As of December 31,  As of March 31,  As of December 31,   As of
March 31,

2007
 
  2008 (1)  2007  2007  2006  2005  2010(1)   2009(1)   2008(1)   2007   
  (In thousands)  (In thousands) 

Balance Sheet Data:

                    

Working capital

  $64,372  $99,807  $124,089  $106,904  $76,327  $76,142    $90,336    $64,372    $99,807    $124,089  

Property and equipment, net

   627,562   417,022   342,901   260,783   170,566   655,508     637,022     627,562     417,022     342,901  

Long-term debt and capital lease obligations, excluding current installments

   262,115   —     —     —     13,445   279,530     258,073     262,115     —       —    

Shareholders’ equity

   414,118   471,072   428,109   340,676   221,615   396,333     421,448     414,118     471,072     428,109  

Total assets

   824,479   560,212   501,495   400,678   276,009   841,343     824,955     824,479     560,212     501,495  

 

(1)

The statement of operations data and other financial data for the yearyears ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 and the balance sheet data as of December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 includesinclude the impact of the acquisitions of WEDGE and Competition, both of which occurred on March 1, 2008. See Note 2 to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

(2)

The statement of operations data and other financial data for the year ended December 31, 2008 reflect the impact of a goodwill impairment charge of $118.6 million and an intangible asset impairment charge of $52.8 million. See Note 1 to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Item 7.Item 7.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Statements we make in the following discussion that express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not historical fact, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, could differ materially from those we express in the following discussion as a result of a variety of factors, including general economic and business conditions and industry trends, the continued strength or weakness of the contract land drilling industry in the geographic areas in which we operate, decisions about onshore exploration and development projects to be made by oil and gas exploration and production companies, the highly competitive nature of our business, the availability, terms and deployment of capital, the availability of qualified personnel, and changes in, or our failure or inability to comply with, government regulations, including those relating to the environment. We have discussed many of these factors in more detail elsewhere in this report, including under the headings “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in the Introductory Note to Part I and “Risk Factors” in Item 1A. These factors are not necessarily all the important factors that could affect us. Unpredictable or unknown factors we have not discussed in this report or could also have material adverse effecteffects on actual results of matters that are the subject of our forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as the date on which they are made and we undertake no duty to update or revise any forward-looking statements. We advise our shareholders that they should (1) be aware that important factors not referred to above could affect the accuracy of our forward-looking statements and (2) use caution and common sense when considering our forward-looking statements.

Company Overview

Pioneer Drilling Company provides drilling services and production services to independent and major oil and gas exploration and production companies throughout much of the onshore oil and gas producing regions of the United States and internationally in Colombia. Our companyPioneer Drilling Company was incorporated under the laws of the State of Texas in 1979 as the successor to a business that had been operating since 1968. Over the years, ourOur business has grown through acquisitions and through organic growth. Since September 1999, we have significantly expanded our drilling rig fleet by adding 4235 rigs through acquisitions and by adding 2731 rigs through the construction of rigs from new and used components. On March 1, 2008, we significantly expanded our service offerings when we acquired the production services businesses of WEDGE Group Incorporated (“WEDGE”) for $314.7 million and Prairie Investors d/b/a Competition Wireline (“Competition”) for $30.0 million, which provide well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services. We funded the WEDGE acquisition primarily with $311.5 million of borrowings under our $400 million senior secured revolving credit facility. As of February 23, 2009, the senior secured revolving credit facility had an outstanding balance of $257.5 million, all of which matures in February 2013. Drilling services and production services are fundamental to establishing and maintaining the flow of oil and natural gas throughout the productive life atof a well site and enable us to meet multiple needs of our customers.

Business Segments

We currently conduct our operations through two operating segments: our Drilling Services Division and our Production Services Division. The following is a description of these two operating segments. Financial information about our operating segments is included in Note 11,Segment Information, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, Item 8,Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

  

Drilling Services Division—Our Drilling Services Division provides contract land drilling services with its fleet of 7071 drilling rigs in the following locations:

 

Drilling Division Locations

  Rig Count

South Texas

  1719

East Texas

  2213

West Texas

3

North Dakota

9

North Texas

  93

Utah

  6

North Dakota

3
  6

Oklahoma

  56

Appalachia

7

Colombia

  58

As of February 23, 2009, 364, 2011, 48 drilling rigs are operating 29under drilling contracts. We have 17 drilling rigs that are idle and fivesix drilling rigs located in our Oklahoma drilling division have been placed in storage or “cold stacked” in our Oklahoma drilling division due to low demand for drilling rigs in thisthat region. We are actively marketing all our idle drilling rigs both domestically and internationally in Latin America. During the second quarter of 2009, we are earning revenue on twoestablished our Appalachia drilling division location and now have seven drilling rigs operating in the Marcellus Shale. In early 2011, we established our West Texas drilling division location with three drilling rigs that were previously included in our East Texas drilling division location. One of these rigs through early termination fees on theirhas begun drilling contracts with a term expiring in March 2009the Permian Basin and May 2009. We are constructing a 1500 horsepower drilling rig that we expect the remaining two rigs to be completed and available for operationbegin operations in the in our North Dakota drilling division under a contract with a three year term beginning March 2009.late February 2011. In addition to our drilling rigs, we provide the drilling crews and most of the ancillary equipment needed to operate our drilling rigs. We obtain our contracts for drilling oil and natural gas wells either through competitive bidding or through direct negotiations with customers. Our drilling contracts generally provide for compensation on either a daywork, turnkey or footage basis. Contract terms generally depend on the complexity and risk of operations, the on-site drilling conditions, the type of equipment used and the anticipated duration of the work to be performed.

 

  

Production Services Division—Our Production Services Division provides a broad range of well services to oil and gas drillingexploration and producingproduction companies, including workoverwell services, wireline services, and fishing and rental services. Our production services operations are managed regionally and arethrough locations concentrated in the major United States onshore oil and gas producing regions in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and Rocky Mountain and Appalachian states. We provide our services to a diverse group of oil and gas exploration and production companies. The primary productionsproduction services we offer are the following:

 

Well Services. Existing and newly-drilled wells require a range of services to establish and maintain production over their useful lives. We use our premium well service rig fleet of 74 workover rigs in seven division locations to provide these required services, including maintenance of existing wells, workover of existing wells, completion of newly-drilled wells, and plugging and abandonment of wells at the end of their useful lives. We haveacquired one well service rig in early 2011, resulting in a premium workovertotal of 75 well service rigs in nine locations as of February 4, 2011. Our well service rig fleet consistingconsists of sixty-nineseventy 550 horseposewerhorsepower rigs, four 600 horsepower rigs, and one 400 horsepower rig. Therig, with an average age of this fleet is 1.4 years as of December 31, 2008. As of February 23, 2009, 62 workover3.4 years. All our well service rigs are currently operating and 12 workoveror are being actively marketed, with January 2011 utilization of approximately 88%. We plan to add another five well service rigs are idle with no crews assigned.to our fleet by mid-2011.

Wireline Services. In order for oil and gas exploration and production companies to better understand the reservoirs they are drilling or producing, they require logging services to accurately characterize reservoir rocks and fluids. When a producing well is completed, they also must perforate the production casing to establish a flow path between the reservoir and the wellbore. We use our fleet of 59 truck mounted wireline units in 15 division locations to provide these important logging and perforating services. We provide both open and cased-hole logging services, including the latest pulsed-neutron technology. In addition, we provide services which allow oil and gas exploration and production companies to evaluate the integrity of wellbore casing, recover pipe, or install bridge plugs. We acquired 21 wireline units during 2010 and two additional wireline units in early 2011, resulting in a total of 86 wireline units in 22 locations as of February 4, 2011. We plan to add another 12 wireline units by mid-2011.

We provide both open and cased-hole logging services, including the latest pulsed-neutron technology. In addition, we provide services which allow oil and gas companies to evaluate the integrity of wellbore casing, recover pipe, or install bridge plugs. Our truck mounted wireline units have an average age of 3.7 years as of December 31, 2008.

 

Fishing and Rental Services. During drilling operations, oil and gas exploration and production companies are often required tofrequently rent unique equipment such as power swivels, foam aircirculating units, blow-out preventers, air drilling equipment, pumps, tanks, pipe, tubing, and fishing tools. We have approximately $15 million worth of fishing andprovide rental tools that we provideservices out of four locations in Texas and Oklahoma. As of December 31, 2010 our fishing and rental tools have a gross book value of $13.5 million.

Market Conditions in Our Industry

In recent months, there has been substantial volatility and a decline in oil and natural gas prices due to the deteriorating global economic environment. In addition, there has been substantial uncertainty in the capital markets and access to financing is uncertain. These conditions have adversely affected our business environment. Our customers have curtailed their drilling programs and reduced their production activities, which has resulted in a decrease in demand for drilling and production services and a reduction in day rates and utilization. In addition, certain of our customers could experience an inability to pay suppliers in the event they are unable to access the capital markets to fund their business operations.

Demand for oilfield services offered by our industry is a function of our customers’ willingness to make operating expenditures and capital expenditures to explore for, develop and produce hydrocarbons, which in turn is affected by current and expected levels of oil and natural gas prices. For three years before the end of

From 2004 through 2008, domestic exploration and production spending increased as oil and natural gas prices increased. OilSince late 2008, there has been substantial volatility and a decline in oil and natural gas prices declined significantly atdue to the end of 2008downturn in the global economic environment. In response, our customers curtailed their drilling programs and reduced their production activities, particularly in recent monthsnatural gas producing regions, which has resulted in a deteriorating global economic environment, and exploration and production companies have announced cutsdecrease in their exploration budgets for 2009. We expect these reductions in oil and gas exploration budgets to result in a reduction in our rig utilizationdemand and revenue rates for certain of our drilling rigs and production services equipment. Additionally, there was uncertainty in 2009. In addition, we may experience a shiftthe capital markets and access to more turnkey and footage drilling contracts from daywork drilling contracts.financing was limited. These conditions adversely affected our business environment. For additional information concerning the effects of the volatility in oil and gas prices and uncertainty in capital markets, see Item 1A—“Risk Factors” in Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

With increasing oil and natural gas prices through 2010, exploration and production companies modestly increased their exploration and production spending for 2010 and industry rig utilization and revenue rates improved, particularly in oil-producing regions and in certain shale regions. We expect continued modest increases in exploration and production spending for 2011, which we expect will result in modest increases in industry rig utilization and revenue rates in 2011, as compared to 2010.

On February 6, 20094, 2011, the spot price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil was $40.17,$89.03, the spot price for Henry Hub natural gas was $4.67$4.47 and the Baker Hughes land rig count was 1,330,1,696, a 21% decrease33% increase from 1,6771,280 on February 8, 2008.5, 2010. The average weekly spot prices of West Texas Intermediate crude oil and Henry Hub natural gas, the average weekly domestic land rig count per the Baker Hughes land rig count, and the average monthly domestic workoverwell service rig count for the year ended December 31, 2008, the nine months ended December 31, 2007 and each of the previouslast five years ended March 31 were:

 

   Year Ended
December 31,

2008
  Nine Months
Ended
December 31,

2007
  Years Ended March 31,
      2007  2006  2005  2004

Oil (West Texas

            

Intermediate)

  $99.86  $77.42  $64.96  $59.94  $45.04  $31.47

Natural Gas (Henry Hub)

  $8.81  $6.82  $6.53  $9.10  $5.99  $5.27

U.S. Land Rig Count

   1,792   1,684   1,589   1,329   1,110   964

U.S. Workover Rig Count

   2,514   2,394   2,376   2,271   2,087   1,996
   Years Ended December 31, 
   2010   2009   2008   2007   2006 

Oil (West Texas Intermediate)

  $79.39    $61.81    $99.86    $72.71    $66.28  

Natural Gas (Henry Hub)

  $4.35    $3.85    $8.81    $6.90    $6.66  

U.S. Land Rig Count

   1,493     1,035     1,792     1,670     1,537  

U.S. Well Service Rig Count

   1,854     1,735     2,514     2,388     2,364  

Increased expenditures for exploration and production activities generally leads to increased demand for our drilling services and production services. Over

As represented in the past several years, risingtable above, increases in oil and natural gas prices and thefrom 2004 to late 2008 resulted in corresponding increase in onshore oil and natural gas exploration and production spending led to expanded drilling and well service activity as reflected by the increases in the U.S. land rig counts and U.S. workoverwell service rig counts, overwhile declines in prices from late 2008 to late 2009 led to decreases in the previous five years.

With the recent declineU.S. land rig counts and U.S. well service rig counts. Since late 2009, increases in oil and natural gas prices due to the deteriorating global economic environmenthave caused modest increases in exploration and production spending and the expected reductionscorresponding increases in our rig utilizationdrilling and revenue rates in 2009, our near-term strategywell services activities is to maintain a strong balance sheet and ample liquidity. Management has initiated certain cost reduction measures including workforce and wage rate reductions that will reduce operating expenses during the downturnreflected by increases in the industry cycle. BudgetedU.S. land rig counts and the U.S. well service rig counts in 2010.

Our business is influenced substantially by both operating and capital expenditures for 2009 represent routine capital expenditures necessary to keep our equipment in safeby exploration and efficient working order and limited discretionary capital expenditures of new equipment or upgrades of existing equipment. In addition, our marketing initiatives are focused on identifying regional opportunities and evaluating more turnkey drilling contract opportunities. We believe this near-term strategy will position us to take advantage of business opportunities and continue our long-term growth strategy.

production companies. Exploration and production spending is generally categorized as either a capital expenditure or an operating expenditure. Activities designed to add hydrocarbon reserves are classified as capital expenditures, while those associated with maintaining or accelerating production are categorized as operating expenditures.

Capital expenditures by oil and gas exploration and production companies tend to be relatively sensitive to volatility in oil or natural gas prices because project decisions are tied to a return on investment spanning a number of years. As such, capital expenditure economics often require the use of commodity price forecasts which may prove inaccurate in the amount of time required to plan and execute a capital expenditure project (such as the drilling of a deep well). When commodity prices are depressed for even a short periodlong periods of time, capital expenditure projects are routinely deferred until prices return to an acceptable level.

In contrast, both mandatory and discretionary operating expenditures are more stable than capital expenditures for exploration. Mandatory operating expenditure projects involve activities that cannot be avoided in the short term, such as regulatory compliance, safety, contractual obligations and certain projects to maintain the well and related infrastructure in operating condition. Discretionary operating expenditure projects may not be critical to the short-term viability of a lease or field, but these projects are less sensitive to commodity price volatility as compared to capital expenditures for exploration. Discretionary operating expenditure work is evaluated according to a simple short-term payout criterion which is far less dependent on commodity price forecasts.

Our business is influenced substantially by both operating and capital expenditures by exploration and production companies. Because existing oil and natural gas wells require ongoing spending to maintain production, expenditures by exploration and production companies for the maintenance of existing wells are relatively stable and predictable. In contrast, capital expenditures by exploration and production companies for exploration and drilling are more directly influenced by current and expected oil and natural gas prices and generally reflect the volatility of commodity prices.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Sources of Capital Resources

Our principal liquidity requirements have been for working capital needs, capital expenditures and acquisitions. Our principal sources of liquidity consist of: (i) cash and cash equivalents (which equaled $26.8$22.0 million as of December 31, 2008)2010); (ii) cash generated from operations; and (iii) the unused portion of our senior secured revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility”). Our Revolving Credit Facility provides for a senior secured revolving credit facility, with sub-limits for letters of credit and swing-line loans, of up to an aggregate principal amount of $225 million, all of which hasmatures on August 31, 2012. We made a $12.8 million principal payment after December 31, 2010, which resulted in a $25.0 million outstanding balance under our Revolving Credit Facility and $9.2 million in committed letters of credit at February 4, 2011. Therefore, our borrowing availability of $133.2under our Revolving Credit Facility was $190.8 million as of February 23, 2009.4, 2011. There are no limitations on our ability to access the full borrowing availability under the senior secured revolving credit facilityRevolving Credit Facility other than maintaining compliance with the covenants in the credit agreement. Our principal liquidity requirements have been for working capital needs, capital expenditures and acquisitions.

On February 29, 2008, we entered into a credit agreement with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and a syndicate of lenders (collectivelyRevolving Credit Facility. Additional information regarding these covenants is provided in the “Lenders”). The credit agreement provides for a senior secured revolving credit facility, with sub-limits for letters of credit and a swing-line facility of up to an aggregate principal amount of $400 million, all of which mature on February 28, 2013. The senior secured revolving credit facility and the obligations thereunder are secured by substantially all our domestic assets and are guaranteed by certain of our domestic subsidiaries.Debt Requirements section below. Borrowings under the senior secured revolving credit facility bear interest,Revolving Credit Facility are available for acquisitions, working capital and other general corporate purposes. We presently expect that cash and cash equivalents, cash generated from operations and available borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility are adequate to cover our liquidity requirements for at our option, atleast the next 12 months.

On March 11, 2010, we issued $250 million of 9.875% unregistered senior notes due 2018 (the “Senior Notes”), and received $234.8 million net proceeds, after deducting the bank prime rate or atoriginal issue discount, underwriters’ fees and other debt offering costs, which were used to reduce the LIBOR rate, plus an applicable per annum marginoutstanding debt balance under our Revolving Credit Facility. The Senior Notes will mature on March 15, 2018 with interest due semi-annually in arrears on March 15 and September 15 of each case. The applicable per annum margin is determined based upon our leverage ratio in accordance with a pricing grid inyear, commencing on September 15, 2010. We have the credit agreement. The per annum margin for LIBOR rate borrowings ranges from 1.50%option to 2.50% and for bank prime rate borrowings ranges from 0.50% to 1.50%. Based onredeem the terms in the credit agreement, the LIBOR margin and bank prime rate margin in effect until delivery of our financial statements and the compliance certificate for December 31, 2008 were 2.25% and 1.25%, respectively. A commitment fee is due quarterly based on the average daily unused amount of the commitments of the Lenders under the senior secured revolving credit facility. In addition, a fronting fee is due for each letter of credit issued and a quarterly letter of credit fee is due based on the average undrawn amount of letter of credit outstanding during such period. We may repay the senior secured revolving credit facility balance outstandingSenior Notes, in whole or in part, at any time without premiumon or penalty. The senior secured revolving credit facility replacedafter March 15, 2014 in each case at the $20.0redemption price specified in the Indenture dated March 11, 2010 (the “Indenture”) together with any accrued and unpaid interest to the date of redemption. Prior to March 15, 2014, we may also redeem the Senior Notes, in whole or in part, at a “make-whole” redemption price specified in the Indenture, together with any accrued and unpaid interest to the date of redemption. In addition, prior to March 15, 2013, we may, on one or more occasions, redeem up to 35% of the aggregate principal amount of the Senior Notes at a redemption price of 109.875% of the principal amount, plus any accrued and unpaid interest to the redemption date, with the net proceeds of certain equity offerings, if at least 65% of the aggregate principal amount of the Senior Notes remains outstanding after such redemption and the redemption occurs within 120 days of the closing of the equity offering. In accordance with a registration rights agreement with the holders of our Senior Notes, we filed an exchange offer registration statement on Form S-4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission that became effective on September 2, 2010. This exchange offer registration statement enabled the holders of our Senior Notes to exchange their Senior Notes for publicly registered notes with substantially identical terms. References to the “Senior Notes” herein include the Senior Notes issued in the exchange offer.

In July 2009, we filed a shelf registration statement that permits us to sell equity or debt in one or more offerings up to a total dollar amount of $300 million. In November 2009, we obtained $24.0 million credit facilityin net proceeds when we previously had with Frost National Bank. Borrowingssold 3,820,000 shares of our common stock at $6.75 per share, less underwriters’ commissions, pursuant to a public offering under the senior secured revolving credit facility were used to fund the WEDGE acquisition and are available for future acquisitions, working capital and other general corporate purposes.

At February 23, 2009, we had $257.5$300 million outstanding under the revolving portion of the senior secured revolving credit facility and $9.3 million in committed letters of credit. Under the terms of the credit agreement, committed letters of credit are applied against our borrowing capacity under the senior secured revolving credit facility.shelf registration statement. The borrowingremaining availability under the senior secured revolving credit facility was $133.2$300 million at February 23, 2009. Principal payments of $15.0shelf registration statement for equity or debt offerings is $274.2 million made after December 31, 2008 are classified in the current portion of long-term debt as of December 31, 2008. The outstanding balance under our senior secured credit facility is not due until maturity on February 28, 2013. However, when cash and working capital is sufficient,4, 2011. In the future, we may make principal paymentsconsider equity or debt offerings, as appropriate, to reduce the outstanding debt balance prior to maturity.meet our liquidity needs.

At December 31, 2008,2010, we held $15.9 million (par value) of investments comprised of tax exempt, auction rate preferred securities (“ARPSs”),ARPSs, which arewere variable-rate preferred securities and havehad a long-term maturity with the interest rate being reset through “Dutch auctions” that arewere held every 7seven days. The ARPSs havehad historically traded at par because of the frequent interest rate resets and because they arewere callable at par at the option of the issuer. Interest iswas paid at the end of each auction period. Our ARPSs arewere AAA/Aaa rated securities, collateralized by municipal bonds and backed by assets that arewere equal to or greater than 200% of the liquidation preference. Until February 2008, the auction rate securities market was highly liquid. Beginning mid-February 2008, we experienced several “failed” auctions, meaning that there was not enough demand to sell all of the securities that holders desired to sell at auction. The immediate effect of a failed auction iswas that such holders cannotcould not sell the securities at auction and the interest rate on the security resetsreset to a maximum auction rate. We have continued to receive interest payments on our ARPSs in accordance with their terms. Unless

On January 19, 2011, we entered into an agreement with a future auction is successful orfinancial institution to sell the issuer calls the security pursuant to redemption prior to maturity, we may not be able to access the funds we invested in our ARPSs without a loss of principal. We have no reason to believe that anyfor $12.6 million, which represents 79% of the underlying municipal securities that collateralize ourpar value, plus accrued interest. Under the agreement, we retained the unilateral right for a period ending January 7, 2013 to: (a) repurchase all the ARPSs are presently at risk of default. We believe we will ultimately be able to liquidate our investments without material loss primarily duethe $12.6 million price at which they were initially sold to the collateral securingfinancial institution; and (b) if not repurchased, receive additional proceeds from the ARPSs. We do not currently intend to attempt to sell ourfinancial institution upon redemption of the ARPSs at a discount since our liquidity needs are expected to be met with cash flows from operating activities and our senior secured revolving credit facility. Our ARPSs are designated as available-for-sale and are reported at fair market value withby the related unrealized gains or losses, included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax, a component of shareholders’ equity. The estimated fair value of our ARPSs at December 31, 2008 was $13.9 million compared with a par value of $15.9 million. The $2.0 million difference represents a fair value discount due to the current lack of liquidity which is considered temporary and is recorded as an unrealized loss. We would recognize an impairment charge if the fair value of our investments falls below the cost basis and is judged to be other-than-temporary. Our ARPSs are classified with other long-term assets on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2008 because of our inability to determine the recovery period of our investments.original issuer.

Uses of Capital Resources

On March 1, 2008, we acquired the production services business of WEDGE which provided well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services with a fleet of 62 workover rigs, 45 wireline units and approximately $13 million of fishing and rental tools equipment through facilities in Texas, Kansas, North Dakota, Colorado, Montana, Utah and Oklahoma. The aggregate purchase price for the acquisition was approximately $314.7 million, which consisted of assets acquired of $340.8 million and liabilities assumed of $26.1 million. The aggregate purchase price included $3.4 million of costs incurred to acquire the production services business from WEDGE. We financed the acquisition with approximately $3.2 million of cash on hand and $311.5 million of debt incurred under our new $400 million senior secured revolving credit facility.

On March 1, 2008, immediately following the acquisition of the production services business from WEDGE, we acquired the production services business from Competition which provided wireline services with a fleet of 6 wireline units through its facilities in Montana. The aggregate purchase price for the Competition acquisition was approximately $30.0 million, which consisted of assets acquired of $30.1 million and liabilities assumed of $0.1 million. The aggregate purchase price includes $0.4 million of costs incurred to acquire the production services business from Competition. We financed the acquisition with $26.7 million cash on hand and a note payable due to the prior owner for $3.3 million.

On August 29, 2008, we acquired the wireline services business from Paltec. The aggregate purchase price was $7.8 million which we financed with $6.5 million in cash and a sellers note of $1.3 million. Intangible and other assets of $4.3 million and goodwill of $0.1 million were recorded in connection with the acquisition.

On October 1, 2008, we acquired the well services business from Pettus Well Service. The aggregated purchase price was $3.0 million which we financed with $2.8 million in cash and a sellers note of $0.2 million. Intangible and other assets of $1.2 million and goodwill of $0.1 million were recorded in connection with the acquisition.

For the yearyears ended December 31, 20082010 and the nine months ended December 31, 2007, the additions to2009, our primary uses of capital resources were property and equipment additions that consisted of the following (amounts in thousands):

 

  Years ended
December 31,
 
  Year ended
December 31,
2008
  Nine months ended
December 31,

2007
  2010   2009 

Drilling Services Division:

        

Routine rigs

  $17,860  $16,029

Routine

  $17,441    $14,655  

Discretionary

   61,034   52,292   88,201     70,502  

New-builds and acquisitions

   30,281   59,717   —       12,046  
              

Total Drilling Services Division

   109,175   128,038   105,642     97,203  
      

Production Services Division:

        

Routine

   4,740   —     6,972     5,366  

Discretionary

   1,175   —     1,202     662  

New-builds and acquisitions

   33,006   —     17,187     11,481  
              

Total Production Services Division

   38,921   —     25,361     17,509  
              

Net cash used for purchases of property and equipment

   131,003     114,712  

Net impact of accruals

   4,148     (4,259
  $148,096  $128,038        

Total Capital Expenditures

  $135,151    $110,453  
              

We capitalized $0.5 million and $0.3 million of interest costs in property and equipment forduring the yearyears ended December 31, 20082010 and no capitalized interest cost for the nine months ended December 31, 2007.2009, respectively.

We constructed a 1500 horsepower drilling rig that was completed and placed into service in December 2008. As of December 31, 2008, we were constructing another 1500-horsepower drilling rig that we expect to complete and place in service in March 2009. Our Drilling Services Division incurred $28.4 million of rig

construction costs for these two 1500 horsepowerperformed significant upgrade projects on 24 drilling rigs during the year ended December 31, 2008. In2010, primarily in connection with obtaining new drilling contracts in unconventional plays and Colombia. These projects included the installation of 16 top drives, five iron roughnecks, two automatic catwalks and 11 walking/skidding systems. During the year ended December 31, 2009, we performed significant upgrade projects on seven drilling rigs, including the addition of 11 top drives to our Production Services Division incurred $20.2 million acquiring 14 workover rigs and $5.0 million acquiring 10 wireline unitsdrilling rigs. Also during the year ended December 31, 2008. During2009, we incurred $13.7 million of rig construction costs to complete construction of a 2000 horsepower drilling rig which was placed into service in June 2009.

Our Production Services Division acquired 20 and five wireline units, as well as auxiliary equipment for well service rigs, during the nine monthsyears ended December 31, 2007,2010 and 2009, respectively, which is reflected in the new-builds and acquisitions section of the table above.

Currently, we incurred $56.2expect to spend approximately $140 million to purchase and upgrade the 3 drilling rigs acquired for expansion into international markets.

For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2009, we project$150 million on capital expenditures of approximately $84.5 million, comprised of newly approvedduring 2011. We expect the total capital expenditures offor 2011 will be allocated approximately $50.2 million75% for our Drilling Services Division and approximately $15.0 million25% for our Production Services Division and previously approvedDivision. Our planned capital expenditures from 2008for the year ending December 31, 2011 include 14 wireline units and six well service rigs that we expect will go into service during the first half of approximately $19.3 million2011 and two new-build drillings rigs. We will not begin construction of these new-build drilling rigs unless we have secured long-term contracts. Actual capital expenditures may vary depending on the level of new-build and other expansion opportunities that will be carried overmeet our strategic and incurred in 2009.return on capital criteria. We expect to fund these capital expenditures primarily from operating cash flow in excess of our working capital and other normal cash flow requirements.requirements, and from borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility, as necessary.

Working Capital

Our working capital was $64.4$76.1 million at December 31, 2008,2010, compared to $99.8$90.3 million at December 31, 2007.2009. Our current ratio, which we calculate by dividing our current assets by our current liabilities, was 1.82.0 at December 31, 20082010 compared to 3.42.9 at December 31, 2007.2009.

Our operations have historically generated cash flows sufficient to at least meet our requirements for debt service and normal capital expenditures. However, during periods when higher percentages of our drilling contracts are turnkey and footage contracts, our short-term working capital needs could increase.

The changes in the components of our working capital were as follows (amounts in thousands):

 

  December 31,
2008
  December 31,
2007
  Change   December 31, 2010   December 31, 2009   Change 

Cash and cash equivalents

  $26,821  $76,703  $(49,882)  $22,011    $40,379    $(18,368

Receivables, net

   87,161   47,370   39,791 

Short-term investments

   12,569     —       12,569  

Receivables:

      

Trade, net of allowance for doubtful accounts

   61,345     26,648     34,697  

Unbilled receivables

   12,262   7,861   4,401    21,423     8,586     12,837  

Insurance recoveries

   4,035     5,107     (1,072

Income taxes

   2,712     41,126     (38,414

Deferred income taxes

   6,270   3,670   2,600    9,867     5,560     4,307  

Inventory

   3,874   1,180   2,694    9,023     5,535     3,488  

Prepaid expenses and other current

   8,902   5,073   3,829 

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

   8,797     6,199     2,598  
                      

Current assets

   145,290   141,857   3,433    151,782     139,140     12,642  
                      

Accounts payable

   21,830   21,424   406    26,929     15,324     11,605  

Current portion of long-term debt

   17,298   —     17,298    1,408     4,041     (2,633

Prepaid drilling contracts

   1,171   1,933   (762)   3,669     408     3,261  

Accrued expenses—payroll and related employee costs

   13,592   5,172   8,420 

Accrued expenses—insurance premiums and deductibles

   17,520   9,548   7,972 

Accrued expenses—other

   9,507   3,973   5,534 

Accrued expenses:

      

Payroll and related employee costs

   18,057     7,740     10,317  

Insurance premiums and deductibles

   8,774     8,615     159  

Insurance claims and settlements

   4,035     5,042     (1,007

Interest

   7,307     271     7,036  

Other

   5,461     7,363     (1,902
                      

Current liabilities

   80,918   42,050   38,868    75,640     48,804     26,836  
                      

Working capital

  $64,372  $99,807  $(35,435)  $76,142    $90,336    $(14,194
                      

The decrease in cash and cash equivalents was primarily due to our use$131.0 million used for purchases of $147.5 million for certain property and equipment, expenditures, debt payments of $87.8 million and $39.2 million of cash to fund the WEDGE, Competition, Paltec, Inc. and Pettus Well Service acquisitions. These uses of cash and cash equivalents were partially offset by $186.4 million of cash provided by operating activitiesoperations of $98.4 million and $12.7 million in proceeds from debt borrowings, undernet of debt repayments and issuance costs, during the credit lineyear ended December 31, 2010.

Short-term investments as of $47.9 million.December 31, 2010 represent our ARPS which were classified as available for sale as of December 31, 2010, and were liquidated in January 2011. At December 31, 2009, these investments were classified as long-term investments due to our inability to determine the recovery period for these investments at that time.

The increaseincreases in our trade receivables atand unbilled receivables as of December 31, 20082010 as compared to December 31, 2007 was2009 were due to receivables of $20.7 million at December 31, 2008 that relate to our new Production Services Division that was formed when we acquired the production services businesses of WEDGE and Competition on March 1, 2008, an

increase in receivablesrevenues of $14.7$67.4 million, for our Drilling Services Division and an increase of $4.4 million for federal income tax refunds. The increase in receivables for our Drilling Services Division is primarily due to a $2,774 per day increase in average revenue rates and a 3.5% increase in the number of revenue daysor 83%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2008,2010 as compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2007.2009, and due to the timing of the billing and collection cycles for long-term drilling contracts in Colombia.

Income taxes receivable as of December 31, 2009 primarily related to net operating losses recognized during 2009. We applied our net operating losses against taxable income that we recognized in prior years which resulted in a federal tax refund. Our income taxes receivable decreased at December 31, 2010, as we received a federal income tax refund of $40.6 million in April 2010 primarily related to the carry-back of our 2009 net operating losses.

The increase in unbilled receivables at December 31, 2008 as compared to December 31, 2007 was primarilydeferred income taxes is due to anthe movement of our deferred tax assets related to net operating losses for our Colombian operations from long-term to current. We now expect to realize the deferred tax assets in the short-term due to the increase in unbilled receivables of $4.5 million that relate to our drilling contracts in Colombia.Colombian operations through 2010.

The increase in inventory at December 31, 20082010 as compared to December 31, 20072009 was primarily due to the additionexpansion of inventory of $1.6 millionour operations in Colombia, which accounted for our new Production Services Division and an increase of $1.1$2.4 million of inventorythe increase, with the remaining increase primarily relateddue to the expansion of our third, fourth and fifth drilling rigs that began operating in Colombia in February 2008, August 2008 and November 2008, respectively.domestic wireline services operations during 2010. We maintain inventories of replacement parts and supplies for our drilling rigs operating in Colombia to ensure efficient operations in geographically remote areas. During 2010, we exported our seventh and eighth drilling rigs to Colombia and established an additional inventory level for these two additional rigs.

The increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets at December 31, 20082010 as compared to December 31, 20072009 is primarily due to $2.2 millionan increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets of our new Production Services Division. The increase also relates to additional prepaid insurance and deferred mobilization costs for the third, fourth and fifthfour drilling rigs that began operating in Colombia in 2008. In addition, prepaid expenses and other current assets increased by $0.9 million relating to funds held in a trust account that will be distributed to our former Chief Financial Officer on March 2, 2009 in accordance withnew long-term drilling contracts during the terms ofyear ended December 31, 2010. These deferred mobilization costs are being amortized over the severance agreement and $0.7 million relating to funds held in escrow that will be paid to the former owner of Competition.related contract terms.

The increase in accounts payable was primarily due to $4.6 million for our new Production Services Division and an increase of $1.5 million in accounts payable for our expanded operations in Colombia during 2008. The overall increase in accounts payable was partially offset by a decrease in drilling equipment purchases that were accrued at December 31, 20082010 as compared to December 31, 2007.

The2009 is due to the overall increase in the demand for drilling, well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services during the quarter ended December 31, 2010 as compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2009. Our operating costs increased $37.1 million, or 65%, during the fourth quarter of 2010 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2009. In addition, our capital expenditures accruals increased for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 as compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2009, accounting for $4.1 million of the increase in accounts payable. Both the increase in the demand for our services and the increase in capital expenditures led to an increase in purchases from our vendors.

The current portion of long-term debt at December 31, 20082010 relates to $1.4 million of debt payments under our subordinated notes payable and other debt that are due within the next year.

Prepaid drilling contracts represent amounts billed for mobilization revenues in excess of revenue recognized for certain drilling contracts. Mobilization billings, and costs incurred for the mobilization, are deferred and recognized over the term of the related drilling contracts. The increase in prepaid drilling contracts at December 31, 2010 as compared to December 31, 2009 is primarily due to principal paymentsan increase in deferred mobilization revenues for four of the drilling rigs in Colombia that were made afterbegan new long-term drilling contracts during the year ended December 31, 2008 to reduce the outstanding balance of our senior secured revolving credit facility and the current portion of our subordinated notes payable. The outstanding balance under our senior secured credit facility is not due until maturity on February 28, 2013. However, when cash and working capital is sufficient, we may make principal payments to reduce the outstanding debt balance prior to maturity.2010.

The increase in accrued payroll and related employee costs was due to an increase in the number of employees primarily due to workforce additions and increased accruals for higher bonuses for 2010, both of which are a result of higher demand for our new Production Services Divisiondrilling and an increase in the number of days represented in the payroll accrual at December 31, 2008 as compared to December 31, 2007. In addition, accrued payroll and related employee costs increased due to the payment obligation of $0.9 million to our former Chief Financial Officer.

The increase in accrued insurance premiums and deductibles was primarily due to increases in costs incurred for the self-insurance portion of our health and workers compensation insurance and other insurance costsproduction services during the year ended December 31, 20082010. Our employee count increased by approximately 850 people, or 50%, as of December 31, 2010, as compared to December 31, 2007.2009.

The increase in other accrued expensesAccrued interest at December 31, 2008 as compared2010 primarily relates to the outstanding debt balance for our Senior Notes, while accrued interest at December 31, 2007 is2009 primarily duerelated to $1.8the outstanding debt balance under our Revolving Credit Facility. On March 11, 2010, we issued $250 million of Senior Notes with a coupon interest rate of 9.875%. The Senior Notes were sold with an original issue discount that will result in accrued expensesan effective yield to maturity of our new Production Services Division and an increaseapproximately 10.677%. The proceeds from the issuance of $1.5 million relatingthe Senior Notes were immediately used to our expanded operations in Colombia during 2008. In addition, accrued expenses increased due tomake a payment obligation of $0.7$234.8 million to reduce the former owner of Competition, as noted inoutstanding debt balance under the prepaid and other current asset description above.Revolving Credit Facility.

Long-term Debt

Long-term debtThe Revolving Credit Facility had an interest rate of 3.74% as of December 31, 2008 consists2009 which was based on the LIBOR rate plus a per annum margin, with interest payments due monthly. The Senior Notes have a higher interest rate as compared to the Revolving Credit Facility, with interest payments due semi-annually, which resulted in an increase in accrued interest as of the following (amounts in thousands):December 31, 2010.

Senior secured credit facility

  $272,500 

Subordinated notes payable

   6,534 

Other

   379 
     
   279,413 

Less current portion

   (17,298)
     
  $262,115 
     

Long-term Debt and Other Contractual Obligations

The following table includes all our contractual obligations of the types specified below at December 31, 20082010 (amounts in thousands):

 

  Payments Due by Period  Payments Due by Period 

Contractual Obligations

  Total  Less than 1
year
  2-3 years  4-5 years  More than 5
years
  Total   Less than
1 year
   2-3 years   4-5 years   More than 5
years
 

Long-term debt

  $279,413  $17,298  $3,314  $258,801  $—    $290,858    $1,408    $39,450    $—      $250,000  

Interest on long term debt

   29,097   7,181   13,973   7,943   —  

Interest on long-term debt

   188,580     26,755     50,731     49,375     61,719  

Purchase commitments

   35,876   30,754   5,122   —     —     11,611     11,611     —       —       —    

Operating leases

   4,803   1,566   2,228   1,009   —     6,527     2,408     3,369     750     —    

Restricted cash obligation

   4,140   1,540   1,300   1,300   —     1,950     650     1,300     —       —    

Other

   100   100   —     —     —  
                                   

Total

  $353,429  $58,439  $25,937  $269,053  $—    $499,526    $42,832    $94,850    $50,125    $311,719  
                                   

Long-term debt consists of $272.5$37.8 million outstanding under our senior secured credit facility, $6.5Revolving Credit Facility, $250 million face amount outstanding under our Senior Notes, $3.0 million outstanding under subordinated notes payable to certain employees that are former shareholders of previously acquired production services businesses, and other debt of $0.4$0.1 million. The $37.8 million outstanding balance under our senior secured credit facilityRevolving Credit Facility is not due untilat maturity on February 28, 2013, but principal payments of $15.0 million made after DecemberAugust 31, 2008 are classified in the current portion of long-term debt as of December 31, 2008. We2012. However, we may make principal payments to reduce the outstanding debt balance prior to maturity when cash and working capital is sufficient. The outstanding balance under our Senior Notes has a carrying value of $240.1 million, which represents the $250 million face value net of the $9.9 million of original issue discount, net of amortization. The discount is being amortized over the term of the Senior Notes based on the effective interest method. The Senior Notes will mature on March 15, 2018. Our subordinated notes payable have final maturity dates ranging from January 2011 to April 2013.

Interest payment obligations on our senior secured credit facilityRevolving Credit Facility are estimated based on (1) the 4.77% interest ratesrate that arewas in effect on February 6, 2009,4, 2011 and (2) $15.0 million of principal payments that have been made after December 31, 2008 to reduce the outstanding principal balance and (3) the remaining principal balance of $257.5$37.8 million at December 31, 2010 to be paid at maturity in February 2013.August 2012. Interest payment obligations on our Senior Notes are calculated based on the coupon interest rate of 9.875% due semi-annually in arrears on March 15 and September 15 of each year, commencing on September 15, 2010, through maturity. Interest payment obligations on our subordinated notes payable are based on interest rates ranging from 5.44%5.4% to 14%, with either quarterly or annual payments of principal and interest and final maturity dates ranging from January 2009 to March 2013.through maturity.

Purchase obligations primarily relate to drilling rigequipment upgrades and workover rig upgrades, acquisitions orpurchases of new construction.equipment.

Operating leases consist of lease agreements with terms in excess of one year for office space, operating facilities, equipment and personal property.

As of December 31, 2008,2010, we had restricted cash in the amount of $3.3$2.0 million held in an escrow account to be used for future payments in connection with the acquisition of Competition. The former owner of Competition will receive annual installments of $0.7 million payable over a five year termthe remaining three years from the escrow account. In addition, we had restricted cash in the amount of $0.9 million in a trust account that will be distributed to our former Chief Financial Officer on March 2, 2009 in accordance with the terms of the severance agreement.

Debt Requirements

Effective June 11, 2008, we entered into a Waiver AgreementThe Revolving Credit Facility contains customary mandatory prepayments in respect of asset dispositions, debt incurrence and equity issuances, which are applied to reduce outstanding revolving and swing-line loans and

letter of credit exposure. There are no limitations on our ability to access the $225 million borrowing capacity under the Revolving Credit Facility other than maintaining compliance with the Lenders to waive the requirement to provide certain financial statements in conjunction with our compliance certificate within the time period required by the credit agreement. The Waiver Agreement required us to provide the financial statements and our compliance certificate on or before August 13, 2008. Until we provided these financial statements and our compliance certificate, the aggregate principal amount outstanding under the credit agreement could not exceed $350 million at any time (provided, however, that the commitment fee would continue to be calculated based on the total commitment of $400 million), and the per annum margin applicable to all amounts outstanding under the credit agreement would increase from the current rate of 2.25% for LIBOR rate borrowings and 1.25% for bank prime rate borrowings to 2.50% for LIBOR rate borrowings and 1.50% for bank prime rate borrowings. The required financial statements and our compliance certificate were delivered concurrently with the filing of the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2008 which occurred on August 5, 2008.

covenants. At December 31, 2008,2010, we were in compliance with the restrictiveour financial covenants. Our total consolidated leverage ratio was 2.7 to 1.0, our senior consolidated leverage ratio was 0.4 to 1.0 and our interest coverage ratio was 4.2 to 1.0.

The financial covenants contained in the credit agreement whichour Revolving Credit Facility include the following:

 

We must have aA maximum total consolidated leverage ratio no greater than 3.00that cannot exceed:

5.00 to 1.00 foras of the end of any fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2010 through June 30, 2011;

4.75 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2011;

4.50 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2011;

4.25 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2009, 2.752012; and

4.00 to 1.00 foras of the end of any fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2009 through2012 and thereafter.

A maximum senior consolidated leverage ratio, which excludes unsecured and subordinated debt, that cannot exceed:

4.50 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2010;

4.25 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2010, and 2.502011;

4.00 to 1.00 for anyas of the end of the fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2011;

3.75 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2011;

3.50 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2011;

3.25 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2012; and

3.00 to 1.00 as of the end of any fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2012 and thereafter.

A minimum interest coverage ratio that cannot be less than:

2.00 to 1.00 as of the end of any fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2010 through maturity in February 2013;December 31, 2011; and

3.00 to 1.00 as of the end of any fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2012 and thereafter.

 

If our maximumsenior consolidated leverage ratio is greater than 2.25 to 1.00 at the end of any fiscal quarter, then we must have a minimum asset coverage ratio nothat cannot be less than 1.251.00 to 1.00;1.00 for any fiscal quarter ending on or before December 31, 2011, and 1.10 to 1.00 for any fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2012 and thereafter (as provided in the Revolving Credit Facility). If our senior consolidated leverage ratio is greater than 2.25 to 1.00 and our asset coverage ratio is less than 1.00 to 1.00, then borrowings outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility will be limited to the sum of 80% of eligible accounts receivable, 80% of the orderly liquidation value of eligible equipment and 40% of the net book value of certain other fixed assets.

The Revolving Credit Facility restricts capital expenditures unless (a) after giving effect to such capital expenditure, no event of default would exist under the Revolving Credit Facility and availability under the Revolving Credit Facility would be equal to or greater than $25 million and (b) if the senior consolidated leverage ratio as of the last day of the most recent reported fiscal quarter was equal to or greater than 2.50 to 1.00, such capital expenditure would not cause the sum of all capital expenditures to exceed:

$65 million for fiscal year 2010; and

 

We must have a minimum interest coverage ratio no less than 3.00$80 million for each fiscal year thereafter.

The capital expenditure thresholds for each period noted above may be increased by:

the first $25 million of any aggregate equity issuance proceeds received during such period and 25% of any equity issuance proceeds received in excess of $25 million during such period; and

25% of any debt incurrence proceeds received during such period.

In addition, any unused portion of the capital expenditure threshold up to 1.00.$30 million can be carried over from the immediate preceding fiscal year.

At December 31, 2008,2010, our senior consolidated leverage ratio was 1.28not greater than 2.50 to 1.00 and, our interest coverage ratio was 17.15therefore, we were not subject to 1.00. the capital expenditure threshold restrictions listed above.

The credit agreementRevolving Credit Facility has additional restrictive covenants that, among other things, limit the incurrence of additional debt, to a maximum of $15 million (other than debt under the senior secured revolving credit facility), investments, liens, dividends, acquisitions, redemptions of capital stock, prepayments of indebtedness, asset dispositions, mergers and consolidations, transactions with affiliates, capital expenditures, hedging contracts, sale leasebacks and other matters customarily restricted in such agreements. In addition, the credit agreementRevolving Credit Facility contains customary events of default, including without limitation, payment defaults, breaches of representations and warranties, covenant defaults, cross-defaults to certain other material indebtedness in excess of specified amounts, certain events of bankruptcy and insolvency, judgment defaults in excess of specified amounts, failure of any guaranty or security document supporting the credit agreement and change of control. Non-compliance with restrictive covenants or other events of default

Our obligations under the credit agreement could triggerRevolving Credit Facility are secured by substantially all of our domestic assets (including equity interests in Pioneer Global Holdings, Inc. and 65% of the outstanding equity interests of any first-tier foreign subsidiaries owned by Pioneer Global Holdings, Inc., but excluding any equity interest in, and any assets of, Pioneer Services Holdings, LLC) and are guaranteed by certain of our domestic subsidiaries, including Pioneer Global Holdings, Inc.

In addition to the financial covenants under our Revolving Credit Facility, the Indenture Agreement for our Senior Notes contains certain restrictions on our ability to:

pay dividends on stock;

repurchase stock or redeem subordinated debt or make other restricted payments;

incur, assume or guarantee additional indebtedness or issue disqualified stock;

create liens on our assets;

enter into sale and leaseback transactions;

pay dividends, engage in loans, or transfer other assets from certain of our subsidiaries;

consolidate with or merge with or into, or sell all or substantially all of our properties to another person;

enter into transactions with affiliates; and

enter into new lines of business.

These covenants are subject to important exceptions and qualifications.

Upon the occurrence of a change of control, holders of the Senior Notes will have the right to require us to purchase all or a portion of the Senior Notes at a price equal to 101% of the principal amount of each Senior Note, together with any accrued and unpaid interest to the date of purchase. Under certain circumstances in connection with asset dispositions, we will be required to use the excess proceeds of asset dispositions to make an early repayment requirementoffer to purchase the Senior Notes at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount of each Senior Note, together with any accrued and terminateunpaid interest to the date of purchase.

Our Senior Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed, jointly and severally, on a senior secured revolving credit facility.unsecured basis by our existing domestic subsidiaries, except for Pioneer Services Holdings, LLC, and by certain of our future domestic subsidiaries. The subsidiaries that generally operate our non-U.S. business concentrated in Colombia do not guarantee our Senior Notes. The non-guarantor subsidiaries do not have any payment obligations under the Senior Notes, the guarantees or the Indenture. In the event of a bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization of any non-guarantor subsidiary, such non-guarantor subsidiary will pay the holders of its debt and other liabilities, including its trade creditors, before it will be able to distribute any of its assets to us. In the future, any non-U.S. subsidiaries, immaterial subsidiaries and subsidiaries that we designate as unrestricted subsidiaries under the Indenture will not guarantee the Senior Notes.

Our Senior Notes are not subject to any sinking fund requirements. As of December 31, 2010, there were no restrictions on the ability of subsidiary guarantors to transfer funds to the parent company, and we were in compliance with all covenants pertaining to our Senior Notes.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Revenue and cost recognition

Our Drilling Services Division earns revenues by drilling oil and gas wells for our customers under daywork, turnkey or footage contracts, which usually provide for the drilling of a single well. We recognize revenues on daywork contracts for the days completed based on the dayrate each contract specifies. We recognize revenues from our turnkey and footage contracts on the percentage-of-completion method based on our estimate of the number of days to complete each contract. Individual contracts are usually completed in less than 60 days. The risks to us under a turnkey contract and, to a lesser extent, under footage contracts, are substantially greater than on a contract drilled on a daywork basis. Under a turnkey contract, we assume most of the risks associated with drilling operations that are generally assumed by the operator in a daywork contract, including the risks of blowout, loss of hole, stuck drill pipe, machinery breakdowns and abnormal drilling conditions, as well as risks associated with subcontractors’ services, supplies, cost escalations and personnel operations.

Our management has determined that it is appropriate to use the percentage-of-completion method, as defined in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Statement of Position 81-1,Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 605,Revenue Recognition, to recognize revenue on our turnkey and footage contracts. Although our turnkey and footage contracts do not have express terms that provide us with rights to receive payment for the work that we perform prior to drilling wells to the agreed-on depth, we use this method because, as provided in applicable accounting literature, we believe we achieve a continuous sale for our work-in-progress and believe, under applicable state law, we ultimately could recover the fair value of our work-in-progress even in the event we were unable to drill to the agreed-on depth in breach of the applicable contract. However, in the event we were unable to drill to the agreed-on depth in breach of the contract, ultimate recovery of that value would be subject to negotiations with the customer and the possibility of litigation.

If a customer defaults on its payment obligation to us under a turnkey or footage contract, we would need to rely on applicable law to enforce our lien rights, because our turnkey and footage contracts do not expressly grant to us a security interest in the work we have completed under the contract and we have no ownership rights in the work-in-progress or completed drilling work, except any rights arising under the applicable lien statute on foreclosure. If we were unable to drill to the agreed-on depth in breach of the contract, we also would need to rely on equitable remedies outside of the contract including quantum meruit, available in applicable courts to recover the fair value of our work-in-progress under a turnkey or footage contract.

We accrue estimated contract costs on turnkey and footage contracts for each day of work completed based on our estimate of the total costs to complete the contract divided by our estimate of the number of days to complete the contract. Contract costs include labor, materials, supplies, repairs and maintenance, operating overhead allocations and allocations of depreciation and amortization expense. In addition, the occurrence of uninsured or under-insured losses or operating cost overruns on our turnkey and footage contracts could have a

material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations. Therefore, our actual results for a contract could differ significantly if our cost estimates for that contract are later revised from our original cost estimates for a contract in progress at the end of a reporting period which was not completed prior to the release of our financial statements.

With most drilling contracts, we receive payments contractually designated for the mobilization of rigs and other equipment. Payments received, and costs incurred for the mobilization services are deferred and recognized on a straight line basis over the related contract term of certain drilling contracts.term. Costs incurred to relocate rigs and other drilling equipment to areas in which a contract has not been secured are expensed as incurred. Reimbursements that we receive for out-of-pocket expenses are recorded as revenue and the out-of-pocket expenses for which they relate are recorded as operating costs.

The asset “unbilled receivables” represents revenues we have recognized in excess of amounts billed on drilling contracts and production services in progress.completed but not yet invoiced. The assetassets “prepaid expenses and other” includesother current assets” and “other long-term assets” include the current and long-term portions of deferred mobilization costs for certain drilling contracts. The liabilityliabilities “prepaid drilling contracts” representsand “other long-term liabilities” include the current and long-term portions of deferred mobilization revenues for certain drilling contracts and amounts collected on contracts in excess of revenues recognized. As of December 31, 2010 we had $6.3 million of deferred mobilization revenues, of which the current portion was $3.7 million. The related deferred mobilization costs were $5.8 million, of which the current portion was $3.3 million. Our deferred mobilization costs and revenues primarily related to long-term contracts for our Colombian operations, which are being amortized through the year ending December 31, 2012. Amortization of deferred mobilization revenues was $3.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2010.

Our Production Services Division earns revenues for well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services pursuant to master services agreements based on purchase orders, contracts or other persuasive evidence of an arrangement with the customer that include fixed or determinable prices. Production service revenue is recognized when the service has been rendered and collectibilitycollectability is reasonably assured.

Long-lived Assets and Intangible AssetsAssets—

We evaluate for potential impairment of long-lived assets and intangible assets subject to amortization when indicators of impairment are present, as defined in SFAS No. 144,ASC Topic 360,Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived AssetsProperty, Plant, and Equipment and ASC Topic 350,Intangibles—Goodwill and Other. Circumstances that could indicate a potential impairment include significant adverse changes in industry trends, economic climate, legal factors, and an adverse action or assessment by a regulator. More

specifically, significant adverse changes in industry trends include significant declines in revenue rates, utilization rates, oil and natural gas market prices and industry rig counts for drilling rigs and workoverwell service rigs. In performing the impairment evaluation, we estimate the future undiscounted net cash flows relating to long-lived assets and intangible assets grouped at the lowest level that cash flows can be identified. For our Production Services Division, our long-lived assets and intangible assets are grouped at the reporting unit level which is one level below the operating segment level. For our Drilling Services Division, we perform an impairment evaluation and estimate future undiscounted cash flows for individual drilling rig assets. If the sum of the estimated future undiscounted net cash flows is less than the carrying amount of the long-lived assets and intangible assets for these asset grouping levels, then we would recognize an impairment charge. The amount of an impairment charge would be measured as the difference between the carrying amount and the fair value of these assets. The assumptions used in the impairment evaluation for long-lived assets and intangible assets are inherently uncertain and require management judgment.

We performed an impairment analysis of our long-lived assets and intangible assets at December 31, 2008, due to significant adverse changes in the economic and business climate that resulted in decreases in estimated revenues, margins and cash flows. Essentially all our intangible assets were recorded in connection with the acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE, Competition, Pettus and Paltec when revenues, margins and cash flows were at historically high levels earlier in early 2008. We determined that the sum of the estimated future undiscounted net cash flows iswas less than the carrying amount of the long-lived assets and

intangible assets in each reporting unit at December 31, 2008. Our long-lived asset and intangible asset impairment analysis for the reporting units in our Production Services Division resulted in no impairment charge to property and equipment and a non-cash impairment charge of $52.8 million to the carrying value of our intangible assets for customers relationships for the year ended December 31, 2008. For our Drilling Services Division, we have not recorded an impairment charge on any long-lived assets for the year ended December 31, 2008. The assumptions used in the impairment evaluation for long-lived assets and intangible assets are inherently uncertain and require management judgment. This impairment charge isdid not expected to have an impact on our liquidity or debt covenants; however, it iswas a reflection of the overall downturn in our industry and decline in our projected cash flows. We did not record an impairment charge on any long-lived assets for our Production Services Division for the years ended December 31, 2010 or 2009. For our Drilling Services Division, we did not record an impairment charge on any long-lived assets for the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009 or 2008.

GoodwillGoodwill—

Goodwill results from business acquisitions and represents the excess of acquisition costs over the fair value of the net assets acquired. We account for goodwill and other intangible assets under the provisions of SFAS No. 142,Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets.ASC Topic 350. Goodwill is tested for impairment annually as of December 31 or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. Circumstances that could indicate a potential impairment include a significant adverse change in the economic or business climate, a significant adverse change in legal factors, an adverse action or assessment by a regulator, unanticipated competition, loss of key personnel and the likelihood that a reporting unit or significant portion of a reporting unit will be sold or otherwise disposed of. These circumstances could lead to our net book value exceeding our market capitalization which is another indicator of a potential impairment in goodwill. SFAS No. 142ASC Topic 350 requires a two-step process for testing impairment. First, the fair value of each reporting unit is compared to its carrying value to determine whether an indication of impairment exists. All our goodwill is related to our Production Services Division operating segment and is allocated to its three reporting units which are well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services. Second, if impairment is indicated, then the fair value of the reporting unit’sunit's goodwill is determined by allocating the unit’sunit's fair value to its assets and liabilities (including any unrecognized intangible assets) as if the reporting unit had been acquired in a business combination on the impairment test date. The amount of impairment for goodwill is measured as the excess of the carrying value of the reporting unit over its fair value. Goodwill of $118.6 million was initially recorded in connection with the acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE, Competition, Pettus and Paltec, all of which occurred between March 1, 2008 and October 1, 2008, and was allocated to the three reporting units for our Production Services Division which are well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services. We recorded a full impairment of this goodwill during the year ended December 31, 2008 as further described below.

When estimating fair values of a reporting unit for our goodwill impairment test, we use a combination of an income approach and a market approach which incorporates both management’s views and those of the market. The income approach provides an estimated fair value based on each reporting unit’s anticipated cash

flows that arewere discounted using a weighted average cost of capital rate. The market approach provides an estimated fair value based on our market capitalization that iswas computed using the prior 30-day average market price of our common stock and the number of shares outstanding as of the impairment test date. The estimated fair values computed using the income approach and the market approach arewere then equally weighted and combined into a single fair value. The primary assumptions used in the income approach arewere estimated cash flows and weighted average cost of capital. Estimated cash flows arewere primarily based on projected revenues, operating costs and capital expenditures and are discounted based on comparable industry average rates for weighted average cost of capital. We utilized discount rates based on weighted average cost of capital ranging from 15.8% to 16.7% when we estimated fair values of our reporting units as of December 31, 2008. The primary assumptions used in the market approach iswere the allocation of total market capitalization to each reporting unit, which iswas based on projected EBITDA percentages for each reporting unit, and control premiums, which arewere based on comparable industry averages. We utilized a 30% control premium when we estimated fair values of our reporting units as of December 31, 2008. To ensure the reasonableness of the estimated fair values of our reporting units, we performperformed a reconciliation of our total market capitalization to the total estimated fair value of all our reporting units. The assumptions used in estimating fair values of reporting units and performing the goodwill impairment test are inherently uncertain and requirerequired management judgment.

Our common stock price per share declined in market value from $13.30 at September 30, 2008, to $5.57 at December 31, 2008, which resulted in our net book value exceeding our market capitalization during most of this that

time period. We believeconcluded that the decline in the market price of our common stock resulted from a significant adverse change in the economic and business climate as financial markets reacted to the credit crisis facing major lending institutions and worsening conditions in the overall economy during the fourth quarter of the year ended December 31, 2008. During the same time, there were significant declines in oil and natural gas prices which leadled to declines in production service revenues, margins and cash flows. We considered the impact of these significant adverse changes in the economic and business climate as we performed our annual impairment assessment of goodwill as of December 31, 2008. The estimated fair values of our reporting units were negatively impacted by significant reductions in estimated cash flows for the income approach component and a significant reduction in our market capitalization for the market approach component of our fair value estimation process. Our goodwill was initially recorded in connection with the acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE, Competition, Pettus and Paltec, all of which occurred between March 1, 2008 and October 1, 2008, when production service revenues, margins and cash flows and our market capitalization were at historically high levels.

Our goodwill impairment analysis leadled us to conclude that there would be no remaining implied fair value attributable to our goodwill and, accordingly, we recorded a non-cash charge of $118.6 million to our operating results for the year ended December 31, 2008, for the full impairment of our goodwill. Our goodwill impairment analysis would have leadled to the same full impairment conclusion if we increased or decreased our discount rates or control premiums by 10% when estimating the fair values of our reporting units. This impairment charge isdid not expected to have an impact on our liquidity or debt covenants; however, it iswas a reflection of the overall downturn in our industry and decline in our projected cash flows.

We had no goodwill additions during the years ended December 31, 2010 or 2009, and consequently, have no goodwill reflected on our consolidated balance sheets at December 31, 2010 and 2009.

Deferred taxestaxes—

We provide deferred taxes for the basis differences in our property and equipment between financial reporting and tax reporting purposes and other costs such as compensation, foreign net operating loss carryforwards, employee benefit and other accrued liabilities which are deducted in different periods for financial reporting and tax reporting purposes. For property and equipment, basis differences arise from differences in depreciation periods and methods and the value of assets acquired in a business acquisition where we acquire an entity rather than just its assets. For financial reporting purposes, we depreciate the various components of our drilling rigs, workoverwell service rigs and wireline units over 2 to 25 years and refurbishments over 3 to 5 years, while federal income tax rules require that we depreciate drilling rigs, workoverwell service rigs and wireline units and refurbishments over 5 years. Therefore, in the first 5 years of our ownership of a drilling rig, workoverwell service rig or wireline unit, our

tax depreciation exceeds our financial reporting depreciation, resulting in our providing deferred taxes on this depreciation difference. After 5 years, financial reporting depreciation exceeds tax depreciation, and the deferred tax liability begins to reverse.

Accounting estimatesestimates—

We consider the recognition of revenues and costs on turnkey and footage contracts to be critical accounting estimates. On these types of contracts, we are required to estimate the number of days needed for us to complete the contract and our total cost to complete the contract. Our actual costs could substantially exceed our estimated costs if we encounter problems such as lost circulation, stuck drill pipe or an underground blowout on contracts still in progress subsequent to the release of the financial statements. We receive payment under turnkey and footage contracts when we deliver to our customer a well completed to the depth specified in the contract, unless the customer authorizes us to drill to a more shallow depth. Since 1995, we have completed all our turnkey or footage contracts. Although our initial cost estimates for turnkey and footage contracts do not include cost estimates for risks such as stuck drill pipe or loss of circulation, we believe that our experienced management team, our knowledge of geologic formations in our areas of operations, the condition of our drilling equipment and our experienced crews have previously enabled us to make reasonable cost estimates and complete contracts according to our drilling plan. While we do bear the risk of loss for cost overruns and other events that are not specifically provided for in our initial cost estimates, our pricing of turnkey and footage contracts takes such risks into consideration. When we encounter, during the course of our drilling operations,

conditions unforeseen in the preparation of our original cost estimate, we increase our cost estimate to complete the contract. If we anticipate a loss on a contract in progress at the end of a reporting period due to a change in our cost estimate, we accrue the entire amount of the estimated loss, including all costs that are included in our revised estimated cost to complete that contract, in our consolidated statement of operations for that reporting period. During the year ended December 31, 2008,2010, we experienced losses on six of the 81 turnkey and footage contracts completed, with a loss of less than $25,000 each$0.2 million on three of these contracts andone turnkey contract. During the year ended December 31, 2009, we did not experience a loss of less than $130,000 each on the remaining three contracts.any turnkey or footage contracts completed. We are more likely to encounter losses on turnkey and footage contracts in periods in which revenue rates are lower for all types of contracts. During periods of reduced demand for drilling rigs, our overall profitability on turnkey and footage contracts has historically exceeded our profitability on daywork contracts.

Revenues and costs during a reporting period could be affected for contracts in progress at the end of a reporting period which have not been completed before our financial statements for that period are released. We did not have anyhad one turnkey orand no footage contracts in progress at December 31, 2008.2010. The turnkey contract was completed prior to the release of the financial statements included in this report. Our unbilled receivables of $12.3totaled $21.4 million at December 31, 2008 did not include any amounts2010. Of that amount accrued, turnkey drilling contract revenues were $1.3 million. The remaining balance of unbilled receivables related to turnkey or footage contracts.$18.7 million of the revenue recognized but not yet billed on daywork drilling contracts in progress at December 31, 2010 and $1.4 million related to unbilled receivables for our Production Services Division.

We estimate an allowance for doubtful accounts based on the creditworthiness of our customers as well as general economic conditions. We evaluate the creditworthiness of our customers based on commercial credit reports, trade references, bank references, financial information, production information and any past experience we have with the customer. Consequently, any change in those factors could affect our estimate of our allowance for doubtful accounts. In some instances, we require new customers to establish escrow accounts or make prepayments. We typically invoice our customers at 15-day intervals during the performance of daywork contracts and upon completion of the daywork contract. Turnkey and footage contracts are invoiced upon completion of the contract. Our typical contract provides for payment of invoices in 10 to 30 days. We generally do not extend payment terms beyond 30 days and have not extended payment terms beyond 90 days for any of our contracts in the last three fiscal years. We had an allowance for doubtful accounts of $1.6$0.7 million at December 31, 20082010 and no allowance for doubtful accounts$0.3 million at December 31, 2007.2009.

Our determination of the useful lives of our depreciable assets, which directly affects our determination of depreciation expense and deferred taxes is also a critical accounting estimate. A decrease in the useful life of our property and equipment would increase depreciation expense and reduce deferred taxes. We provide for depreciation of our drilling, production, transportation and other equipment on a straight-line method over useful lives that we have estimated and that range from 2 to 25 years. We record the same depreciation expense whether

a drilling rig, workoverwell service rig or wireline unit is idle or working. Our estimates of the useful lives of our drilling, production, transportation and other equipment are based on our more than 35 years of experience in the oilfield services industry with similar equipment. Effective January 1, 2008, we reassessed the estimated useful lives assigned to a group of 19 drilling rigs that were recently constructed. These drilling rigs were constructed with new components that have longer estimated useful lives when compared to other drilling rigs that are equipped with older components. As a result, we increased the estimated useful lives for this group of recently constructed drilling rigs from an average useful life of 9 years to 12 years. This change in the estimated useful lives of this group of 19 drilling rigs resulted in a $3.8 million decrease in depreciation and amortization expense for the year ended December 31, 2008.

As of December 31, 2008,2010, we had foreigna $1.2 million deferred tax asset related to the $3.3 million impairment of our ARPSs which will represent a capital loss for tax treatment purposes. We can recognize a tax benefit associated with this impairment to the extent of capital gains we expect to earn in future periods. We recorded a valuation allowance to fully offset our deferred tax asset relating to this capital loss since we believe capital gains are not likely in future periods.

As of December 31, 2010, we had $27.3 million of deferred tax assets consisting ofrelated to foreign and domestic net operating lossesloss and other tax benefitsAMT credit carryforwards available to reduce future taxable income in a foreign jurisdiction.income. In assessing the realizability of our foreign deferred tax assets, we only recognize a tax benefit to the extent of taxable income that we expect to earn in the foreign jurisdiction in future periods. DueWe estimate that our operations will result in taxable income in excess of our net operating losses and we expect to recent declines in oilapply the net operating losses against the current year taxable income and natural gas prices and the downturn in our industry, we anticipate reductions in drilling rig utilization and revenue rates in 2009. Consequently,taxable income that we have a valuation allowance of $5.4 million that fully offsets our foreign deferred tax assets. The foreign net operating loss has an indefinite carryforward period. The foreign net operating loss is primarily due to the special income tax benefits permitted by the Colombian government that allows us to recover 140% of the cost of certain imported assets. We exported a 1500 horsepower drilling rig to Colombiaestimated in October 2008. To obtain this special income tax benefit, our U.S operating company sold this drilling rig in October 2008 to Stayton Asset Group, a variable interest entity established for this transaction for which we are the primary beneficiary. Stayton Asset Group immediately sold this drilling rig to our operating entity in Colombia.future periods.

Our accrued insurance premiums and deductibles as of December 31, 20082010 include accruals for costs incurred under the self-insurance portion of our health insurance of approximately $1.1$1.5 million and our workers’ compensation, general liability and auto liability insurance of approximately $9.6$6.6 million. WeAs of January 1, 2011, we have a deductible of $125,000$150,000 per covered individual per year under the health insurance.insurance, up from $125,000 during 2010. We have a deductible of $500,000 per occurrence under our workers’ compensation insurance, except in North Dakota, where we do not have a deductible.insurance. We have deductibles of $250,000 and $100,000 per occurrence under our general liability insurance and auto liability insurance, respectively. We accrue for these costs as claims are incurred based on historical claim development data, and we accrue the costs of administrative services associated with claims processing. We also evaluate our workers’ compensation claim cost estimates based on estimates provided by a professional actuary.

Our stock-based compensation expense includes estimates for certain of our long-term incentive compensation plans which have performance-based award components dependent upon our performance over a set performance period, as compared to the performance of a pre-defined peer group. The accruals for these awards include estimates which affect our stock-based compensation expense, employee related accruals and equity. As of December 31, 2010, we estimated that our actual achievement level will be 80% of the predetermined performance conditions. The final amount will be determinable in the first quarter of 2011.

Results of Operations

Effective March 1, 2008, we acquired the production services businesses of WEDGE and Competition which provide well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services. These acquisitions resulted in the formation of our new operating segment, the Production Services Division. We consolidated the results of these acquisitions from the day they were acquired. These acquisitions affect the comparability from period to period of our historical results, and our historical results may not be indicative of our future results.

Statements of Operations Analysis—Year Ended December 31, 20082010 Compared with the Year Ended December 31, 20072009

The following table provides information about our operations for the years ended December 31, 20082010 and December 31, 2007.2009 (amounts in thousands, except average number of drilling rigs, utilization rate and revenue day information).

 

  Years ended
December 31,
 
  2008 2007   Years ended
December 31,
 
  (amounts in thousands)   2010 2009 

Drilling Services Division:

      

Revenues

  $456,890  $417,231   $312,196   $219,751  

Operating costs

   269,846   250,564    227,136    147,343  
              

Drilling Services Division margin

  $187,044  $166,667   $85,060   $72,408  
              

Average number of drilling rigs

   67.4   66.1    71.0    70.7  

Utilization rate

   89%  89%   59  41

Revenue days

   22,057   21,492    15,182    10,491  

Average revenues per day

  $20,714  $19,413   $20,564   $20,947  

Average operating costs per day

   12,234   11,658    14,961    14,045  
              

Drilling Services Division margin per day

  $8,480  $7,755   $5,603   $6,902  
              

Production Services Division:

      

Revenues

  $153,994  $—     $175,014   $105,786  

Operating costs

   80,097   —      105,295    68,012  
              

Production Services Division margin

  $73,897  $—     $69,719   $37,774  
              

Combined:

      

Revenues

  $610,884  $417,231   $487,210   $325,537  

Operating costs

   349,943   250,564    332,431    215,355  
              

Combined margin

  $260,941  $166,667   $154,779   $110,182  
              

EBITDA

  $214,766  $144,583 

Adjusted EBITDA

  $103,151   $74,942  
              

We present Drilling Services Division margin, Production Services Division margin, combined margin and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and impairments (EBITDA)(Adjusted EBITDA) information because we believe it provides investors and our management additional information to assist them in assessing our business and performance in comparison to other companies in our industry. Since Drilling Services Division margin, Production Services Division margin, combined margin and Adjusted EBITDA are “non-GAAP” financial measuremeasures under the rules and regulations of the SEC, we are providing the following reconciliation of combined margin and Adjusted EBITDA to net (loss) earnings,loss, which is the nearest comparable GAAP financial measure.

   Year ended
December 31,
 
   2008  2007 
   (amounts in thousands) 

Reconciliation of combined margin and
EBITDA to net (loss) earnings:

   

Combined margin

   260,941   166,667 

Selling, general and administrative

   (44,834)  (19,608)

Bad debt expense

   (423)  (2,612)

Other income (expense)

   (918)  136 
         

EBITDA

   214,766   144,583 

Depreciation and amortization

   (88,145)  (63,588)

Impairment of goodwill

   (118,646)  —   

Impairment of intangible assets

   (52,847)  —   

Interest income (expense), net

   (11,816)  3,266 

Income tax expense

   (6,057)  (27,398)
         

Net (loss) earnings

  $(62,745) $56,863 
         

   Year ended
December 31,
 
   2010  2009 
   (amounts in thousands) 

Reconciliation of combined margin and

   

Adjusted EBITDA to net loss:

   

Combined margin

  $154,779   $110,182  

General and administrative

   (52,047  (37,478

Bad debt recovery (expense)

   (493  1,642  

Other income

   912    596  
         

Adjusted EBITDA

   103,151    74,942  

Depreciation and amortization

   (120,811  (106,186

Interest income (expense), net

   (26,567  (8,928

Impairment of investments

   (3,331  —    

Income tax benefit

   14,297    16,957  
         

Net loss

  $(33,261 $(23,215
         

Our Drilling Services Division’s revenues increased by $39.7$92.4 million, or 10%42%, for the year ended December 31, 2008,2010, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2007, due to an increase in average contract drilling revenues of $1,301 per day, or 7%, that resulted from an increased demand for drilling rigs and higher revenues per day earned by our Colombian operations that expanded significantly during 2008. The increase in Drilling Services Divisions revenues is also2009, due to a 3%45% increase in revenue days that resulted from an increase in our rig utilization rate to 59% from 41%. We have experienced an increase in the demand for drilling services in 2010 as our industry begins to recover from the downturn that bottomed in late 2009. Consequently, utilization rates and drilling revenue rates have improved in 2010 as compared to 2009. However, when compared to 2009, our Drilling Services Division’s average revenues decreased by $383 per day, or 2%. During 2009, a slightlysignificant portion of our drilling rigs were still operating or were on standby under long-term drilling contracts that were entered into when drilling rig demand was high and drilling revenues per day were at historically high levels. The positive impact of the higher revenue rates for these long-term contracts had a diminishing affect on our average revenues per day as the contracts expired ratably during 2009. In addition, a larger percentage of our Drilling Services Division’s revenues were attributed to turnkey drilling contracts in 2009 when compared to 2010, and turnkey drilling contracts result in higher average numberrevenues per day than daywork drilling contracts. The overall decreases in our average drilling revenues per day during 2010 as compared to 2009 was partially offset by an increase in our Colombian operations during 2010, as drilling contracts in Colombia have higher revenue rates per day when compared to domestic drilling contracts.

Demand for drilling rigs influences the types of drilling rigs.contracts we are able to obtain. As demand for drilling rigs decreases, daywork rates move down and we may switch to performing more turnkey drilling contracts to maintain higher utilization rates and improve our Drilling Services Division’s margins. Turnkey drilling contracts also result in higher average revenues per day and higher average operating costs per day when compared to daywork drilling contracts. We completed 11 turnkey drilling contracts during 2010, as compared to 14 turnkey drilling contracts completed during 2009. The shift to fewer turnkey drilling contracts is due to the increase in the demand for drilling services in 2010. The following table provides percentages of our drilling revenues by drilling contract type for the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009:

   Years ended
December 31,
 
   2010  2009 

Daywork Contracts

   95  90

Turnkey Contracts

   5  10

Footage Contracts

   —      —    

Our Drilling Services Division’s operating costs grew by $19.3increased $79.8 million, or 8%54%, for the year ended December 31, 2008,2010, as compared to the corresponding period in 2009, primarily due to the increase in utilization and the increase in our operating costs of $916 per day, or 7%. The increase in operating costs per day is due to higher average drilling costs per day for our domestic operations, as well as the increase in our Colombian operations during 2010 as compared to the corresponding period in 2009, where we have a higher operating cost per day as compared to our domestic operations. We have seen an increase in the demand for our services during 2010 as our industry begins to recover from the downturn that bottomed in late 2009. As utilization rates began to increase in 2010, average operating costs per day increased due to higher wage rates and repair and maintenance expenses as drilling rigs come out of storage and begin operations. In addition, average operating costs per day in 2009 were lower due to a significant portion of our drilling rigs earning standby revenue rates under longer-term drilling contracts and incurring reduced operating costs. The overall increase in operating costs per day in 2010 was partially offset by a decrease in operating costs per day due to a smaller proportion of our drilling services attributable to turnkey contracts during the year ended December 31, 2007, due to an increase in average contract drilling operating costs of $576 per day, or 5%, that resulted primarily from higher operating costs per day for our Colombian operations which has higher labor and fuel costs when2010 as compared to drilling operationsthe corresponding period in the United States. This increase in our Drilling Services Division’s operating costs is also due to a 3% increase in revenue days that resulted from a slightly higher average number of drilling rigs.2009.

Our Production Services Division’s revenues increased by $69.2 million, or 65%, while operating costs increased by $37.3 million, or 55%, for the year ended December 31, 2010, as compared to the corresponding period in 2009. Our Production Services Division experienced increases in its revenue of $154.0 million and operating costscost due to higher demand for our wireline services, well services and fishing and rental services during 2010 as compared to 2009. The increase in our Production Services Division’s revenues is due primarily to higher utilization rates, especially in the wireline and well services operations, and to a lesser extent, higher revenue rates charged for these services during 2010, as compared to the corresponding period in 2009. We have also expanded our operations in 2010 by adding 21 wireline units resulting in an increase in both revenues and operating costs.

Our general and administrative expense increased by approximately $14.6 million, or 39%, for the year ended December 31, 2010 as compared to the corresponding period in 2009. The increase is primarily due to increases in compensation related expenses. With the industry downturn during 2009, we experienced a decrease in the demand for our services and we responded with workforce reductions, elimination of $80.1wage rate increases and reduced bonus compensation. During 2010, we have seen an increase in the demand for our services as our industry begins to recover from the industry downturn in 2009. Compensation related expenses increased during 2010 as we have added employees in our corporate office and have accrued for higher bonuses for 2010.

Bad debt recovery decreased for the year ended December 31, 2010 as compared to the corresponding period in 2009, primarily due to the collection of a customer’s past due account receivable balance in 2009 for which we had previously established a $1.3 million allowance for doubtful accounts in December 2008.

Our other income increased by $0.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 are2010 as compared to the corresponding period in 2009, primarily due to the increase in foreign currency translation gains in excess of losses recognized in relation to our operations in Colombia.

Our depreciation and amortization expenses increased by $14.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2010, as compared to the corresponding period in 2009. This increase resulted primarily from capital expenditures made to upgrade certain drilling rigs to meet the needs of our customers and obtain new contracts as well as capital expenditures for the acquisition of new wireline units.

Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2010 primarily related to the outstanding debt balance for our Senior Notes, while interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2009 primarily related to the outstanding debt balance under our Revolving Credit Facility. On March 11, 2010, we issued $250 million of Senior Notes with a coupon interest rate of 9.875%. The Senior Notes were sold with an original issue discount that will result in an effective yield to maturity of approximately 10.677%. The proceeds from the issuance of the Senior Notes were immediately used to make a payment of $234.8 million to reduce the outstanding debt balance under the Revolving Credit Facility. The Revolving Credit Facility had a relatively low interest rate of 3.74% as of December 31, 2009, which was based on the operating resultsLIBOR rate plus a per annum margin. The Senior Notes have a higher interest rate when compared to the Revolving Credit Facility, which resulted in the increase in interest expense during 2010. In addition, interest expense increased in 2010 as compared to 2009 due to an increase in total outstanding debt which was $280.9 million as of December 31, 2010 as compared to $262.1 million as of December 31, 2009.

Our effective income tax rate for this new operating segment whichthe year ended December 31, 2010 differs from the federal statutory rate in the United States of 35% primarily due to a lower effective tax rate in foreign jurisdictions, state income taxes, valuation allowances and other permanent differences.

Statements of Operations Analysis—Year Ended December 31, 2009 Compared with the Year Ended December 31, 2008

The following table provides information about our operations for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008 (amounts in thousands, except average number of drilling rigs, utilization rate and revenue day information). Our Production Services Division was created on March 1, 2008, when we acquired the production services businesses offrom WEDGE and Competition.

Our selling, general and administrative expense for the year ended December 31, 2008 increased by approximately $25.2 million, or 129%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2007. The increase resulted from $4.4 million in additional compensation-related expenses incurred for existing and new employees in our corporate office which includes $0.9 million paid to our former Chief Financial Officer pursuant to a severance agreement. Professional and consulting expenses increased $5.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2008 which includes approximately $3.1 million due to an investigation conducted by the special subcommittee of our Board of Directors. In addition, we incurred $15.1 million and $0.7 million of additional selling, general and administrative expenses relating to our Production Service Division and our Colombian operations, respectively.

Our bad debt expense decreased by $2.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2007, primarily due to a write-off of a trade receivable during the year ended December 31, 2007 for a former customer in bankruptcy.

Our other income for the year ended December 31, 2008 decreased by $1.0 million as compared to the year ended December 31, 2007, primarily due to foreign currency translation losses relating to our operations in Colombia.

Our depreciation and amortization expenses increased by $24.6 million, or 39%, for the year ended December 31, 2008, as compared to December 31, 2007. The increase resulted primarily from additional depreciation and amortization expense of $21.8 million for our Production Services Division acquisitions, which includes an increase in amortization expense of intangible assets of $8.3 million. The increase is also due to the increases in the average size of our drilling rig fleet, which consisted of newly constructed rigs. Partially offsetting the increase in depreciation and amortization expense was a decrease of $3.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, resulting from the change in the estimated useful lives of a group of 19 drilling rigs from an average useful life of 9 years to 12 years.

We recorded goodwill of $118.6 million in our Production Services Division operating segment in connection with the acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE, Competition, Pettus and Paltec, all of which occurred during the year ended December 31, 2008. On December 31, 2008, we performed an impairment analysis that lead us to conclude that there would be no remaining implied value attributable to our goodwill, and, accordingly, we recorded a non-cash charge of $118.6 million for the full impairment of our goodwill. In addition, we performed an intangible asset impairment analysis on December 31, 2008, which resulted in a reduction to our intangible asset carrying value of customers’ relationships and a non-cash impairment charge of $52.8 million. These impairment charges are not expected to have an impact on our liquidity or debt covenants; however, they are a reflection of the overall downturn in our industry and decline in our projected cash flows.

Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2008 is primarily related to interest due on the amounts outstanding under our senior secured revolving credit facility which was primarily used to fund the acquisitions of the production services businesses of WEDGE and Competition on March 1, 2008.

Our income tax expense is $6.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, as compared to an expected income tax benefit of $19.8 million, which is based on the federal statutory rate of 35%, primarily due to the permanent differences between GAAP requirements and United States income tax regulations. Certain types of goodwill are not amortizable for income tax purposes. A significant portion of the goodwill impairment charge recorded for GAAP purposes during the year ended December 31, 2008, is not deductible for income tax purposes in the current year or in future years. Therefore, our results of operations reflect a pretax loss for GAAP purposes, but our results of operations will reflect pretax income for tax purposes. The increase in income tax expense was partially offset by tax benefits in foreign jurisdictions and other permanent differences.

Statements of Operations Analysis—Nine Months Ended December 31, 2007 Compared with the Nine Months Ended December 31, 2006

The following table provides information about our operations for the nine months ended December 31, 2007 and December 31, 2006.

   Nine Months Ended
December 31,
 
   2007  2006 
   (In thousands) 

Contract drilling revenues:

   

Daywork contracts

  $292,617  $302,272 

Turnkey contracts

   4,979   —   

Footage contracts

   16,288   10,559 
         

Total contract drilling revenues

  $313,884  $312,831 
         

Contract drilling costs:

   

Daywork contracts

  $175,299  $152,625 

Turnkey contracts

   3,168   —   

Footage contracts

   12,907   7,538 
         

Total contract drilling costs

  $191,374  $160,163 
         

Drilling margin:

   

Daywork contracts

  $117,318  $149,647 

Turnkey contracts

   1,811   —   

Footage contracts

   3,381   3,021 
         

Total drilling margin

  $122,510  $152,668 
         

Revenue days by type of contract:

   

Daywork contracts

   15,203   15,084 

Turnkey contracts

   118   —   

Footage contracts

   968   643 
         

Total revenue days

   16,289   15,727 
         

EBITDA

  $104,241  $139,548 
         

Contract drilling revenue per revenue day

  $19,270  $19,891 

Contract drilling costs per revenue day

  $11,749  $10,184 

Drilling margin per revenue day

  $7,521  $9,707 

Rig utilization rates

   89%  97%

Average number of rigs during the period

   66.7   59.6 
   Years ended
December 31,
 
   2009  2008 

Drilling Services Division:

   

Revenues

  $219,751   $456,890  

Operating costs

   147,343    269,846  
         

Drilling Services Division margin

  $72,408   $187,044  
         

Average number of drilling rigs

   70.7    67.4  

Utilization rate

   41  89

Revenue days

   10,491    22,057  

Average revenues per day

  $20,947   $20,714  

Average operating costs per day

   14,045    12,234  
         

Drilling Services Division margin per day

  $6,902   $8,480  
         

Production Services Division:

   

Revenues

  $105,786   $153,994  

Operating costs

   68,012    80,097  
         

Production Services Division margin

  $37,774   $73,897  
         

Combined:

   

Revenues

  $325,537   $610,884  

Operating costs

   215,355    349,943  
         

Combined margin

  $110,182   $260,941  
         

Adjusted EBITDA

  $74,942   $214,766  
         

We present drilling margin and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)(Adjusted EBITDA) information because we believe it provides investors and our management additional information to assist them in assessing our business and performance in comparison to other companies in our industry. Since drilling margin and Adjusted EBITDA are “non-GAAP” financial measuremeasures under the rules and regulations of the SEC, we are providing the following reconciliation of drilling margin and Adjusted EBITDA to net earnings, which is the nearest comparable GAAP financial measure.

 

   Nine Months Ended
December 31,
 
   2007  2006 
   (In thousands) 

Reconciliation of drilling margin and

   

EBITDA to net earnings:

   

Drilling margin

  $122,510  $152,668 

General and administrative expense

   (15,786)  (12,370)

Bad debt expense

   (2,612)  (800)

Other income

   129   50 
         

EBITDA

   104,241   139,548 
         

Income tax expense

   (18,129)  (37,341)

Interest income (expense), net

   2,385   2,874 

Depreciation and amortization

   (48,852)  (38,120)
         

Net earnings

  $39,645  $66,961 
         
   Years ended
December 31,
 
   2009  2008 
   (amounts in thousands) 

Reconciliation of combined margin and

   

Adjusted EBITDA to net loss:

   

Combined margin

  $110,182   $260,941  

General and administrative

   (37,478  (44,834

Bad debt recovery (expense)

   1,642    (423

Other income (expense)

   596    (918
         

Adjusted EBITDA

   74,942    214,766  

Depreciation and amortization

   (106,186  (88,145

Impairment of goodwill

   —      (118,646

Impairment of intangible assets

   —      (52,847

Interest expense, net

   (8,928  (11,816

Income tax expense

   16,957    (6,057
         

Net loss

  $(23,215 $(62,745
         

Our contract drillingDrilling Services Division’s revenues grewdecreased by $1.1$237.1 million, or .3%52%, for the nine monthsyear ended December 31, 2007 from the nine months ended December 31, 2006, due2009 as compared to a 4% increase in revenue days due to an increase in the number of rigs in our fleet. The overall increase was partially offset by a decrease in contract drilling revenues of $621 per day, or 3%, resulting from a reduced demand for drilling rigs.

Our contract drilling costs grew by $31.2 million, or 19.5%, during the nine months ended December 31, 2007 from the corresponding period in 2006, primarily2008, due to the increasea 52% decrease in the number of revenue days resultingthat resulted from the increase in the number of rigsa decline in our fleet. Ourrig utilization rate from 89% to 41%. In contrast to the decrease in our Drilling Services Division’s revenues, our average contract drilling costsrevenues per revenue day increased by $1,565,$233, or 15%, during1%. This increase in average drilling revenues per day is attributable to higher average drilling revenues per day for our Colombian operations which represented a larger portion of our drilling revenues for 2009 as compared to 2008. Our average drilling revenues per day for our domestic operations decreased by 8% for the nine monthsyear ended December 31, 2007 from2009, since the demand for drilling rigs decreased during 2009 as compared to 2008. The decrease in our average drilling revenues per day for our domestic operations is less than expected because a significant portion of our domestic drilling rigs were operating or were on standby under longer-term drilling contracts that were entered into when drilling rig demand was high and revenues per day were at historically high levels.

Demand for drilling rigs influences the types of drilling contracts we are able to obtain. As demand for drilling rigs decreases, daywork rates move down and we may switch to performing more turnkey drilling contracts to maintain higher utilization rates and improve our Drilling Services Division’s margins. We completed 14 turnkey drilling contracts during the year ended December 31, 2009 as compared to ten turnkey drilling contracts completed during the year ended December 31, 2008. The following table provides percentages of our drilling revenues by drilling contract type for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008:

   Years ended
December 31,
 
   2009  2008 

Daywork Contracts

   90  93

Turnkey Contracts

   10  2

Footage Contracts

   —      5

Our Drilling Services Division’s operating costs declined by $122.5 million, or 45%, for the year ended December 31, 2009 as compared to the corresponding period in 2006,2008, primarily due to a 52% decrease in revenue days that resulted from a decline in our rig utilization rate from 89% to 41%. In contrast to the decrease in our Drilling Services Division’s operating costs, our average operating costs per day increased by $1,811, or 15%, primarily due to higher payroll and higher repairs and maintenance expenses. Contractaverage drilling costs alsoper day for our Colombian operations which represented a larger portion of our drilling costs for 2009 as compared to 2008. In addition, average operating costs per day increased due to a shift to more turnkey contracts and footagefixed overhead costs associated with division offices, supervisory level employees, insurance and property taxes. Since we had a significant decrease in revenue days, as a percentage of totalthese fixed overhead costs result in an increase in average operating costs per revenue days. Turnkey and footage revenue days represented 7% of total revenue days duringday.

For the nine monthsyear ended December 31, 2007,2009, our Production Services Division’s revenue decreased by $48.2 million, or 31%, while operating costs decreased by $12.1 million, or 15%, as compared to 4%the corresponding period in 2008. Our Production Services Division experienced decreases in its revenue and operating cost due to lower demand for well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services during the nine monthsyear ended December 31, 2006. Under turnkey and footage contracts, we provide supplies and materials such2009, as fuel, drill bits, casing and drilling fluids, which significantly add to drilling costs when compared to daywork contracts. Thesethe corresponding period in 2008. This decrease in revenues and operating costs that was due to lower demand was partially offset by the timing impact of the WEDGE and Competition acquisitions on March 1, 2008 which created our Production Services Division. A full year of Production Services Division operations are also includedreflected in the revenues we recognizeoperating results for turnkey and footage contracts, resulting in higher revenue rates per day for turnkey and footage contractsthe year ended December 31, 2009, as compared to daywork contracts which do not include such costs.ten months of operating results for the corresponding period in 2008.

Our general and administrative expense for the nine monthsyear ended December 31, 2007 increased2009 decreased by $3.4approximately $7.4 million, or 28%16%, as compared to the corresponding period in 2006. The increase resulted from $1.1 million in additional compensation-related expenses for salaries, bonuses, relocation benefits and stock options incurred for existing and new employees in our corporate office.2008. Professional and consulting expenses increased $1.1decreased by $5.2 million duringand compensation related expenses decreased by $2.8 million for the nine monthsyear ended December 31, 2007. In addition, we2009, as compared to the corresponding period in 2008. We incurred $.3 millionprofessional and consulting expenses in 2008 related to an investigation conducted by the special committee of additionalour Board of Directors and for the acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE and Competition. The decrease in compensation related expenses is primarily due to decreases in bonus compensation and salary compensation related to workforce reductions in 2009 as compared to 2008. The overall decrease in general and administrative expense was partially offset by increases in insurance expenses and general and administrative expenses duringrelating to our Production Services Division. As noted above, a full year of Production Services Division operations are reflected in the nine monthsresults of operations for the year ended December 31, 20072009, as compared to ten months of operating results for the year ended December 31, 2008.

The bad debt recovery during the year ended December 31, 2009 was primarily due to the collection of a customer’s past due account receivable balance for which we had previously established a $1.3 million allowance for doubtful accounts in December 2008.

Our other income for the year ended December 31, 2009 increased by $1.5 million as compared to the corresponding period in 2008, primarily due to foreign currency translation gains and losses relating to our operations in Colombia. We recorded foreign currency translation losses of $0.1 million for the commencementyear ended December 31, 2009, and foreign currency translation losses of our Colombian operations.$1.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2008.

Our depreciation and amortization expenses for the nine monthsyear ended December 31, 20072009 increased by $10.7$18.0 million, or 28%20%, compared to the corresponding period in 2006. These increase in 2007 over 2006 resulted primarily from an increase in the average size of our rig fleet, which increases consisted entirely of newly

constructed rigs. The higher costs of our new rigs increased our average depreciation costs per revenue day by $575 to $2,999 from $2,424 during the nine months ended December 31, 2007, compared to the corresponding period in 2006.

Interest income for the nine months ended December 31, 2007 decreased by $.5 million, or 16%, compared to the corresponding period in 2006 due to lower average cash and cash equivalents balances during the nine months ended December 31, 2007 as compared to the corresponding period in 2006. Average cash2008. This increase resulted primarily from the increase in the fleet size of our drilling rigs, well service rigs and cash equivalents balanceswireline units. The 2009 additions to each fleet consisted primarily of newly constructed equipment. The increase also related to additional depreciation and amortization expense for our new Production Services Division. As noted above, a full year of Production Services Division operations are reflected in the results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2009, as compared to ten months of operating results for the year ended December 31, 2008.

Our interest expense is primarily related to interest due on the amounts outstanding under our senior secured revolving credit facility. Our interest expense decreased $3.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2009, as compared to the corresponding period in 2008. This decrease is due to reductions in the amounts outstanding under our senior secured revolving credit facility and due to decreases in the LIBOR and bank prime base rates used to determine our effective borrowing rate per our senior secured revolving credit facility. Borrowings under the senior secured revolving credit facility were $74.2 millionfirst used to fund the acquisitions of the production services businesses of WEDGE and $85.8 million duringCompetition on March 1, 2008. Operating results for the nineyear ended December 31, 2009 reflect a full year of interest expense as compared to ten months of interest expense for the year ended 2007 and 2006, respectively.December 31, 2008.

Our effective income tax rates of 31.4% and 35.8%rate for the nine monthsyear ended December 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively, differ2009 differs from the federal statutory rate in the United States of 35% primarily due to tax benefitspretax income recognized in foreign jurisdictions with a lower effective tax benefits recognized for a previously unrecognized tax position, permanent differences andrate, the release of valuation allowance relating to foreign net operating loss carryforwards, state income taxes.

Our contract land drilling operations are subject to various federaltaxes and state laws and regulations designed to protect the environment. Maintaining compliance with these regulations is part of our day-to-day operating procedures. We monitor each of our yard facilities and each of our rig locations on a day-to-day basis for potential environmental spill risks. In addition, we maintain a spill prevention control and countermeasures plan for each yard facility and each rig location. The costs of these procedures represent only a small portion of our routine employee training, equipment maintenance and job site maintenance costs. We estimate the annual compliance costs for this program to be approximately $.4 million. We are not aware of any potential environmental clean-up obligations that would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.other permanent differences.

Inflation

DueWage rates for our operations personnel are impacted by inflationary pressures when the demand for drilling and production services increases and the availability of personnel is scarce. From early 2005 to late 2008, the increased rig count in each of our market areas over the past several years, availability of personnel to operate our rigs is limited. In April 2005, January 2006, May 2006 and September 2008, we raisedresulted in increased wage rates for our drilling rig personnel by an average of 6%, 6%, 14% and 6%, respectively.personnel. We were able to pass these wage rate increases on to our customers based on contract terms. In FebruaryBeginning in late 2008 and through late 2009, as the rig count in our market areas decreased, we reduced wage rates for drilling rig personnel. With the recent increase in rig counts, beginning in late 2009, we again saw a decreased availability of personnel to offset theoperate our rigs and therefore we had additional wage rate increases from September 2008. We do not expect wage rate increases duringfor drilling rig personnel of approximately 18% and 16% in February and July 2010, respectively.

During the fiscal year endingyears ended December 31, 2009.

We are experiencing2007 and 2008, we experienced increases in costs for rig repairs and maintenance and costs of rig upgrades and new rig construction, due to the increased industry-wide demand for equipment, supplies and service. We estimate these costs increased by 10% to 15% during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2007 and 2008. We dodid not expectexperience similar cost increases during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2009.2009; however, we have experienced an increase of approximately 5% during 2010.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not currently have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Multiple Deliverable Revenue Arrangements.In September 2006,October 2009, the FASB issued SFASAccounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 157,2009-13, Revenue Recognition (Topic 605):Fair Value MeasurementsMultiple Deliverable Revenue Arrangements – A. SFAS No. 157 defines fair value,Consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force.This update provides application guidance on whether multiple deliverables exist, how the deliverables should be separated and how the consideration should be allocated to one or more units of accounting. This update establishes a frameworkselling price hierarchy for measuring fair value and expands disclosuredetermining the selling price of fair value measurements. SFAS No. 157 applies under other accounting pronouncements that requirea deliverable. The selling price used for each deliverable will be based on vendor-specific objective evidence, if available, third-party evidence if vendor-specific objective evidence is not available, or permit fair value measurements and, accordingly, does not require any new fair value measurements. SFAS No. 157, as issued, was effective for financial statement issued for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007, and interim periods within those fiscal years. However, on February 12, 2008, the FASB issued FSP FAS No. 157-2,Effective Dates of FASB Statement No. 157,which delays the effective date of SFAS No. 157 for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2008 for all nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities, except those that are recognizedestimated selling price if neither vendor-specific or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 159,The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities—Including an amendment of FASB Statement No. 115. This statement permits entities to choose to measure many financial instruments and certain other items at fair value that are not currentlythird-party evidence is available. We will be required to be measured at fair value and establishes presentation and disclosure requirements designed to facilitate comparisons between entities that choose different measurement attributesapply this guidance prospectively for similar types of assets and liabilities. SFAS No. 159revenue arrangements entered into or materially modified after January 1, 2011; however, earlier application is effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007. The adoption of SFAS No. 159 did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 160,Noncontrolling interests in Consolidated Financial Statements—an Amendment of ARB No. 51. This statement establishes accounting and reporting standards for the non-controlling interest in a subsidiary and for the deconsolidation of a subsidiary. SFAS No. 160 clarifies that a non-controlling interest in a subsidiary, which is sometimes referred to as minority interest, is an ownership interest in the consolidated entity that should be reported as a component of equity in the consolidated financial statements. Among other requirements, SFAS No. 160 requires consolidated net income to be reported at amounts that include the amounts attributable to both the parent and the non-controlling interest. It also requires disclosure, on the face of the consolidated income statement, of the amounts of consolidated net income attributable to the parent and to the non-controlling interest. SFAS No.160 is effective for fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2008.permitted. We do not expect the adoption of this new guidance to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

Business Combinations.In December 2007,2010, the FASB issued SFASAccounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 141R (revised 2007) which replaces SFAS No. 141,2010-29, Business Combinations (Topic 805):Disclosure of Supplementary Pro Forma Information for

Business Combinations(“SFAS No. 141R”)A consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force. SFAS No. 141R appliesThis update provides clarification requiring public companies that have completed material acquisitions to all transactionsdisclose the revenue and other events in which one entity obtains control over one or more other businesses. SFAS No. 141R requires an acquirer, upon initially obtaining controlearnings of another entity,the combined business as if the acquisition took place at the beginning of the comparable prior annual reporting period, and also expands the supplemental pro forma disclosures to recognizeinclude a description of the assets, liabilitiesnature and any non-controlling interestamount of material, nonrecurring pro forma adjustments directly attributable to the business combination included in the acquiree at fair value as of the acquisition date. Contingent consideration isreported pro forma revenue and earnings. We will be required to be recognized and measured at fair value on the date of acquisition rather than at a later date when the amount of that consideration may be determinable beyond a reasonable doubt. This fair value approach replaces the cost-allocation process required under SFAS No. 141 whereby the cost of an acquisition was allocated to the individual assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair value. SFAS No. 141R requires acquirers to expense acquisition-related costs as incurred rather than allocating such costs to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, as was previously the case under SFAS No. 141. Under SFAS No.141R, the requirements of SFAS No. 146,Accounting for Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities, would have to be met in order to accrue for a restructuring plan in purchase accounting. Pre-acquisition contingencies are to be recognized at fair value, unless it is a non-contractual contingency that is not likely to materialize, in which case, nothing should be recognized in purchase accounting and, instead, that contingency would be subject to the recognition criteria of SFAS No. 5,Accounting for Contingencies. SFAS No.141R is expected to have a significant impact on our accountingapply this guidance prospectively for business combinations closingfor which the acquisition date is on or after January 1, 2009.

In March 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 161, Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities—an amendment of FASB Statement No. 133(“SFAS No. 161”). SFAS No. 161 changes the disclosure requirements for derivative instruments and hedging activities. Entities are required to provide enhanced disclosures about (a) how and why an entity uses derivative instruments, (b) how derivative instruments and related hedged items are accounted for under Statement 133 and its related interpretations, and (c) how derivative instruments and related hedged items affect an entity’s financial position, financial performance, and cash flows. The guidance in SFAS No. 161 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after November 15, 2008, with early application encouraged. This Statement encourages, but does not require, comparative disclosures for earlier periods at initial adoption. We do not have any derivative instruments and expect the adoption of SFAS No. 161 to have no impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In April 2008, the FASB issued FSP SFAS 142-3,Determination of the Useful Life of Intangible Assets. This guidance is intended to improve the consistency between the useful life of a recognized intangible asset under SFAS 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, and the period of expected cash flows used to measure the fair value of the asset under SFAS 141R when the underlying arrangement includes renewal or extension of

terms that would require substantial costs or result in a material modification to the asset upon renewal or extension. Companies estimating the useful life of a recognized intangible asset must now consider their historical experience in renewing or extending similar arrangements or, in the absence of historical experience, must consider assumptions that market participants would use about renewal or extension as adjusted for SFAS No. 142’s entity-specific factors. FSP 142-3 is effective for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2009.2011. We do not expect the adoption to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In May 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 162,The Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“SFAS No. 162”). SFAS No. 162 identifies the sources of accounting principles and the framework for selecting the principles used in the preparation of financial statements that are presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. SFAS No. 162 is effective 60 days following approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s amendmentsthis new guidance to AU Section 411,The Meaning of Present Fairly in Conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The adoption of SFAS No. 162 did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In June 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. EITF 03-6-1,Determining Whether Instruments GrantedRecently Enacted Regulation

The Colombian government enacted a tax reform act which, among other things, adopted a one-time, net-worth tax for all Colombian entities. The tax is assessed on an entity’s net equity, measured on a Colombian tax basis as of January 1, 2011, and is payable in Share-Based Payment Transactions are Participating Securities. This FSP provides that unvested share-based payment awards that contain nonforfeitable rights to dividends are participating securities and shall be included in the computation of earnings per share pursuant to the two class method. This FSP is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008 and interim periods within those years. We do not expect the adoption of this FSP to have a material impacteight semi-annual installments from 2011 through 2014. Based on our financial position or resultsColombian operations’ net equity, as defined, we estimate that our total net-worth tax obligation is approximately $7.3 million, which is not deductible for tax purposes. In January 2011, the actual net-worth tax obligation will be recognized in full in other expense in our consolidated statement of operations.operations and in other accrued expenses and other long-term liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet.

Item 7A.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Item 7A.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Interest Rate Risk

We are subject to interest rate market risk on our variable rate debt. As of December 31, 2008,2010, we had $272.5$37.8 million outstanding under our senior secured revolving credit facilityRevolving Credit Facility subject to variable interest rate risk. The impact of a 1% increase in interest rates on this amount of debt would resulthave resulted in increased interest expense of approximately $2.7$0.4 million and a decrease in net income of approximately $1.8$0.2 million during an annual period.2010.

At December 31, 2008,2010, we held $15.9 million (par value) of investments comprised of tax exempt, auction rate preferred securities (“ARPSs”)(ARPS), which arewere variable-rate preferred securities and havehad a long-term maturity with the interest rate being reset through “Dutch auctions” that arewere held every 7seven days. The ARPSs havehad historically traded at par because of the frequent interest rate resets and because they arewere callable at par at the option of the issuer. Interest iswas paid at the end of each auction period. Our ARPSs arewere AAA/Aaa rated securities, collateralized by municipal bonds and backed by assets that arewere equal to or greater than 200% of the liquidation preference. Until February 2008, the auction rate securities market was highly liquid. Beginning mid-February 2008, we experienced several “failed” auctions, meaning that there was not enough demand to sell all of the securities that holders desired to sell at auction. The immediate effect of a failed auction is that such holders cannotcould not sell the securities at auction and the interest rate on the security resetsreset to a maximum auction rate. We have continued to receive interest payments on our ARPSs in accordance with their terms. Unless

On January 19, 2011, we entered into an agreement with a future auction is successful orfinancial institution to sell the issuer calls the security pursuant to redemption prior to maturity, we may not be able to access the funds we invested in our ARPSs without a loss of principal. We have no reason to believe that anyfor $12.6 million, which represents 79% of the underlying municipal securitiespar value, plus accrued interest. Under the agreement, we retained the unilateral right for a period ending January 7, 2013 to: (a) repurchase all the ARPSs that collateralize our ARPSs are presentlywere sold at risk of default. We believe we will ultimately be able to liquidate our investments without material loss primarily duethe $12.6 million price at which they were initially sold to the collateral securingfinancial institution; and (b) if not repurchased, receive additional proceeds from the ARPSs. We do not currently intend to attempt to sell ourfinancial institution upon redemption of the ARPSs at a discount since our liquidity needs are expected to be met with cash flows from operating activities and our senior secured revolving credit facility. Our ARPSs are designated as available-for-sale and are reported at fair market value withby the related unrealized gains or losses, included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), netoriginal issuer of tax, a component of shareholders’ equity. The estimated fair value of our ARPSs at December 31, 2008 was $13.9 million compared with a par value of $15.9 million. The $2.0 million difference represents a fair value discount due to the current lack ofthese securities.

liquidity which is considered temporary and is recorded as an unrealized loss. We would recognize an impairment charge if the fair value of our investments falls below the cost basis and is judged to be other-than-temporary. Our ARPSs are classified with other long-term assets on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2008 because of our inability to determine the recovery period of our investments.

Foreign Currency Risk

While the U.S. dollar is the functional currency for reporting purposes for our Colombian operations, we enter into transactions denominated in Colombian pesos. Nonmonetary assets and liabilities are translated at historical rates and monetary assets and liabilities are translated at exchange rates in effect at the end of the period. Income statement accounts are translated at average rates for the period. As a result, Colombian Peso denominated transactions are affected by changes in exchange rates. We generally accept the exposure to exchange rate movements without using derivative financial instruments to manage this risk. Therefore, both positive and negative movements in the Colombian Peso currency exchange rate against the U.S. dollar has and will continue to affect the reported amount of revenues, expenses, profit, and assets and liabilities in the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

The impact of currency rate changes on our Colombian Peso denominated transactions and balances resulted in foreign currency lossesgains of $1.4$0.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2008.2010.

Item 8.8.Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

   Page

Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

  5662

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 20082010 and December 31, 20072009

  5864

Consolidated Statements of Operations for the YearYears Ended December 31, 2008, the Nine Months Ended December  31, 20072010, 2009 and the Year Ended March 31, 2007.2008

  5965

Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity and Comprehensive Income for the YearYears Ended December 31, 2008, the Nine Months Ended December 31, 20072010, 2009 and the Year Ended March 31, 2007.2008

  6066

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the YearYears Ended December 31, 2008, the Nine Months Ended December  31, 20072010, 2009 and the Year Ended March 31, 2007.2008

  6167

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

  6268

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To theThe Board of Directors and Shareholders

Pioneer Drilling Company:

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Pioneer Drilling Company and subsidiaries as of December 31, 20082010 and 2007,2009, and the related consolidated statements of operations, shareholders’ equity and comprehensive income, and cash flows for each of the yearyears in the three-year period ended December 31, 2008, the nine months ended December 31, 2007 and the year ended March 31, 2007.2010. These consolidated financial statements and financial statement schedule are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Pioneer Drilling Company and subsidiaries as of December 31, 20082010 and 2007,2009, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the yearyears in the three-year period ended December 31, 2008, the nine months ended December 31, 2007 and the year ended March 31, 2007,2010, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the effectiveness of Pioneer Drilling Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008,2010, based on criteria established inInternal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), and our report dated February 25, 200917, 2011 expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

/s/ KPMG LLP

San Antonio, Texas

February 25, 200917, 2011

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The Board of Directors and StockholdersShareholders

Pioneer Drilling Company:

We have audited Pioneer Drilling Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008,2010, based on criteria established inInternal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Pioneer Drilling 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 Report on Internal Control Overover Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). 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, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

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.

In our opinion, Pioneer Drilling Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008,2010, based on criteria established inInternal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

Pioneer Drilling Company acquired the production services businesses of WEDGE Group Incorporated, Prairie Investors d/b/a Competition Wireline, Paltec, Inc. and Pettus Well Service (acquired companies) during 2008, and management excluded from its assessment of the effectiveness of Pioneer Drilling Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008, the acquired companies’ internal control over financial reporting associated with total assets of $232.1 million and total revenues of $154.0 million included in the consolidated financial statement amounts of Pioneer Drilling Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2008. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting of Pioneer Drilling Company also excluded an evaluation of the internal control over financial reporting of the acquired companies.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated balance sheets of Pioneer Drilling Company and subsidiaries as of December 31, 20082010 and 2007,2009, and the related consolidated statements of operations, shareholders’ equity and comprehensive income, and cash flows for each of the yearyears in the three-year period ended December 31, 2008, the nine months ended December 31, 2007 and the year ended March 31, 2007,2010, and our report dated February 25, 200917, 2011 expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.

/s/ KPMG LLP

San Antonio, Texas

February 25, 200917, 2011

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

 

    December 31,  
2008
    December 31,  
2007
  December  31,
2010
  December  31,
2009
 
    
  (In thousands, except share data)  (In thousands, except share data) 

ASSETS

     

Current assets:

      

Cash and cash equivalents

  $26,821  $76,703  $22,011   $40,379  

Receivables, net of allowance for doubtful accounts

   87,161   47,370

Short-term investments

   12,569    —    

Receivables:

   

Trade, net of allowance for doubtful accounts

   61,345    26,648  

Unbilled receivables

   12,262   7,861   21,423    8,586  

Insurance recoveries

   4,035    5,107  

Income taxes

   2,712    41,126  

Deferred income taxes

   6,270   3,670   9,867    5,560  

Inventory

   3,874   1,180   9,023    5,535  

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

   8,902   5,073   8,797    6,199  
             

Total current assets

   145,290   141,857   151,782    139,140  
             

Property and equipment, at cost

   858,491   578,697   1,097,179    967,893  

Less accumulated depreciation and amortization

   230,929   161,675

Less accumulated depreciation

   441,671    330,871  
             

Net property and equipment

   627,562   417,022   655,508    637,022  

Deferred income taxes

   —     573

Intangible assets, net of amortization

   29,913   57   21,966    25,393  

Noncurrent deferred income taxes

   —      2,339  

Long-term investments

   —      13,228  

Other long-term assets

   21,714   703   12,087    7,833  
             

Total assets

  $824,479  $560,212  $841,343   $824,955  
      
       

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

      

Current liabilities:

      

Accounts payable

  $21,830  $21,424  $26,929   $15,324  

Current portion of long-term debt

   17,298   —     1,408    4,041  

Prepaid drilling contracts

   1,171   1,933   3,669    408  

Accrued expenses:

      

Payroll and related employee costs

   13,592   5,172   18,057    7,740  

Insurance premiums and deductibles

   17,520   9,548   8,774    8,615  

Insurance claims and settlements

   4,035    5,042  

Interest

   7,307    271  

Other

   9,507   3,973   5,461    7,363  
             

Total current liabilities

   80,918   42,050   75,640    48,804  

Long-term debt, less current portion

   262,115   —     279,530    258,073  

Other long-term liabilities

   6,413   254   9,680    6,457  

Deferred income taxes

   60,915   46,836   80,160    90,173  
             

Total liabilities

   410,361   89,140   445,010    403,507  
             

Commitments and contingencies

   

Commitments and contingencies (Note 11)

   

Shareholders’ equity:

      

Preferred stock, 10,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding

   —     —     —      —    

Common stock $.10 par value; 100,000,000 shares authorized; 49,997,578 shares and 49,650,978 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively

   5,000   4,965

Common stock $.10 par value; 100,000,000 shares authorized; 54,228,170 shares and 54,120,852 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, respectively

   5,425    5,413  

Additional paid-in capital

   301,923   294,922   339,105    332,534  

Treasury stock, at cost; 25,380 and 5,174 shares at December 31, 2010 and

   

December 31, 2009, respectively

   (161  (31

Accumulated earnings

   108,440   171,185   51,964    85,225  

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

   (1,245)  —     —      (1,693
             

Total shareholders’ equity

   414,118   471,072   396,333    421,448  
             

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity

  $824,479  $560,212  $841,343   $824,955  
             

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

 

  Years ended December 31, 
  Year Ended
December 31, 2008
 Nine Months
Ended
December 31, 2007
 Year Ended
March 31, 2007
   2010 2009 2008 
  (In thousands, except per share data)   (In thousands, except per share data) 

Revenues:

        

Drilling services

  $456,890  $313,884  $416,178   $312,196   $219,751   $456,890  

Production services

   153,994   —     —      175,014    105,786    153,994  
                    

Total revenue

   610,884   313,884   416,178    487,210    325,537    610,884  
                    

Costs and expenses:

        

Drilling services

   269,846   191,374   219,353    227,136    147,343    269,846  

Production services

   80,097   —     —      105,295    68,012    80,097  

Depreciation and amortization

   88,145   48,852   52,856    120,811    106,186    88,145  

Selling, general and administrative

   44,834   15,786   16,193 

Bad debt expense

   423   2,612   800 

General and administrative

   52,047    37,478    44,834  

Bad debt (recovery) expense

   493    (1,642  423  

Impairment of goodwill

   118,646   —     —      —      —      118,646  

Impairment of intangible assets

   52,847   —     —      —      —      52,847  
                    

Total operating costs and expenses

   654,838   258,624   289,202 

Total costs and expenses

   505,782    357,377    654,838  
                    

(Loss) income from operations

   (43,954)  55,260   126,976 

Loss from operations

   (18,572  (31,840  (43,954
                    

Other (expense) income:

    

Other income (expense):

    

Interest expense

   (13,072)  (16)  (73)   (26,659  (9,145  (13,072

Interest income

   1,256   2,401   3,828    92    217    1,256  

Impairment of investments

   (3,331  —      —    

Other

   (918)  129   58    912    596    (918
                    

Total other (expense) income

   (12,734)  2,514   3,813 

Total other expense

   (28,986  (8,332  (12,734
                    

(Loss) income before income taxes

   (56,688)  57,774   130,789 

Income tax expense

   (6,057)  (18,129)  (46,609)

Loss before income taxes

   (47,558  (40,172  (56,688

Income tax benefit (expense)

   14,297    16,957    (6,057
                    

Net (loss) earnings

  $(62,745) $39,645  $84,180 

Net loss

  $(33,261 $(23,215 $(62,745
                    

(Loss) earnings per common share—Basic

  $(1.26) $0.80  $1.70 

Loss per common share—Basic

  $(0.62 $(0.46 $(1.26
                    

(Loss) earnings per common share—Diluted

  $(1.26) $0.79  $1.68 

Loss per common share—Diluted

  $(0.62 $(0.46 $(1.26
                    

Weighted average number of shares outstanding—Basic

   49,789   49,645   49,603    53,797    50,313    49,789  
                    

Weighted average number of shares outstanding—Diluted

   49,789   50,201   50,132    53,797    50,313    49,789  
                    

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

 

  Shares
Common
 Amount
Common
 Additional
Paid In
Capital
  Accumulated
Earnings
  Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Loss
  Total
Shareholders’
Equity
 
  (In thousands) 

Balance as of March 31, 2006

 49,592 $4,959 $288,356  $47,361  $—    $340,676 

Comprehensive income:

      

Net earnings

 —    —    —     84,179   —     84,179 
         

Total comprehensive income

 —    —    —     —     —     84,179 
         

Issuance of common stock for:

      

Exercise of options and related income tax benefits of $24

 37  4  190   —     —     194 

Stock-based compensation expense

 —    —    3,061   —     —     3,061 
                     

Balance as of March 31, 2007

 49,629  4,963  291,607   131,540   —     428,110 

Comprehensive income:

      

Net earnings

 —    —    —     39,645   —     39,645 
         

Total comprehensive income

 —    —    —     —     —     39,645 
         

Issuance of common stock for:

      

Exercise of options and related income tax benefits of $54

 22  2  158   —     —     160 

Stock-based compensation expense

 —    —    3,157   —     —     3,157 
                     

Balance as of December 31, 2007

 49,651 $4,965 $294,922  $171,185  $—    $471,072 

Comprehensive loss:

      

Net loss

 —    —    —     (62,745)  —     (62,745)

Unrealized loss on securities

 —    —    —     —     (1,245)  (1,245)
         

Total comprehensive loss

       (63,990)
         

Exercise of options and related income tax benefits of $244

 170  17  1,011   —     —     1,028 

Issuance of restricted stock

 177  18  (34)  —     —     (16)

Stock-based compensation expense

 —    —    6,024   —     —     6,024 
                     

Balance as of December 31, 2008

 49,998 $5,000 $301,923  $108,440  $(1,245) $414,118 
                     
  Shares  Amount  Additional
Paid In
Capital
  Accumulated
Earnings
  Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Loss
  Total
Shareholders’
Equity
 
 Common  Treasury  Common  Treasury     
  (In thousands) 

Balance as of December 31, 2007

  49,651    —     $4,965   $—     $294,922   $171,185   $—     $471,072  

Comprehensive loss:

        

Net loss

  —      —      —      —      —      (62,745  —      (62,745

Unrealized loss on securities

  —      —      —      —      —      —      (1,245  (1,245
           

Total comprehensive loss

         (63,990
           

Exercise of options and related income tax effect of $244

  170    —      17    —      1,011    —      —      1,028  

Issuance of restricted stock

  177    —      18    —      (34  —      —      (16

Stock-based compensation expense

  —      —      —      —      6,024    —      —      6,024  
                                

Balance as of December 31, 2008

  49,998    —     $5,000   $—     $301,923   $108,440   $(1,245 $414,118  

Comprehensive loss:

        

Net loss

  —      —      —      —      —      (23,215  —      (23,215

Unrealized loss on securities

  —      —      —      —      —      —      (448  (448
           

Total comprehensive loss

         (23,663
           

Sale of common stock, net of offering costs

  3,820    —      382    —      23,661    —      —      24,043  

Purchase of treasury stock

  —      (5  —      (31  —      —      —      (31

Income tax effect of restricted stock vesting

  —      —      —      —      (235  —      —      (235

Issuance of restricted stock

  308    —      31    —      (31  —      —      —    

Stock-based compensation expense

  —      —      —      —      7,216    —      —      7,216  
                                

Balance as of December 31, 2009

  54,126    (5 $5,413   $(31 $332,534   $85,225   $(1,693 $421,448  

Comprehensive loss:

        

Net loss

  —      —      —      —      —      (33,261  —      (33,261

Impact of impairment of investments charge

  —      —      —      —      —      —      1,693    1,693  
           

Total comprehensive loss

         (31,568
           

Exercise of options and related income tax effect of $16

  63    —      6    —      248    —      —      254  

Purchase of treasury stock

  —      (20  —      (130  —      —      —      (130

Income tax effect of restricted stock vesting

      (120    (120

Income tax effect of stock option forfeitures and expirations

  —      —      —      —      (226  —      —      (226

Issuance of restricted stock

  64    —      6    —      (6  —      —      —    

Stock-based compensation expense

  —      —      —      —      6,675    —      —      6,675  
                                

Balance as of December 31, 2010

  54,253    (25 $5,425   $(161 $339,105   $51,964   $—     $396,333  
                                

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

 

  Years ended December 31, 
  Year Ended
December 31, 2008
 Nine Months
Ended
December 31, 2007
 Year Ended
March 31, 2007
   2010 2009 2008 
  (In thousands)   (In thousands) 

Cash flows from operating activities:

        

Net (loss) earnings

  $(62,745) $39,645  $84,180 

Adjustments to reconcile net (loss) earnings to net cash provided by operating activities:

    

Net loss

  $(33,261 $(23,215 $(62,745

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:

    

Depreciation and amortization

   88,145   48,852   52,856    120,811    106,186    88,145  

Allowance for doubtful accounts

   1,591   2,612   800    521    (1,170  1,591  

(Gain) loss on dispositions of property and equipment

   (805)  2,809   5,760    (1,629  56    (805

Stock-based compensation expense

   4,597   3,157   3,061    6,675    7,216    4,597  

Amortization of debt issuance costs and discount

   2,609    1,547    553  

Impairment of investments

   3,331    —      —    

Impairment of goodwill and intangibles assets

   171,493   —     —      —      —      171,493  

Deferred income taxes

   (2,310)  5,947   10,653    (13,224  28,400    (2,066

Change in other assets

   265   (519)  20 

Change in other long-term assets

   (1,373  69    (288

Change in non-current liabilities

   (621)  (92)  (41)   3,223    (1,312  (621

Changes in current assets and liabilities:

        

Receivables

   (24,867)  9,692   (23,170)   (9,576  18,180    (24,867

Inventory

   (927)  (1,180)  —      (3,487  (1,661  (927

Prepaid expenses & other current assets

   (2,390)  (1,420)  (1,445)   (2,598  2,703    (2,390

Accounts payable

   (2,610)  919   (137)   7,458    (2,243  (2,610

Income tax payable

   409   —     (6,843)   —      —      409  

Prepaid drilling contracts

   (762)  1,933   (140)   3,261    (763  (762

Accrued expenses

   17,928   3,100   5,976    15,610    (10,680  17,928  
                    

Net cash provided by operating activities

   186,391   115,455   131,530    98,351    123,313    186,635  
                    

Cash flows from investing activities:

        

Acquisition of production services business of WEDGE

   (313,621)  —     —      —      —      (313,621

Acquisition of production services business of Competition

   (26,772)  —     —      —      —      (26,772

Acquisition of other production services businesses

   (9,301)  —     —      (1,340  —      (9,301

Purchases of property and equipment

   (147,455)  (126,158)  (144,507)   (131,003  (114,712  (147,455

Purchase of auction rate securities, net

   (15,900)  —     —      —      —      (15,900

Proceeds from sale of property and equipment

   4,008   2,300   6,547    2,331    767    4,008  

Proceeds from insurance recoveries

   3,426   —     —      531    36    3,426  
                    

Net cash used in investing activities

   (505,615)  (123,858)  (137,960)   (129,481  (113,909  (505,615
                    

Cash flows from financing activities:

        

Payments of debt

   (87,767)  —     —   

Debt repayments

   (256,856  (17,298  (87,767

Proceeds from issuance of debt

   359,400   —     —      274,375    —      359,400  

Debt issuance costs

   (3,319)  —     —      (4,865  (2,560  (3,319

Proceeds from exercise of options

   784   107   174    238    —      784  

Excess tax benefit of stock option exercises

   244   54   27 

Proceeds from common stock, net of offering costs of $454

   —      24,043    —    

Purchase of treasury stock

   (130  (31  —    
                    

Net cash provided by financing activities

   269,342   161   201    12,762    4,154    269,098  
                    

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents

   (49,882)  (8,242)  (6,229)

Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents

   (18,368  13,558    (49,882

Beginning cash and cash equivalents

   76,703   84,945   91,174    40,379    26,821    76,703  
                    

Ending cash and cash equivalents

  $26,821  $76,703  $84,945   $22,011   $40,379   $26,821  
                    

Supplementary disclosure:

        

Interest paid

  $12,468  $15  $104   $17,529   $7,917   $12,468  

Income tax paid

  $11,166  $9,473  $46,258 

Income tax (refunded) paid

  $(39,778 $(8,889 $11,767  

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

1.

Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Business and Principles of Consolidation

Pioneer Drilling Company and subsidiaries provide drilling and production services to our customers in select oil and natural gas exploration and production regions in the United States and Colombia. Our Drilling Services Division provides contract land drilling services with its fleet of 7071 drilling rigs in the following locations:

 

Drilling Division Locations

  Rig Count

South Texas

  1719

East Texas

  2213

West Texas

3

North Dakota

9

North Texas

  93

Utah

  6

North Dakota

3
  6

Oklahoma

  56

Appalachia

7

Colombia

  58

As of February 23, 2009, 364, 2011, 48 drilling rigs are operating 29under drilling contracts. We have 17 drilling rigs that are idle and fivesix drilling rigs located in our Oklahoma drilling division have been placed in storage or “cold stacked” in our Oklahoma drilling division location due to low demand for drilling rigs in thisthat region. We are actively marketing all our idle drilling rigs. During the second quarter of 2009, we established our Appalachia drilling division location and now have seven drilling rigs andoperating in the Marcellus Shale. In early 2011, we are earning revenue on twoestablished our West Texas drilling division location with three drilling rigs that were previously included in our East Texas drilling division location. One of these rigs has begun drilling in the Permian Basin and we expect the remaining two rigs to begin operations in late February 2011. In addition to our drilling rigs, we provide the drilling crews and most of the ancillary equipment needed to operate our drilling rigs. We obtain our contracts for drilling oil and natural gas wells either through early termination fees on theircompetitive bidding or through direct negotiations with customers. Our drilling contracts withgenerally provide for compensation on either a daywork, turnkey or footage basis. Contract terms expiring in March 2009generally depend on the complexity and May 2009. We are constructing a 1500 horsepowerrisk of operations, the on-site drilling rig that we expectconditions, the type of equipment used, and the anticipated duration of the work to be completed and available for operation in the in our North Dakota drilling division under a contract with a three year term beginning March 2009.performed.

Our Production Services Division provides a broad range of well services to oilexploration and gas drilling and producingproduction companies, including workoverwell services, wireline services, and fishing and rental services. Our production services operations are managed regionally and arethrough locations concentrated in the major United States onshore oil and gas producing regions in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and Rocky Mountain and Appalachian states. WeAs of February 4, 2011, we have a premium fleet of 74 workover75 well service rigs consisting of sixty-nineseventy 550 horseposewerhorsepower rigs, four 600 horsepower rigs and one 400 horsepower rig. As of February 23, 2009, 62 workoverAll our well service rigs are currently operating and 12 workover rigsor are idlebeing actively marketed, with no crews assigned.January 2011 utilization of approximately 88%. We currently provide wireline services with a fleet of 5986 wireline units and rental services with approximately $15$13.5 million of fishing and rental tools. We plan to add another five well service rigs and 12 wireline units to our production services fleet by mid-2011.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Pioneer Drilling Company and our wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. In December 2007, our Board of Directors approved a change in our fiscal year end from March 31st to December 31st. The fiscal year end change was effective December 31, 2007 and resulted in a nine month reporting period from April 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007. We implemented the fiscal year end change to align our United States reporting period with the required Colombian statutory reporting period as well as the reporting periods of peer companies in the industry.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. In preparing the accompanying consolidated financial statements, we make various estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts of assets

and liabilities we report as of the dates of the balance sheets and income and expenses we report for the periods shown in the income statements and statements of cash flows. Our actual results could differ significantly from those estimates. Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant changes in the near term relate to our recognition of revenues and costs for turnkey contracts, our estimate of the allowance for doubtful accounts, our estimate of the self-insurance portion of our health and workers’ compensation insurance, our estimate of asset impairments, our estimate of deferred taxes, our estimate of compensation related accruals and our determination of depreciation and amortization expense.

In preparing the accompanying consolidated financial statements, we have reviewed events that have occurred after December 31, 2010, through the filing of this Form 10-K, for inclusion as necessary.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Multiple Deliverable Revenue Arrangements.In October 2009, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2009-13, Revenue Recognition (Topic 605):Multiple Deliverable Revenue ArrangementsA Consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force.This update provides application guidance on whether multiple deliverables exist, how the deliverables should be separated and how the consideration should be allocated to one or more units of accounting. This update establishes a selling price hierarchy for determining the selling price of a deliverable. The selling price used for each deliverable will be based on vendor-specific objective evidence, if available, third-party evidence if vendor-specific objective evidence is not available, or estimated selling price if neither vendor-specific or third-party evidence is available. We will be required to apply this guidance prospectively for revenue arrangements entered into or materially modified after January 1, 2011; however, earlier application is permitted. We do not expect the adoption of this new guidance to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

Business Combinations. In December 2010, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2010-29, Business Combinations (Topic 805):Disclosure of Supplementary Pro Forma Information for Business CombinationsA consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force. This update provides clarification requiring public companies that have completed material acquisitions to disclose the revenue and earnings of the combined business as if the acquisition took place at the beginning of the comparable prior annual reporting period, and also expands the supplemental pro forma disclosures to include a description of the nature and amount of material, nonrecurring pro forma adjustments directly attributable to the business combination included in the reported pro forma revenue and earnings. We will be required to apply this guidance prospectively for business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after January 1, 2011. We do not expect the adoption of this new guidance to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

Drilling Contracts

Our drilling contracts generally provide for compensation on either a daywork, turnkey or footage basis. Contract terms generally depend on the complexity and risk of operations, the on-site drilling conditions, the type of equipment used, and the anticipated duration of the work to be performed. Generally, our contracts provide for the drilling of a single well and typically permit the customer to terminate on short notice. However, we have entered into more longer-term drilling contracts during periods of high rig demand. In addition, we have entered into longer-term drilling contracts for our newly constructed rigs. As of February 6, 2009,Currently, we had 27have 32 contracts with terms of six months to three years in duration,duration. Of these 32 contracts, if not renewed at the end of which 18their terms, 14 will expire by August 6, 2009,15, 2011, 11 will expire by February 15, 2012, one will expire by August 15, 2012 and six have a remaining term of six to 12 months, one has a remaining term of 12 to 18 months and two have a remaining term in excess of 18 months. We have one additional drilling rig under contract that we expect will begin operating in late February 2011 with a six month term.

Foreign Currencies

Our functional currency for our foreign subsidiary in Colombia is the U.S. dollar. Nonmonetary assets and liabilities are translated at historical rates and monetary assets and liabilities are translated at exchange rates in

effect at the end of the period. Income statement accounts are translated at average rates for the period. Gains and losses from remeasurement of foreign currency financial statements into U.S. dollars and from foreign currency transactions are included in other income or expense.

Revenue and Cost Recognition

Drilling Services—We earn revenues by drilling oil and natural gas wells for our customers under daywork, turnkey or footage contracts, which usually provide for the drilling of a single well. We recognize revenues on daywork contracts for the days completed based on the dayrate each contract specifies. We recognize revenues from our turnkey and footage contracts on the percentage-of-completion method based on our estimate of the number of days to complete each contract. With most drilling contracts, we receive payments contractually designated for the mobilization of rigs and other equipment. Payments received, and costs incurred for the mobilization services are deferred and recognized on a straight line basis over the related contract term of certain drilling contracts.term. Costs incurred to relocate rigs and other drilling equipment to areas in which a contract has not been secured are expensed as incurred. Reimbursements that we receive for out-of-pocket expenses are recorded as revenue and the out-of-pocket expenses for which they relate are recorded as operating costs.

Our management has determined that it is appropriate to use the percentage-of-completion method, as defined in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Statement of Position 81-1,Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 605,Revenue Recognition, to recognize revenue on our turnkey and footage contracts. Although our turnkey and footage contracts do not have express terms that provide us with rights to receive payment for the work that we perform prior to drilling wells to the agreed-on depth, we use this method because, as provided in applicable accounting literature, we believe we achieve a continuous sale for our work-in-progress and we believe, under applicable state law, we ultimately could recover the fair value of our work-in-progress even in the event we were unable to drill to the agreed-on depth in breach of the applicable contract. However, in the event we were unable to drill to the agreed-on depth in breach of the contract, ultimate recovery of that value would be subject to negotiations with the customer and the possibility of litigation.

If a customer defaults on its payment obligation to us under a turnkey or footage contract, we would need to rely on applicable law to enforce our lien rights, because our turnkey and footage contracts do not expressly grant to us a security interest in the work we have completed under the contract and we have no ownership rights in the work-in-progress or completed drilling work, except any rights arising under the applicable lien statute on foreclosure. If we were unable to drill to the agreed-on depth in breach of the contract, we also would need to rely on equitable remedies outside of the contract includingquantum meruit, available in applicable courts to recover the fair value of our work-in-progress under a turnkey or footage contract.

We accrue estimated contract costs on turnkey and footage contracts for each day of work completed based on our estimate of the total costs to complete the contract divided by our estimate of the number of days to

complete the contract. Contract costs include labor, materials, supplies, repairs and maintenance, operating overhead allocations and allocations of depreciation and amortization expense. We charge general and administrative expenses to expense as we incur them. Changes in job performance, job conditions and estimated profitability on uncompleted contracts may result in revisions to costs and income. When we encounter, during the course of our drilling operations, conditions unforeseen in the preparation of our original cost estimate, we immediately increase our cost estimate for the additional costs to complete the contract. If we anticipate a loss on a contract in progress at the end of a reporting period due to a change in our cost estimate, we immediately accrue the entire amount of the estimated loss including all costs that are included in our revised estimated cost to complete that contract in our consolidated statement of operations for that reporting period. We had noone turnkey orand no footage contracts in progress as of December 31, 2008.2010.

Production Services—ServicesWe earn revenues for well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services based on purchase orders, contracts or other persuasive evidence of an arrangement with the customer, such as master service agreements, that include fixed or determinable prices. These production services revenues are recognized when the services have been rendered and collectibilitycollectability is reasonably assured.

The asset “unbilled receivables” represents revenues we have recognized in excess of amounts billed on drilling contracts and for production services in progress.completed but not yet invoiced. The assetassets “prepaid expenses and other current assets” includesand “other long-term assets” include the current and long-term portions of deferred mobilization costs for certain drilling contracts. The liabilityliabilities “prepaid drilling contracts” representsand “other long-term liabilities” include the current and long-term portions of deferred mobilization revenues for certain drilling contracts and amounts collected on contracts in excess of revenues recognizedrecognized. As of December 31, 2010 we had $6.3 million of deferred mobilization revenues, of which the current portion was $3.7 million. The related deferred mobilization costs were $5.8 million, of which the current portion was $3.3 million. Our deferred mobilization costs and revenues primarily related to long-term contracts for our Colombian operations, which are being amortized through the year ending December 31, 2012. Amortization of deferred mobilization revenues was $3.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2010.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

For purposes of the statements of cash flows, we consider all highly liquid debt instruments purchased with a maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents consist of investments in corporate and government money market accounts. Cash equivalents at December 31, 20082010 and 20072009 were $26.8$5.7 million and $76.7$9.9 million, respectively.

Restricted Cash

As of December 31, 2008,2010, we had restricted cash in the amount of $3.3$2.0 million held in an escrow account to be used for future payments in connection with the acquisition of Prairie Investors d/b/a Competition Wireline (“Competition”). The former owner of Competition will receive annual installments of $0.7 million payable over a five year termthe remaining three years from the escrow account. Restricted cash of $0.7 million and $2.6$1.3 million is recorded in other current assets and other-long termother long-term assets, respectively. The associated obligation of $0.7 million and $2.6$1.3 million is recorded in other accrued expenses and other long-term liabilities, respectively.

On August 28, 2008, we deposited $0.9 million into a trust account in accordance with the terms of the severance agreement in connection with the resignation of our former Chief Financial Officer. The trust account balance of $0.9 million plus net earnings will be distributed to our former Chief Financial Officer on March 2, 2009. As of December 31, 2008, this trust account had a balance of $0.9 million and is recorded in other current assets with the associated obligation recorded in accrued expenses.

Trade Accounts Receivable

We record trade accounts receivable at the amount we invoice our customers. These accounts do not bear interest. The allowance for doubtful accounts is our best estimate of the amount of probable credit losses in our accounts receivable as of the balance sheet date. We determine the allowance based on the credit worthiness of our customers and general economic conditions. Consequently, an adverse change in those factors could affect our estimate of our allowance for doubtful accounts. We determine the allowance based on the credit worthiness of our customers and general economic conditions. Consequently, an adverse change in those factors could affect our estimate of our allowance for doubtful accounts. We review our allowance for doubtful accounts on a

monthly basis. Balances more than 90 days past due are reviewed individually for collectibility.collectability. We charge off account balances against the allowance after we have exhausted all reasonable means of collection and determined that the potential for recovery is remote. We do not have any off-balance sheet credit exposure related to our customers.

The changes in our allowance for doubtful accounts consist of the following (amounts in thousands):

 

  Years ended December 31, 
  Year Ended
December 31, 2008
 Nine
Months Ended
December 31, 2007
 Year Ended
March 31, 2007
  2010 2009 2008 

Balance at beginning of year

  $—    $1,000  $200  $286   $1,574   $—    

Increase in allowance charged to expense

   1,591   2,612   800

Increase (decrease) in allowance charged to expense

   521    (1,170  1,591  

Accounts charged against the allowance, net of recoveries

   (17)  (3,612)  —     (95  (118  (17
                   

Balance at end of year

  $1,574  $—    $1,000  $712   $286   $1,574  
                   

Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets

Prepaid expenses and other current assets include items such as insurance, rent deposits and fees, and restricted cash. We routinely expense these items in the normal course of business over the periods these expenses benefit. Prepaid expenses and other current assets also include deferred mobilization costs for certain drilling contracts that are recognized on a straight line basis over the contract term.

Investments

Other long-term assets includeAs of December 31, 2010, short-term investments inrepresented tax exempt, auction rate preferred securities (“ARPS”). Our that were classified as available for sale. The ARPSs are classified with other long-term assetswere liquidated subsequent to year end on our consolidated balance sheet asJanuary 19, 2011. As of December 31, 2009 and 2008, the ARPSs were classified as long-term investments because of our inability to determine the recovery period of our investments.these available for sale investments at those times.

At December 31, 2008,2010, we held $15.9 million (par value) of ARPSs, which arewere variable-rate preferred securities and havehad a long-term maturity with the interest rate being reset through “Dutch auctions” that arewere held every 7seven days. The ARPSs havehad historically traded at par because of the frequent interest rate resets and because they arewere callable at par at the option of the issuer. Interest iswas paid at the end of each auction period. Our ARPSs arewere AAA/Aaa rated securities, collateralized by municipal bonds and backed by assets that arewere equal to or greater than 200% of the liquidation preference. Until February 2008, the auction rate securities market was highly liquid. Beginning mid-February 2008, we experienced several “failed” auctions, meaning that there was not enough demand to sell all of the securities that holders desired to sell at auction. The immediate effect of a failed auction iswas that such holders cannotcould not sell the securities at auction and the interest rate on the security resetsreset to a maximum auction rate. We have continued to receive interest payments on our ARPSs in accordance with their terms. We may

On January 19, 2011, we entered into an agreement with a financial institution to sell the ARPSs for $12.6 million, which represents 79% of the par value, plus accrued interest. Under the agreement, we retained the unilateral right for a period ending January 7, 2013 to: (a) repurchase all the ARPSs that were sold at the $12.6 million price at which they were initially sold to the financial institution; and (b) if not repurchased, receive additional proceeds from the financial institution upon redemption of the ARPSs by the original issuer of these securities (collectively, the “ARPSs Call Option”). The ARPSs Call Option has an estimated fair value of $0.6 million which will be able to access the funds we investedrecognized in our ARPSs without a loss of principal, unless a future auction is successful or the issuer calls the security pursuant to redemption prior to maturity. We have no reason to believe that any of the underlying municipal securities that collateralize our ARPSs are presently at risk of default. We believe we will ultimately be able to liquidate our investments without material loss primarily due to the collateral securing the ARPSs. We do not currently intend to attempt to sell our ARPSs since our liquidity needs are expected to be met with cash flows from operating activities and our senior secured revolving credit facility.consolidated financial statements in 2011.

Our ARPSs arewere reported at amounts that reflectreflected our estimate of fair value. Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 157, ASC Topic 820,Fair Value Measurement,Measurements and Disclosures (“ASC Topic 820”), provides a hierarchal framework associated with the level of subjectivity used in measuring assets and liabilities at fair value. value:

To estimate the fair values of our ARPSs as of December 31, 2010, we used inputs defined by SFAS 157ASC Topic 820 as level 1 inputs which are quoted market prices in active markets for identical securities. We obtained a quoted market price and liquidated the ARPSs subsequent to year end on January 19, 2011 based on the terms of the settlement agreement noted above. Therefore, the sales price under the settlement agreement of $12.6 million represents the fair value of the ARPSs at December 31, 2010. The $3.3 million difference between the ARPSs’ par value of $15.9 million and the sales price of $12.6 million represents an other-than-temporary impairment of the ARPSs investment which is reflected as an impairment of investments in our consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2010. During the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008, $2.7 million of the difference between the par value and fair value of the ARPSs was considered temporary and was recorded as unrealized losses, net of tax, in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) which is a component of shareholders’ equity.

To estimate the fair values of our ARPSs as of December 31, 2009 and 2008, we used inputs defined by ASC Topic 820 as level 3 inputs which are unobservable for the asset or liability and are developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. We estimate the fair value of our ARPSs based on discounted cash flow models and secondary market comparisons of similar securities.

Our ARPSs are designated as available-for-sale and are reported at fair market value with the related unrealized gains or losses, included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax, a component of shareholders’ equity. The estimated fair value of our ARPSs at December 31, 2008 was $13.9 million compared with a par value of $15.9 million. The $2.0 million difference represents a fair value discount due to the current lack of liquidity which is considered temporary and is recorded as an unrealized loss, net of tax, in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). We would recognize an impairment charge in our statement of operations if the fair value of our investments falls below the cost basis and is judged to be other-than- temporary.

based on the best information available in the circumstances. We estimated the fair value of our ARPSs based on discounted cash flow models and secondary market comparisons of similar securities. Based on this methodology, the estimated fair value of our ARPSs was $13.2 million at December 31, 2009 and $13.9 million at December 31, 2008, as compared to the par value of $15.9 million at both December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008. The differences between the ARPSs’ fair values and par values were due to the lack of liquidity which was considered to be temporary at that time. We believed we would ultimately recover the par value of the ARPSs without a loss, primarily due to the collateral securing the ARPSs and our estimate of the discounted cash flows that we expected to collect. Also, we did not intend to sell the ARPSs at a loss and we believed it was more-likely-than-not that we would not have to sell prior to recovery of the ARPSs’ par value based on our liquidity needs. Therefore, the fair value discounts of $2.7 million and $2.0 million at December 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively, were recorded as unrealized losses, net of tax, in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) which was a component of shareholders’ equity. There were no portions of the fair value discounts attributable to credit losses.

Inventories

Inventories primarily consist of drilling rig replacement parts and supplies held for use by our Drilling Services Division’s operations in Colombia and supplies held for use by our Production Services Division’s operations. Inventories are valued at the lower of cost (first in, first out or actual) or market value.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are carried at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is provided for our assets over the estimated useful lives of the assets using the straight-line method. We record the same depreciation expense whether a rig is idle or working. We charge our expenses for maintenance and repairs to operating costs. We charge our expenses for renewals and betterments to the appropriate property and equipment accounts.

As of December 31, 2010, the estimated useful lives and costs of our asset classes are as follows:

       Lives      Cost 
      (amounts in thousands) 

Drilling rigs and equipment

  3 - 25  $846,443  

Workover rigs and equipment

  5 - 20   123,831  

Wireline units and equipment

  2 - 10   66,452  

Fishing and rental tools equipment

  7   13,515  

Vehicles

  3 - 10   34,177  

Office equipment

  3 - 5   5,162  

Buildings and improvements

  3 - 40   6,991  

Land

  —     608  
       
    $1,097,179  
       

We recorded gains (losses) on disposition of our property and equipment in contract drilling costs of $0.8$1.6 million, ($2.8)0.1) million and ($5.8)$0.8 million for the yearyears ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively. During the nine monthsyears ended December 31, 20072010, 2009 and the year ended March 31, 2007, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2008, we capitalized $0.5 million, $0.3 million and $0.3 million, respectively, of interest costs incurred during the construction periods of certain drilling equipment. We did not capitalize any interest costs during the nine months ended December 31, 2007 or during the year ended March 31, 2007. We incurred $10.2 million of costs on one drilling rig that was under construction at December 31, 2008. We had no drilling rigs under construction at December 31, 2007, and we incurred approximately $8.6 million of costs for rigs under construction at March 31, 2007.2010.

We evaluate for potential impairment of long-lived assets and intangible assets subject to amortization when indicators of impairment are present, as defined in SFAS No. 144,ASC Topic 360,Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived AssetsProperty, Plant, and Equipment (“ASC Topic

360”) and ASC Topic 350,Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (“ASC Topic 350”). Circumstances that could indicate a potential impairment include significant adverse changes in industry trends, economic climate, legal factors, and an adverse action or assessment by a regulator. More specifically, significant adverse changes in industry trends include significant declines in revenue rates, utilization rates, oil and natural gas market prices and industry rig counts for drilling rigs and workoverwell service rigs. In performing an impairment evaluation, we estimate the future undiscounted net cash flows from the use and eventual disposition of long-lived assets and intangible assets grouped at the lowest level that cash flows can be identified. For our Production Services Division, our long-lived assets and intangible assets are grouped at the reporting unit level which is one level below the operating segment level. For our Drilling Services Division, we perform an impairment evaluation and estimate future undiscounted cash flows for individual drilling rig assets. If the sum of the estimated future undiscounted net cash flows is less than the carrying amount of the long-lived assets and intangible assets for these asset grouping levels, then we would recognize an impairment charge. The amount of an impairment charge would be measured as the difference between the carrying amount and the fair value of these assets. As described in theIntangible Asset section of Note 1, our long-lived asset and intangible asset impairment analysis for the reporting units in our Production Services Division resulted in no impairment charge to property and equipment and a non-cash impairment charge of $52.8 million to the carrying value of our intangible assets for customers relationships for the year ended December 31, 2008. This impairment charge isdid not expected to have an impact on our liquidity or debt covenants; however, it iswas a reflection of the overall downturn in our industry and decline in our projected cash flows. We did not record an impairment charge on any long-lived assets for our Production Services Division for the years ended December 31, 2010 or 2009. For our Drilling Services Division, we havedid not

recorded record an impairment charge on any long-lived assets for the yearyears ended December 31, 2010, 2009 or 2008. The assumptions used in the impairment evaluation for long-lived assets and intangible assets are inherently uncertain and require management judgment.

Effective January 1, 2008, management reassessed the estimated useful lives assigned to a group of 19 drilling rigs that were recently constructed. These drilling rigs were constructed with new components that have longer estimated useful lives when compared to other drilling rigs that are equipped with older components. As a result, we increased the estimated useful lives for this group of recently constructed drilling rigs from an average useful life of 9 years to 12 years. The following table provides the impact of this change in depreciation and amortization expense for the year ended December 31, 2008 (amounts in thousands):

   Year Ended
December 31, 2008
 

Depreciation and amortization expense using prior useful lives

  $91,921 

Impact of change in estimated useful lives

   (3,776)
     

Depreciation and amortization expense, as reported

  $88,145 
     

Diluted (loss) earnings per common share using prior useful lives

  $(1.31)

Impact of change in estimated useful lives

   0.05 
     

Diluted (loss) earnings per common share, as reported

  $(1.26)
     

As of December 31, 2008, the estimated useful lives of our asset classes are as follows:

Lives

Drilling rigs and equipment

3 - 25

Workover rigs and equipment

5 -20

Wireline units and equipment

2 - 10

Fishing and rental tools equipment

7

Vehicles

3 - 10

Office equipment

3 - 5

Buildings and improvements

3 - 40

Goodwill

Goodwill results from business acquisitions and represents the excess of acquisition costs over the fair value of the net assets acquired. We account for goodwill and other intangible assets under the provisions of SFAS No. 142,Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets.ASC Topic 350. Goodwill is tested for impairment annually as of December 31 or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. Circumstances that could indicate a potential impairment include a significant adverse change in the economic or business climate, a significant adverse change in legal factors, an adverse action or assessment by a regulator, unanticipated competition, loss of key personnel and the likelihood that a reporting unit or significant portion of a reporting unit will be sold or otherwise disposed of. These circumstances could lead to our net book value exceeding our market capitalization which is another indicator of a potential impairment in goodwill. SFAS No. 142ASC Topic 350 requires a two-step process for testing impairment. First, the fair value of each reporting unit is compared to its carrying value to determine whether an indication of impairment exists. All our goodwill iswas related to our Production Services Division operating segment and iswas allocated to its three reporting units which are well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services. Second, if impairment is indicated, then the fair value of the reporting unit’sunit's goodwill is determined by allocating the unit’sunit's fair value to its assets and liabilities (including any unrecognized intangible assets) as if the reporting unit had been acquired in a business combination on the impairment test date. The amount of impairment for goodwill is measured as the excess of the carrying value of the reporting unit over its fair value. Goodwill of $118.6 million was initially recorded in connection with the acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE, Competition, Pettus and Paltec, all of which occurred between March 1, 2008 and October 1, 2008, and was allocated to the three reporting units for our Production Services Division which are well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services. We recorded a full impairment of this goodwill during the year ended December 31, 2008 as further described below.

When estimating fair values of a reporting unit for our goodwill impairment test, we use a combination of an income approach and a market approach which incorporates both management’s views and those of the market. The income approach provides an estimated fair value based on each reporting unit’s anticipated cash flows that arewere discounted using a weighted average cost of capital rate. The market approach provides an

estimated fair value based on our market capitalization that iswas computed using the prior 30-day average market price of our common stock and the number of shares outstanding as of the impairment test date. The estimated fair values computed using the income approach and the market approach arewere then equally weighted and combined into a single fair value. The primary assumptions used in the income approach arewere estimated cash flows and weighted average cost of capital. Estimated cash flows arewere primarily based on projected revenues, operating costs and capital expenditures and are discounted based on comparable industry average rates for weighted average cost of capital. We utilized discount rates based on weighted average cost of capital ranging from 15.8% to 16.7% when we estimated fair values of our reporting units as of December 31, 2008. The primary assumptions used in the market approach iswere the allocation of total market capitalization to each reporting unit, which iswas based on projected EBITDA percentages for each reporting unit, and control premiums, which arewere based on comparable industry averages. We utilized a 30% control premium when we estimated fair values of our reporting units as of December 31, 2008. To ensure the reasonableness of the estimated fair values of our reporting units, we performperformed a reconciliation of our total market capitalization to the total estimated fair value of all our reporting units. The assumptions used in estimating fair values of reporting units and performing the goodwill impairment test are inherently uncertain and requirerequired management judgment.

Our common stock price per share declined in market value from $13.30 at September 30, 2008, to $5.57 at December 31, 2008, which resulted in our net book value exceeding our market capitalization during most of thisthat time period. We believeconcluded that the decline in the market price of our common stock resulted from a significant adverse change in the economic and business climate as financial markets reacted to the credit crisis facing major lending institutions and worsening conditions in the overall economy during the fourth quarter of the year ended December 31, 2008. During the same time, there were significant declines in oil and natural gas prices which leadled to declines in production service revenues, margins and cash flows. We considered the impact of these significant adverse changes in the economic and business climate as we performed our annual impairment assessment of goodwill as of December 31, 2008. The estimated fair values of our reporting units were negatively impacted by significant reductions in estimated cash flows for the income approach component and a significant reduction in our market capitalization for the market approach component of our fair value estimation process. Our goodwill was initially recorded in connection with the acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE, Competition, Pettus and Paltec, all of which occurred between March 1, 2008 and October 1, 2008, when production service revenues, margins and cash flows and our market capitalization were at historically high levels.

Our goodwill impairment analysis leadled us to conclude that there would be no remaining implied fair value attributable to our goodwill and, accordingly, we recorded a non-cash charge of $118.6 million to our operating results for the year ended December 31, 2008, for the full impairment of our goodwill. Our goodwill impairment analysis would have leadled to the same full impairment conclusion if we increased or decreased our discount rates or control premiums by 10% when estimating the fair values of our reporting units. This impairment charge isdid not expected to have an impact on our liquidity or debt covenants; however, it iswas a reflection of the overall downturn in our industry and decline in our projected cash flows.

Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill by operating segment are as follows (amounts in thousands):

 

   Drilling
Services
Division
   Production
Services
Division
  Total 

Goodwill balance at January 1, 2008

  $—      $—     $—    

Goodwill relating to acquisitions

   —       118,646    118,646  

Impairment

   —       (118,646  (118,646
              

Goodwill balance at December 31, 2008

  $—      $—     $—    
              

We had no goodwill additions during the years ended December 31, 2010 or 2009, and consequently, have no goodwill reflected on our consolidated balance sheets at December 31, 2010 and 2009.

Intangible Assets

All our intangible assets are subject to amortization and consist of customers relationships, non-compete agreements and trade names. Essentially all of our intangible assets were recorded in connection with the acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE, Competition, Pettus, Paltec and Paltec,Tiger, all of which occurred between March 1, 2008 and October 1, 2008 asare described in Note 2. Intangible assets consist of the following components (amounts in thousands):

 

  December 31,
2008
 December 31,
2007
   December 31,
2010
 December 31,
2009
 

Cost:

      

Customer Relationships

  $87,316  $—     $33,036   $32,039  

Non-compete

   2,304   150    2,024    2,304  

Trade marks

   1,600   —      155    143  

Accumulated amortization:

      

Customer Relationships

   (6,069)  —      (11,462  (7,509

Non-compete

   (791)  (93)   (1,787  (1,584

Trade marks

   (1,600)  —   

Impairment:

   

Customer Relationships

   (52,847)  —   
              
  $29,913  $57   $21,966   $25,393  
              

We evaluate for potential impairment of long-lived assets and intangible assets subject to amortization when indicators of impairment are present, as defined in SFAS No. 144,Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets.ASC Topic 360 and ASC Topic 350. Circumstances that could indicate a potential impairment include significant adverse changes in industry trends, economic climate, legal factors, and an adverse action or assessment by a regulator. More specifically, significant adverse changes in industry trends include significant declines in revenue rates, utilization rates, oil and natural gas market prices and industry rig counts for drilling rigs and workoverwell service rigs. In performing the impairment evaluation, we estimate the future undiscounted net cash flows relating to long-lived assets and intangible assets grouped at the lowest level that cash flows can be identified. Our long-lived assets and intangible assets for our Production Services Division are grouped one level below the operating segment in the three reporting units which are well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services. If the sum of the estimated future undiscounted net cash flows is less than the carrying amount of the long-lived assets and intangible assets in each reporting unit, then we would recognize an impairment charge. The amount of an impairment charge would be measured as the difference between the carrying amount and the fair value of these assets. The assumptions used in the impairment evaluation for long-lived assets and intangible assets are inherently uncertain and require management judgment.

We performed an impairment analysis of our long-lived assets and intangible assets at December 31, 2008, due to significant adverse changes in the economic and business climate that resulted in decreases in estimated revenues, margins and cash flows. Essentially all our intangible assets were recorded in connection with the acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE, Competition, Pettus and Paltec when revenues, margins and cash flows were at historically high levels earlier in early 2008. We determined that the sum of the estimated future undiscounted net cash flows iswas less than the carrying amount of the long-lived assets and intangible assets in each reporting unit at December 31, 2008. Our impairment analysis resulted in a reduction to our intangible asset carrying value of customers relationships and a non-cash impairment charge of $52.8 million recorded to our operating results for the year ended December 31, 2008.

Amortization expense forThe cost of our customer relationships are calculatedis amortized using the straight-line method over their respective estimated economic useful lives which range from fourseven to nine years. Amortization expense for our non-compete agreements are calculated using the straight-line method over the period of the agreements which range from one to fiveseven years. Amortization expense was $4.6 million, $4.7 million and $8.4 million for the yearyears ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008, $34,000 for the nine month period ended December 31, 2007 and $47,000 for the year ended March 31, 2007.

respectively. Amortization expense is estimated to be approximately $4.5$4.1 million $4.3for the year ending December 31, 2011, and $4.0 million $3.8 million, $3.7 million and $3.7 million for each of the years ending December 31, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2013, respectively.2015. These future amortization amounts are estimates and reflect the

impact of the $52.8 million impairment charge to intangible assets.assets recorded in the year ended December 31, 2008. Actual amortization amounts may be different due to future acquisitions, impairments, changes in amortization periods, or other factors.

Other Long-Term Assets

Other long-term assets consist of our investment in ARPSs, restricted cash held in an escrow account, cash deposits related to the deductibles on our workers’ compensation insurance policies, the long-term portion of deferred mobilization costs and loan fees, net of amortization. Loan fees are being amortized overdescribed in more detail in Note 3,Long-term Debt.

Treasury Stock

Treasury stock purchases are accounted for under the five-year termcost method whereby the cost of the related senior secured revolver credit facility describedacquired common stock is recorded as treasury stock. Gains and losses on the subsequent reissuance of treasury stock shares are credited or charged to additional paid in Note 3.capital using the average cost method.

Income Taxes

Pursuant to Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 109, “Accounting forASC Topic 740, Income Taxes (“ASC Topic 740”), we follow the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes, under which we recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax basis. We measure our deferred tax assets and liabilities by using the enacted tax rates we expect to apply to taxable income in the years in which we expect to recover or settle those temporary differences. Under SFAS No. 109,ASC Topic 740, we reflect in income the effect of a change in tax rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities in the period during which the change occurs.

Comprehensive Income (Loss) Income

Comprehensive income (loss) income is comprised of net (loss) incomeloss and other comprehensive loss. Other comprehensive loss includesDuring the change inyears ended December 31, 2009 and 2008, $2.7 million of the difference between the par value and fair value of ourthe ARPSs was considered temporary and was recorded as unrealized losses, net of tax, fortaxes of $1.0 million, in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). For the year ended December 31, 2008. We had no other comprehensive income (loss) for2010, we recognized a $3.3 million other-than-temporary impairment of the year ended December 31, 2008, the nine months ended December 31, 2007 or the year ended March 31, 2007.ARPSs to earnings. The following table sets forth the components of comprehensive (loss) income:loss (amounts in thousands):

 

   Year Ended
December 31,
2008
  Nine Months
Ended
December 31,
2007
  Year Ended
March 31,
2007
   (amounts in thousands)

Net (loss) income

  $(62,745) $39,645  $84,180

Other comprehensive loss—unrealized loss on securities

   (1,245)  —     —  
            

Comprehensive (loss) income

  $(63,990) $39,645  $84,180
            
   Years ended December 31, 
   2010  2009  2008 

Net loss

  $(33,261 $(23,215 $(62,745

Other comprehensive loss: unrealized losses on securities

   —      (448  (1,245

Impact of impairment of investments charge

   1,693    —      —    
             

Comprehensive loss

  $(31,568 $(23,663 $(63,990
             

Earnings Per Common Share

We compute and present earnings per common share in accordance with SFAS No. 128, “EarningsASC Topic 260,Earnings per Share.”Share(“ASC Topic 260”). This standard requires dual presentation of basic and diluted earnings per share on the face of our statement of operations.

Stock-based Compensation

Effective April 1, 2006, we adopted SFAS No. 123 (Revised),Share-Based Payment(“SFAS 123R”),utilizing the modified prospective approach. Prior to 2010, we granted stock-based compensation in the adoptionform of SFAS 123R,stock option awards and restricted stock awards with vesting based solely on time of service conditions. In 2010, we accountedcontinued to grant stock option awards with vesting based on time of service conditions and we began granting restricted stock unit awards with vesting based on time of service conditions, and in certain cases, performance conditions. We recognize compensation cost for stock option, grants in accordance with the intrinsic-value-based method prescribed by Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25,Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees(“APB 25”),restricted stock and related interpretations, as permitted by SFAS No. 123,Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation(“SFAS 123”). Accordingly, we recognized no

compensation expense forrestricted stock options granted, as all stock options were granted at an exercise price equal to the closing market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant. Under the modified prospective approach, compensation cost for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008 includes compensation cost for all stock options granted prior to, but not yet vested as of, April 1, 2006,unit awards based on the grant-date fair value estimated in accordance with SFAS 123,ASC Topic 718,Compensation—Stock Compensation(“ASC Topic 718”) and compensation cost for all stock options granted subsequent to April 1, 2006, based on the grant-date fair value estimated in accordance with SFAS 123R. We useutilizing the graded vesting method for recognizing compensation costs for stock options.

Compensation costs of approximately $3.1 million and $0.9 million for stock options were recognized in selling, general and administrative expense and operating costs, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2008, of which $0.1 million relate to stock options granted to outside directors. Compensation costs of approximately $2.5 million and $0.7 million for stock options were recognized in selling, general and administrative and operating costs, respectively, for the nine months ended December 31, 2007. Approximately $0.4 million of the compensation costs included in selling, general and administrative expense relate to stock options granted to outside directors that vested immediately upon grant pursuant to our stock option plans. Compensation costs of approximately $2.5 million and $0.5 million for stock options were recognized in selling, general and administrative expense and operating costs, respectively, for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007. Approximately $0.3 million of the compensation costs included in selling, general and administrative expense relate to stock options granted to outside directors that vested immediately upon grant pursuant to our stock option plans.method.

We receive a tax deduction for certain stock option exercises during the period the options are exercised, generally for the excess of the market price of our common stock on the exercise date over the exercise price of the stock options. In accordance with SFAS 123R,ASC Topic 718, we reported all excess tax benefits resulting from the exercise of stock options as financing cash flows in our consolidated statement of cash flows. There were 170,054 stock options exercised during the year ended December 31, 2008 and 22,500 stock options exercised during the nine months ended December 31, 2007.

Restricted stock awards consist of our common stock that vest over a 3 year period. The fair value of restricted stock is based on the closing price of our common stock on the date of the grant. We amortize the fair value of the restricted stock awards to compensation expense using the graded vesting method. For the year ended December 31, 2008, 178,261 restricted stock awards were granted with a weighted-average grant date price of $17.07. Compensation costs of approximately $0.5 million and $0.1 for restricted stock awards were recognized in selling, general and administrative expense and operating costs, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2008.

Related-Party Transactions

Our Chief Executive Officer and President of Drilling Services Division Senior Vice President of Drilling Services Division—Marketing, and a Vice President of Drilling Services Division—Operations occasionally acquire at fair value a 1% to 5% minority working interest in oil and natural gas wells that we drill for one of our customers. These individuals did not own a working interest in any wells that we drilled for this customer during the years ended December 31, 2010 or 2009. Our President of Drilling Services Division acquired a minority working interest in two wells that we drilled for this customer during the year ended December 31, 2008. These individuals acquired minority working interests in four and three wells that we drilled for this customer during the nine months ended December 31, 2007 and the year ended March 31, 2007, respectively. We recognized drilling services revenues of $2.0 million, $1.6 million and $1.9 million on these wells during the year ended December 31, 2008, the nine months ended December 31, 2007 and the year ended March 31, 2007, respectively.

In connection with the acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE Group Incorporated (“WEDGE”) and Competition on March 1, 2008, we have leases for various operating and office facilities with entities that are owned by former WEDGE employees and Competition employees that are now employees of our company. Rent expense for the year ended December 31, 2008 was approximately $479,000 for these related party leases. In addition, we have non-compete agreements with several former WEDGE employees that are now

employees of our company. These non-compete agreements are recorded as intangible assets with a cost, net of accumulated amortization, of $1.4 million at December 31, 2008. See note 2 for further information regarding the acquisitions.

We purchased goods and services during the year ended December 31, 2008 from eight vendors that are owned by employees of our company. For the year ended December 31, 2008, we purchased $330,000 of well servicing equipment from one of these related party vendors and purchases from the remaining seven related party vendors were $232,000.

Recently Issued Accounting StandardsReclassifications

In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157,Fair Value Measurements. SFAS No. 157 defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and expands disclosure of fair value measurements. SFAS No. 157 applies under other accounting pronouncements that require or permit fair value measurements and, accordingly, does not require any new fair value measurements. SFAS No. 157, as issued, was effective for financial statement issued for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007, and interim periods within those fiscal years. However, on February 12, 2008, the FASB issued FSP FAS No. 157-2,Effective Dates of FASB Statement No. 157,which delays the effective date of SFAS No. 157 for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2008 for all nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities, except those that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 159,The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities—Including an amendment of FASB Statement No. 115. This statement permits entities to choose to measure many financial instruments and certain other items at fair value that are not currently required to be measured at fair value and establishes presentation and disclosure requirements designed to facilitate comparisons between entities that choose different measurement attributes for similar types of assets and liabilities. SFAS No. 159 is effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007. The adoption of SFAS No. 159 did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 160,Noncontrolling interests in Consolidated Financial Statements—an Amendment of ARB No. 51. This statement establishes accounting and reporting standards for the non-controlling interest in a subsidiary and for the deconsolidation of a subsidiary. SFAS No. 160 clarifies that a non-controlling interest in a subsidiary, which is sometimes referred to as minority interest, is an ownership interest in the consolidated entity that should be reported as a component of equity in the consolidated financial statements. Among other requirements, SFAS No. 160 requires consolidated net income to be reported at amounts that include the amounts attributable to both the parent and the non-controlling interest. It also requires disclosure, on the face of the consolidated income statement, of the amounts of consolidated net income attributable to the parent and to the non-controlling interest. SFAS No.160 is effective for fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2008. We do not expect the adoption to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 141R (revised 2007) which replaces SFAS No. 141,Business Combinations(“SFAS No. 141R”). SFAS No. 141R applies to all transactions and other events in which one entity obtains control over one or more other businesses. SFAS No. 141R requires an acquirer, upon initially obtaining control of another entity, to recognize the assets, liabilities and any non-controlling interest in the acquiree at fair value as of the acquisition date. Contingent consideration is required to be recognized and measured at fair value on the date of acquisition rather than at a later date when the amount of that consideration may be determinable beyond a reasonable doubt. This fair value approach replaces the cost-allocation process required under SFAS No. 141 whereby the cost of an acquisition was allocated to the individual assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair value. SFAS No. 141R requires acquirers to expense acquisition-related costs as incurred rather than allocating such costs to the assets acquired and liabilities

assumed, as was previously the case under SFAS No. 141. Under SFAS No.141R, the requirements of SFAS No. 146,Accounting for Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities, would have to be met in order to accrue for a restructuring plan in purchase accounting. Pre-acquisition contingencies are to be recognized at fair value, unless it is a non-contractual contingency that is not likely to materialize, in which case, nothing should be recognized in purchase accounting and, instead, that contingency would be subject to the recognition criteria of SFAS No. 5,Accounting for Contingencies. SFAS No.141R is expected to have a significant impact on our accounting for business combinations closing on or after January 1, 2009.

In March 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 161, Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities—an amendment of FASB Statement No. 133(“SFAS No. 161”). SFAS No. 161 changes the disclosure requirements for derivative instruments and hedging activities. Entities are required to provide enhanced disclosures about (a) how and why an entity uses derivative instruments, (b) how derivative instruments and related hedged items are accounted for under Statement 133 and its related interpretations, and (c) how derivative instruments and related hedged items affect an entity’s financial position, financial performance, and cash flows. The guidance in SFAS No. 161 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after November 15, 2008, with early application encouraged. This Statement encourages, but does not require, comparative disclosures for earlier periods at initial adoption. We do not have any derivative instruments and expect the adoption of SFAS No. 161 to have no impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In April 2008, the FASB issued FSP SFAS 142-3,Determination of the Useful Life of Intangible Assets. This guidance is intended to improve the consistency between the useful life of a recognized intangible asset under SFAS 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, and the period of expected cash flows used to measure the fair value of the asset under SFAS 141R when the underlying arrangement includes renewal or extension of terms that would require substantial costs or result in a material modification to the asset upon renewal or extension. Companies estimating the useful life of a recognized intangible asset must now consider their historical experience in renewing or extending similar arrangements or, in the absence of historical experience, must consider assumptions that market participants would use about renewal or extension as adjusted for SFAS No. 142’s entity-specific factors. FSP 142-3 is effective for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2009. We do not expect the adoption to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In May 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 162,The Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“SFAS No. 162”). SFAS No. 162 identifies the sources of accounting principles and the framework for selecting the principles used in the preparation of financial statements that are presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. SFAS No. 162 is effective 60 days following approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s amendments to AU Section 411,The Meaning of Present Fairly in Conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The adoption of SFAS No. 162 did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In June 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. EITF 03-6-1,Determining Whether Instruments Granted in Share-Based Payment Transactions are Participating Securities. This FSP provides that unvested share-based payment awards that contain nonforfeitable rights to dividends are participating securities and shall be included in the computation of earnings per share pursuant to the two class method. This FSP is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008 and interim periods within those years. We do not expect the adoption of this FSP to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

Reclassifications

Certain amounts in the financial statements for the prior years have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation.

2.

Acquisitions

On March 1, 2008, we acquired the production services business from WEDGE which provided well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services with a fleet of 62 workoverwell service rigs, 45 wireline units and approximately $13 million of fishing and rental equipment through its facilities in Texas, Kansas, North Dakota, Colorado, Utah and Oklahoma. The aggregate purchase price for the acquisition was approximately $314.7 million, which consisted of assets acquired of $340.8 million and liabilities assumed of $26.1 million. The aggregate purchase price includes $3.4 million of costs incurred to acquire the production services business from WEDGE. We financed the acquisition with approximately $3.2 million of cash on hand and $311.5 million of debt incurred under our senior secured revolving credit facility described in Note 3.3,Long-term Debt.

The following table summarizes the allocation of the purchase price and related acquisition costs to the estimated fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of the date of acquisition (amounts in thousands):

 

Cash acquired

  $1,168  

Other current assets

   22,102  

Property and equipment

   138,493  

Intangibles and other assets

   66,118  

Goodwill

   112,869  
     

Total assets acquired

  $340,750  
     

Current liabilities

  $10,655  

Long-term debt

   1,462  

Other long term liabilities

   13,949  
     

Total liabilities assumed

  $26,066  
     

Net assets acquired

  $314,684  
     

The following unaudited pro forma consolidated summary financial information gives effect of the acquisition of the production services business from WEDGE as though it was effective as of the beginning of each of the yearsyear ended December 31, 2008 and 2007.2008. Pro forma adjustments primarily relate to additional depreciation, amortization and interest costs. The pro forma information reflects our company’s historical data and historical data from the acquired production services business from WEDGE for the periods indicated. The pro forma data may not be indicative of the results we would have achieved had we completed the acquisition on January 1, 2007 or 2008, or what we may achieve in the future and should be read in conjunction with the accompanying historical financial statements.

 

  Pro Forma
Year Ended
December 31, 2008
 
  Pro Forma  
  Years Ended
December 31,
2008
 Nine Months
Ended
December 31,
2007
  
  (in thousands)  (in thousands) 

Total revenues

  $634,535  $401,461  $634,535  

Net (loss) earnings

  $(62,514) $44,504  $(62,514

(Loss) earnings per common share

     

Basic

  $(1.26) $0.90  $(1.26

Diluted

  $(1.26) $0.89  $(1.26

On March 1, 2008, immediately following the acquisition of the production services business from WEDGE, we acquired the production services business from Competition which provided wireline services with a fleet of 6 wireline units through its facilities in Montana. The aggregate purchase price for the Competition acquisition was approximately $30.0 million, which consisted of assets acquired of $30.1 million and liabilities

assumed of $0.1 million. The aggregate purchase price includes $0.4 million of costs incurred to acquire the production services business from Competition. We financed the acquisition with $26.7 million cash on hand and a note payable due to the prior owner for $3.3 million. Goodwill of $5.3 million and intangible assets and other assets of $18.0 million were recorded in connection with the acquisition.

On August 29, 2008, we acquired the wireline services business from Paltec, Inc. (“Paltec”). The aggregate purchase price was $7.8 million which we financed with $6.5 million in cash and a sellers note of $1.3 million. Intangible and other assets of $4.3 million and goodwill of $0.1 million were recorded in connection with the acquisition.

On October 1, 2008, we acquired the well services business from Pettus Well Service.Service (“Pettus”). The aggregated purchase price was $3.0 million which we financed with $2.8 million in cash and a sellers note of $0.2 million. Intangible and other assets of $1.2 million and goodwill of $0.1 million were recorded in connection with the acquisition.

The acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE, Competition, Paltec and Pettus were accounted for as acquisitions of businesses. The purchase price allocations for these production services businesses have beenwere finalized as of December 31, 2008. Goodwill was recognized as part of the WEDGE, Competition, Paltec and Pettus acquisitions since the purchase price exceeded the estimated fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed. We believebelieved that the goodwill iswas related to the acquired workforces, future synergies between our existing Drilling Services Division and our new Production Services Division and the ability to expand our service offerings. These acquisitions occurred between March 1, 2008 and October 1, 2008, when production service revenues, margins and cash flows and our market capitalization were at historically high levels. As described in noteNote 1, our goodwill impairment analysis performed at December 31, 2008 led us to conclude that there would be no remaining implied value attributable to our goodwill and accordingly, we recorded a non-cash charge of $118.6 million for a full impairment of goodwill relating to these acquisitions. We also performed an impairment analysis which resulted in an impairment charge of $52.8 million and reduction in the intangible asset carrying value of customer relationships relating to these acquisitions. These impairment charges were primarily related to significant adverse changes in the economic and business climate that occurred during the fourth quarter of the year ended December 31, 2008.

On April 1, 2010, we acquired Tiger Wireline Services, Inc. (“Tiger”), which provided wireline services with two wireline units through its facilities in Kansas. The aggregate purchase price was approximately $1.9 million, which we financed with $1.3 million in cash and a seller’s note of $0.6 million. The identifiable assets recorded in connection with this acquisition include fixed assets of $0.8 million and intangible assets of $1.1 million representing customer relationships and a non-competition agreement. We did not recognize any goodwill in conjunction with the acquisition and no contingent assets or liabilities were assumed. Our acquisition of Tiger has been accounted for as an acquisition of a business in accordance with ASC Topic 805,Business Combinations.

 

3.

Long-term Debt Subordinated Debt and Note Payable

Long-term debt as of December 31, 2008 consists of the following (amounts in thousands):

 

Senior secured credit facility

  $272,500 
  December 31, 2010 December 31, 2009 

Senior secured revolving credit facility

  $37,750   $257,500  

Senior notes

   240,080    —    

Subordinated notes payable

   6,534    3,045    4,387  

Other

   379    63    227  
           
   279,413    280,938    262,114  

Less current portion

   (17,298)   (1,408  (4,041
           
  $262,115   $279,530   $258,073  
           

Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility

On February 29, 2008, we entered intoWe have a credit agreement, as amended, with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and a syndicate of lenders (collectively the “Lenders”). The credit agreementwhich provides for a senior secured revolving credit facility, with sub-limits for letters of credit and a swing-line facilityloans, of up to an aggregate principal amount of $400$225 million, all of which maturematures on February 28, 2013.August 31, 2012 (the “Revolving Credit Facility”). The senior securedRevolving Credit Facility contains customary mandatory prepayments in respect of asset dispositions, debt incurrence and equity issuances, which are applied to reduce outstanding revolving and swing-

line loans and letter of credit facility andexposure, but in no event will reduce the obligations thereunder are secured by substantially all our domestic assets and are guaranteed by certain of our domestic subsidiaries.borrowing availability under the Revolving Credit Facility to less than $225 million. Borrowings under the senior secured revolving credit facilityRevolving Credit Facility bear interest, at our option, at the bank primeLIBOR rate or at the LIBORbank prime rate, plus an applicable per annum margin in each case. The applicable per annum margin is determined based upon our leverage ratio in accordance with a pricing grid in the credit agreement. The per annum margin for LIBOR rate borrowingsthat ranges from 1.50%3.50% to 6.00% and 2.50% and for bank prime

rate borrowings ranges from 0.50% to 1.50%. Based on the terms in the credit agreement, the5.00%, respectively. The LIBOR margin and bank prime rate margin in effect until delivery of our financial statementsat February 4, 2011 are 4.50% and the compliance certificate for December 31, 2008 are 2.25% and 1.25%3.50%, respectively. AThe Revolving Credit Facility requires a commitment fee is due quarterly based on the average daily unused amount of the commitments of the Lenders under the senior secured revolving credit facility. In addition,lenders, a fronting fee is due for each letter of credit issued, and a quarterly letter of credit fee is due based on the average undrawn amount of letters of credit outstanding during such period. We may repayOur obligations under the seniorRevolving Credit Facility are secured revolving credit facility balanceby substantially all of our domestic assets (including equity interests in Pioneer Global Holdings, Inc. and 65% of the outstanding equity interests of any first-tier foreign subsidiaries owned by Pioneer Global Holdings, Inc., but excluding any equity interest in, whole or in part atand any time without premium or penalty. The senior secured revolving credit facility replaced the $20.0 million credit facility we previously had with Frost National Bank.assets of, Pioneer Services Holdings, LLC) and are guaranteed by certain of our domestic subsidiaries, including Pioneer Global Holdings, Inc. Borrowings under the senior secured revolving credit facility were used to fund the WEDGE acquisition andRevolving Credit Facility are available for future acquisitions, working capital and other general corporate purposes.

At February 23, 2009,In March 2010, we had $257.5made a payment of $234.8 million to reduce the outstanding debt balance under the revolving portionRevolving Credit Facility, using the net proceeds from the issuance of the senior secured revolving credit facility and $9.3 million in committed letters of credit. Under the terms of the credit agreement, committed letters of credit are applied against our borrowing capacity under the senior secured revolving credit facility. The borrowing availability under the senior secured revolving credit facility was $133.2 million at February 23, 2009. There are no limitations on our abilitySenior Notes which is described below. We may choose to access the full borrowing availability under the senior secured revolving credit facility other than maintaining compliance with the covenants in the credit agreement. Principal payments of $15.0 million made after December 31, 2008 are classified in the current portion of long-term debt as of December 31, 2008. The outstanding balance under our senior secured credit facility is not due until maturity on February 28, 2013. However, when cash and working capital is sufficient, we may make additional principal payments to reduce the outstanding debt balance prior to maturity.

Effective June 11, 2008, we entered intomaturity on August 31, 2012 when cash and working capital is sufficient. We made a Waiver Agreement$12.8 million principal payment after December 31, 2010, which resulted in a $25.0 million outstanding balance under our Revolving Credit Facility and $9.2 million in committed letters of credit at February 4, 2011. Therefore, our borrowing availability under our Revolving Credit Facility was $190.8 million as of February 4, 2011. There are no limitations on our ability to access this borrowing capacity other than maintaining compliance with the Lenders to waive the requirement to provide certain financial statements in conjunction with our compliance certificate within the time period required by the credit agreement. The Waiver Agreement required us to provide the financial statements and our compliance certificate on or before August 13, 2008. Until we provided these financial statements and our compliance certificate, the aggregate principal amount outstandingcovenants under the credit agreement could not exceed $350 million at any time (provided, however, that the commitment fee would continue to be calculated based on the total commitment of $400 million), and the per annum margin applicable to all amounts outstanding under the credit agreement would increase from the current rate of 2.25% for LIBOR rate borrowings and 1.25% for bank prime rate borrowings to 2.50% for LIBOR rate borrowings and 1.50% for bank prime rate borrowings. The required financial statements and our compliance certificate were delivered concurrently with the filing of the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2008 which occurred on August 5, 2008.

Revolving Credit Facility. At December 31, 2008,2010, we were in compliance with the restrictiveour financial covenants. Our total consolidated leverage ratio was 2.7 to 1.0, our senior consolidated leverage ratio was 0.4 to 1.0 and our interest coverage ratio was 4.2 to 1.0. The financial covenants contained in the credit agreement whichour Revolving Credit Facility include the following:

 

We must have aA maximum total consolidated leverage ratio no greater than 3.00that cannot exceed:

5.00 to 1.00 foras of the end of any fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2010 through June 30, 2011;

4.75 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2011;

4.50 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2011;

4.25 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2009, 2.752012; and

4.00 to 1.00 foras of the end of any fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2009 through2012 and thereafter.

A maximum senior consolidated leverage ratio, which excludes unsecured and subordinated debt, that cannot exceed:

4.50 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2010;

4.25 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2010, and 2.502011;

4.00 to 1.00 for anyas of the end of the fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2010 through maturity in February 2013;2011;

 

3.75 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2011;

3.50 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2011;

3.25 to 1.00 as of the end of the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2012; and

3.00 to 1.00 as of the end of any fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2012 and thereafter.

A minimum interest coverage ratio that cannot be less than:

2.00 to 1.00 as of the end of any fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2010 through December 31, 2011; and

3.00 to 1.00 as of the end of any fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2012 and thereafter.

If our maximumsenior consolidated leverage ratio is greater than 2.25 to 1.00 at the end of any fiscal quarter, then we must have a minimum asset coverage ratio nothat cannot be less than 1.251.00 to 1.00;1.00 for any fiscal quarter ending on or before December 31, 2011, and 1.10 to 1.00 for any fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2012 and thereafter (as provided in the Revolving Credit Facility). If our senior consolidated leverage ratio is greater than 2.25 to 1.00 and our asset coverage ratio is less than 1.00 to 1.00, then borrowings outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility will be limited to the sum of 80% of eligible accounts receivable, 80% of the orderly liquidation value of eligible equipment and 40% of the net book value of certain other fixed assets.

The Revolving Credit Facility restricts capital expenditures unless (a) after giving effect to such capital expenditure, no event of default would exist under the Revolving Credit Facility and availability under the Revolving Credit Facility would be equal to or greater than $25 million and (b) if the senior consolidated leverage ratio as of the last day of the most recent reported fiscal quarter was equal to or greater than 2.50 to 1.00, such capital expenditure would not cause the sum of all capital expenditures to exceed:

$65 million for fiscal year 2010; and

 

We must have a minimum interest coverage ratio no less than 3.00$80 million for each fiscal year thereafter.

The capital expenditure thresholds for each period noted above may be increased by:

the first $25 million of any aggregate equity issuance proceeds received during such period and 25% of any equity issuance proceeds received in excess of $25 million during such period; and

25% of any debt incurrence proceeds received during such period.

In addition, any unused portion of the capital expenditure threshold up to 1.00.$30 million can be carried over from the immediate preceding fiscal year.

At December 31, 2008,2010, our senior consolidated leverage ratio was 1.28not greater than 2.50 to 1.00 and our interest coverage ratio was 17.15therefore, we were not subject to 1.00. the capital expenditure threshold restrictions listed above.

The credit agreementRevolving Credit Facility has additional restrictive covenants that, among other things, limit the incurrence of additional debt, to a maximum of $15 million (other than debt under the senior secured revolving credit facility), investments, liens, dividends, acquisitions, redemptions of capital stock, prepayments of indebtedness, asset dispositions, mergers and consolidations, transactions with affiliates, capital expenditures, hedging contracts, sale leasebacks and other matters customarily restricted in such agreements. In addition, the credit agreementRevolving Credit Facility contains customary events of default, including without limitation, payment defaults, breaches

of representations and warranties, covenant defaults, cross-defaults to certain other material indebtedness in excess of specified amounts, certain events of bankruptcy and insolvency, judgment defaults in excess of specified amounts, failure of any guaranty or security document supporting the credit agreement and change of control. Non-compliance

Senior Notes

On March 11, 2010, we issued $250 million of unregistered Senior Notes with restrictivea coupon interest rate of 9.875% that are due in 2018 (the “Senior Notes”). The Senior Notes were sold with an original issue discount of $10.6 million that was based on 95.75% of their face value, which will result in an effective yield to maturity of approximately 10.677%. On March 11, 2010, we received $234.8 million of net proceeds from the issuance of the Senior Notes after deductions were made for the $10.6 million of original issue discount and $4.6 million for underwriters’ fees and other debt offering costs. The net proceeds were used to repay a portion of the borrowings outstanding under our Revolving Credit Facility.

In accordance with a registration rights agreement with the holders of our Senior Notes, we filed an exchange offer registration statement on Form S-4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission that became effective on September 2, 2010. This exchange offer registration statement enabled the holders of our Senior Notes to exchange their Senior Notes for publicly registered notes with substantially identical terms. References to the “Senior Notes” herein include the Senior Notes issued in the exchange offer.

The Senior Notes are reflected on our condensed consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2010 with a carrying value of $240.1 million, which represents the $250 million face value net of the $9.9 million unamortized portion of original issue discount. The original issue discount is being amortized over the term of the Senior Notes based on the effective interest method. The Senior Notes will mature on March 15, 2018 with interest due semi-annually in arrears on March 15 and September 15 of each year, commencing on September 15, 2010. We have the option to redeem the Senior Notes, in whole or in part, at any time on or after March 15, 2014 in each case at the redemption price specified in the Indenture dated March 11, 2010 (the “Indenture”) together with any accrued and unpaid interest to the date of redemption. Prior to March 15, 2014, we may also redeem the Senior Notes, in whole or in part, at a “make-whole” redemption price specified in the Indenture, together with any accrued and unpaid interest to the date of redemption. In addition, prior to March 15, 2013, we may, on one or more occasions, redeem up to 35% of the aggregate principal amount of the Senior Notes at a redemption price of 109.875% of the principal amount, plus any accrued and unpaid interest to the redemption date, with the net proceeds of certain equity offerings, if at least 65% of the aggregate principal amount of the Senior Notes remains outstanding after such redemption and the redemption occurs within 120 days of the closing of the equity offering.

Upon the occurrence of a change of control, holders of the Senior Notes will have the right to require us to purchase all or a portion of the Senior Notes at a price equal to 101% of the principal amount of each Senior Note, together with any accrued and unpaid interest to the date of purchase. Under certain circumstances in connection with asset dispositions, we will be required to use the excess proceeds of asset dispositions to make an offer to purchase the Senior Notes at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount of each Senior Note, together with any accrued and unpaid interest to the date of purchase.

The Indenture contains certain restrictions on our and certain of our subsidiaries’ ability to:

pay dividends on stock;

repurchase stock or redeem subordinated debt or make other restricted payments;

incur, assume or guarantee additional indebtedness or issue disqualified stock;

create liens on our assets;

enter into sale and leaseback transactions;

pay dividends, engage in loans, or transfer other assets from certain of our subsidiaries;

consolidate with or merge with or into, or sell all or substantially all of our properties to another person;

enter into transactions with affiliates; and

enter into new lines of business.

These covenants or other eventsare subject to important exceptions and qualifications. We were in compliance with these covenants as of default under the credit agreement could trigger an early repayment requirementDecember 31, 2010. The Senior Notes are not subject to any sinking fund requirements. The Senior Notes are fully and terminate theunconditionally guaranteed, jointly and severally, on a senior secured revolving credit facility.unsecured basis by certain of our existing domestic subsidiaries and by certain of our future domestic subsidiaries (see Note 13,Guarantor/Non-Guarantor Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements).

Subordinated Notes Payable and Other

In addition to amounts outstanding under the senior secured revolving credit facility,our Revolving Credit Facility and Senior Notes, long-term debt includes subordinated notes payable to certain employees that are former shareholders of the production services businesses that were acquired by WEDGE prior to our acquisition of WEDGE on March 1, 2008, a subordinated note payable to an employee that is a former shareholder of Competition twoand three subordinated notes payable to

certain employees that are former shareholders of Paltec, Inc.Pettus and Pettus Well Service.Tiger. These subordinated notes payable have interest rates ranging from 5.44%5.4% to 14%, require quarterly or annual payments of principal and interest and have final maturity dates ranging from January 20092011 to MarchApril 2013. The aggregate outstanding balance of these subordinated notes payable was $6.5$3.0 million as of December 31, 2008.2010.

Other debt represents a financing arrangementsarrangement for computer software with an outstanding balance of $0.4$0.1 million at December 31, 2008.2010.

Debt Issuance Costs

Costs incurred in connection with our Revolving Credit Facility were capitalized and are being amortized using the straight-line method over the term of the Revolving Credit Facility which matures in August 2012. Costs incurred in connection with the issuance of our Senior Notes were capitalized and are being amortized using the straight-line method over the term of the Senior Notes which mature in March 2018. Capitalized debt costs related to the issuance of our long-term debt were approximately $6.7 million and $3.8 million as of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, respectively. We recognized approximately $1.9 million, $1.5 million and $0.6 million of associated amortization during the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively.

 

4.

Leases

We lease our corporate office facilities in San Antonio, Texas at a costpayment escalating from $26,809$27,911 per month in January 2011 to $29,316 per month pursuant to a lease extending through December 2013. We recognize rent expense on a straight line basis for our corporate office lease. In addition, we lease real estate at 3039 other locations under non-cancelable operating leases at costswith payments ranging from $175$250 per month to $8,917$27,169 per month, pursuant to leases expiring through April 2013.August 2015. These real estate locations are used primarily for division offices and storage and maintenance yards. We also lease office equipment under non-cancelable operating leases expiring through May 2012.November 2013.

Future lease obligations required under non-cancelable operating leases as of December 31, 20082010 were as follows (amounts in thousands):

 

Years Ended December 31,

       

2009

  $1,566

2010

   1,279

2011

   949  $2,408  

2012

   607   1,885  

2013

   402   1,484  

2014

   586  

2015

   164  

Thereafter

   —     —    
       
  $4,803  $6,527  
       

Rent expense under operating leases for the yearyears ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 was $2.9 million, $2.1 million and $1.4 million, and $0.3 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2007 and the year ended March 31, 2007.respectively.

5.

Income Taxes

The jurisdictional components of (loss) incomeloss before income taxes consist of the following (amounts in thousands):

 

  Years ended December 31, 
  Year Ended
December 31,
2008
 Nine Months Ended
December 31,

2007
  Year Ended
March 31,
2007
  2010 2009 2008 

Domestic

  $(62,388) $55,752  $130,789  $(48,650 $(46,221 $(62,388

Foreign

   5,700   2,022   —     1,092    6,049    5,700  
                   

(Loss) income before income tax

  $(56,688) $57,774  $130,789

Loss before income tax

  $(47,558 $(40,172 $(56,688
                   

The components of our income tax expense (benefit) consist of the following (amounts in thousands):

 

  Years ended December 31, 
  Year Ended
December 31,
2008
 Nine Months Ended
December 31,

2007
 Year Ended
March 31,
2007
  2010 2009 2008 

Current tax:

        

Federal

  $3,777  $10,587  $34,252  $(2,547 $(46,073 $3,777  

State

   1,181   1,593   1,704   32    (2,969  1,181  

Foreign

   348   —     —     931    1,087    348  
                   
   5,306   12,180   35,956   (1,584  (47,955  5,306  
                   

Deferred taxes:

        

Federal

   476   6,533   9,195   (13,046  31,740    476  

State

   (211)  (100)  1,458   1,366    3,390    (211

Foreign

   486   (484)  —     (1,033  (4,132  486  
                   
   751   5,949   10,653   (12,713  30,998    751  
                   

Income tax expense

  $6,057  $18,129  $46,609

Income tax expense (benefit)

  $(14,297 $(16,957 $6,057  
                   

The difference between the income tax (benefit) expense and the amount computed by applying the federal statutory income tax rate 35% to (loss) incomeloss before income taxes consist of the following (amounts in thousands):

 

  Year Ended
December 31,
2008
 Nine Months Ended
December 31,

2007
 Year Ended
March 31,
2007
   Years ended December 31, 

Expected tax (benefit) expense

  $(19,840) $20,221  $45,776 
  2010 2009 2008 

Expected tax benefit

  $(16,645 $(14,060 $(19,840

State income taxes

   556   971   2,417    909    274    556  

Incentive stock options

   508   538   547    266    243    508  

Goodwill impairment

   26,752   —     —      —      —      26,752  

Tax benefits in foreign jurisdictions

   (1,377)  (1,191)  —      (207  (5,162  (1,377

Domestic production activities deduction

   (457)  (729)  (1,388)   —      1,130    (457

Tax-exempt interest income

   (219)  (475)  (422)   (23  (33  (219

Non deductible items for tax purposes

   247   61   48    349    218    247  

Uncertain tax positions

   —     (717)  (372)

Valuation allowance

   1,248    —      —    

Other, net

   (113)  (550)  3    (194  433    (113
                    

Income tax expense (benefit)

  $(14,297 $(16,957 $6,057  
  $6,057  $18,129  $46,609           
          

Income tax expense (benefit) was allocated as follows (amounts in thousands):

 

  Years ended December 31, 
  Year Ended
December 31,
2008
 Nine Months Ended
December 31,

2007
 Year Ended
March 31,
2007
   2010 2009 2008 

Results of operations

  $6,057  $18,129  $46,609   $(14,297 $(16,957 $6,057  

Stockholders’ equity

   (963)  (54)  (24)

Stockholders' equity

   1,332    (26  (963
                    

Income tax expense (benefit)

  $(12,965 $(16,983 $5,094  
  $5,094  $18,075  $46,585           
          

Deferred income taxes arise from temporary differences between the tax bases of assets and liabilities and their reported amounts in the consolidated financial statements. The components of our deferred income tax assets and liabilities were as follows (amounts in thousands):

 

  December 31,
2008
 December 31,
2007
   December 31,
2010
 December 31,
2009
 

Deferred tax assets:

      

Auction rate preferred securities

  $719  $—     $1,248   $983  

Intangibles

   23,207   —      21,594    22,365  

Employee benefits and insurance claims accruals

   4,963   3,292    3,634    3,338  

Accounts receivable reserve

   600   —      42    99  

Employee stock based compensation

   2,222   1,095    6,099    4,439  

Accrued expenses not deductible for tax purposes

   1,730   498    —      1,919  

Accrued revenue not income for book purposes

   1,784   613    3,393    1,649  

Federal and state net operating loss and AMT credit carryforward

   21,568    4,718  

Foreign net operating loss carryforward

   4,705   3,637    5,713    4,071  
              
   39,930   9,135    63,291    43,581  

Valuation allowance

   (5,382)  (3,997)   (1,248  —    
              

Total deferred tax assets

   34,548   5,138    62,043    43,581  
              

Deferred tax liabilities:

      

Accrued expenses not deductible for tax purposes

   105    —    

Property and equipment

   89,193   47,731    132,231    125,855  
              

Total deferred tax liabilities

   89,193   47,731    132,336    125,855  
              

Net deferred tax liabilities

  $54,645  $42,593   $70,293   $82,274  
              

In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, we consider whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Based on the expectation of future taxable income and that the deductible temporary differences will offset existing taxable temporary differences, we believe it is more likely than not that we will realize the benefits of these deductible temporary differences, netwith the exception of the existing valuation allowance at December 31, 2008.recorded to fully offset our deferred tax asset related to the unrealized loss on the impairment of our ARPS securities.

As of December 31, 2008,2010, we had foreigna $1.2 million deferred tax asset related to the $3.3 million impairment of our ARPSs which will represent a capital loss for tax treatment purposes. We can recognize a tax benefit associated with this impairment to the extent of capital gains we expect to earn in future periods. We recorded a valuation allowance to fully offset our deferred tax asset relating to this capital loss since we believe capital gains are not likely in future periods.

As of December 31, 2010, we had $21.6 million and $5.7 million of deferred tax assets consisting ofrelated to domestic and foreign net operating losses, and other tax benefitsrespectively, that are available to reduce future taxable income in a foreign jurisdiction.income. In assessing the realizability of our foreign deferred tax assets, we only recognize a tax benefit to the extent of taxable income that we

expect to earn in the foreign jurisdiction in future periods. DueWe estimate that our operations will result in taxable income in excess of our net operating losses and we expect to recent declines in oil and natural gas prices andapply the downturn in our industry, we anticipate reductions in drilling rig utilization and revenue rates in 2009. Consequently,net operating losses against taxable income that we have a valuation allowanceestimated in future periods. The domestic net operating losses can be used to offset future domestic taxable income through 2020, while the majority of $5.4 million that fully offsets our foreign deferred tax assets. Thethe foreign net operating loss has an indefinite carryforward period.losses can be carried forward indefinitely.

Deferred income taxes have not been provided on the future tax consequences attributable to difference between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and the respective tax bases of our foreign subsidiary based on the determination that such differences are essentially permanent in duration in that the earnings of the subsidiary is expected to be indefinitely reinvested in foreign operations. As of

December 31, 2008,2010, the cumulative undistributed earningsearnings/loss of the subsidiary was approximately $1.9 million.a $2.3 million loss. If those earnings were not considered indefinitely reinvested, deferred income taxes would have been recorded after consideration of foreign tax credits. It is not practicable to estimate the amount of additional tax that might be payable on those earnings, if distributed.

We have no unrecognized tax benefits relating to FIN No. 48ASC Topic 740 and no unrecognized tax benefit activity during the year ended December 31, 2008.2010.

We adopted a policy to record interest and penalty expense related to income taxes as interest and other expense, respectively. At December 31, 2008,2010, no interest or penalties have been or are required to be accrued. Our open tax years for our federal income tax returns in the United States are for the years ended March 31, 2007, December 31, 2007, December 31, 2008 and December 31, 2007.2009. Our open tax years for our income tax returns in Colombia are for the years ended December 31, 2008 and December 31, 2009.

 

6.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Our financial instruments consist primarily of cash, trade receivables, trade payables, long-term debt, and our investments in ARPS. The carrying amountsvalue of our cash, and cash equivalents, trade receivables and trade payables approximateare considered to be representative of their respective fair values.values due to the short-term nature of these instruments.

Our ARPSs are reported at amounts that reflect our estimate of fair value. To estimate the fair values of our ARPSs as of December 31, 2010, we used inputs defined by ASC Topic 820 as level 1 inputs which are quoted market prices in active markets for identical securities. Subsequent to year end, we entered into a settlement agreement with a financial institution to sell the ARPSs for $12.6 million, plus accrued interest, and liquidated the ARPS on January 25, 2011. Therefore, the $12.6 million sales price under the settlement agreement represents the fair value of the ARPSs at December 31, 2010. The $3.3 million difference between the ARPSs’ par value of $15.9 million and the fair value of $12.6 million represents an other-than-temporary impairment which is reflected as an impairment of investments in our consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2010.

To estimate the fair values of our ARPSs as of December 31, 2009, we used inputs defined by ASC Topic 820 as level 3 inputs which are unobservable for the asset or liability and are developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. We estimated the fair value of our ARPSs based on discounted cash flow models and secondary market comparisons of similar securities. Based on this methodology, the estimated fair value of our ARPSs was $13.2 million at December 31, 2009, as compared to the par value of $15.9 million at both December 31, 2009. The difference between the ARPSs’ fair value and par value was due to the lack of liquidity which was considered to be temporary at that time. We believed we would ultimately recover the par value of the ARPSs without a loss, primarily due to the collateral securing the ARPSs and our estimate of the discounted cash flows that we expected to collect. Also, we did not intend to sell the ARPSs at a loss and we believed it was more-likely-than-not that we would not have to sell prior to recovery of the ARPSs’ par value based on our liquidity needs. Therefore, the fair value discount of $2.7 million at December 31, 2009 was recorded as unrealized losses, net of tax, in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) which was a component of shareholders’ equity. There were no portions of the fair value discounts attributable to credit losses.

The fair value of our long-term debt is estimated using a discounted cash flow analysis, based on rates that we believe we would currently pay for similar types of debt instruments. This discounted cash flow analysis based on observable inputs for similar types of debt instruments represents level 2 inputs as defined by ASC Topic 820. The following table presents the supplemental fair value information about long-term debt at December 31, 2010 and 2009 (amounts in thousands):

   December 31, 2010   December 31, 2009 
   Carrying   Fair   Carrying   Fair 
   Amount   Value   Amount   Value 

Total debt

  $280,938    $308,630    $262,114    $262,429  
                    

 

7.

(Loss) earningsEarnings (loss) Per Common Share

The following table presents a reconciliation of the numerators and denominators of the basic (loss) earningsloss per share and diluted (loss) earningsloss per share comparisons as required by SFAS No. 128ASC Topic 260 (amounts in thousands, except per share data):

 

  Years ended December 31, 
  Year Ended
December 31,
2008
 Nine Months Ended
December 31,

2007
  Year Ended
March 31,
2007
  2010 2009 2008 

Basic

         

Net (loss) earnings

  $(62,745) $39,645  $84,180

Net loss

  $(33,261 $(23,215 $(62,745
                   

Weighted average shares

   49,789   49,645   49,603   53,797    50,313    49,789  
                   

(Loss) earnings per share

  $(1.26) $0.80  $1.70

Loss per share

  $(0.62 $(0.46 $(1.26
                   

Diluted

         

Net (loss) earnings

  $(62,745) $39,645  $84,180

Net loss

  $(33,261 $(23,215 $(62,745

Effect of dilutive securities

   —     —     —     —      —      —    
                   

Net (loss) earnings available to common shareholders after assumed conversion

  $(62,745) $39,645  $84,180

Net loss available to common shareholders after assumed conversion

  $(33,261 $(23,215 $(62,745
                   

Weighted average shares:

         

Outstanding

   49,789   49,645   49,603   53,797    50,313    49,789  

Options

   —     556   529   —      —      —    
                   
   49,789   50,201   50,132   53,797    50,313    49,789  
                   

(Loss) earnings per share

  $(1.26) $0.79  $1.68

Loss per share

  $(0.62 $(0.46 $(1.26
                   

All outstandingOutstanding stock options, restricted stock and restricted stock unit awards representing 852,370, 279,949 and 546,429 shares of common stock were excluded from the diluted loss per share calculationcalculations for the yearyears ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively, because the effect of their inclusion would be antidilutive,anti-dilutive, or would decrease the reported loss per share.

8.

Equity Transactions and Stock Based Compensation Plans

Employees exercised stock options for the purchaseOn November 10, 2009, we sold 3,820,000 shares of 170,054 shares ofour common stock at prices ranging from $3.67 to $10.31$6.75 per share, during the year December 31, 2008. Employees exercised stock options for the purchase of 22,500 shares of common stock at prices ranging from $4.52less underwriters’ commissions, pursuant to $4.77 per share during the nine months ended December 31, 2007. Employees exercised stock options for the purchase of 36,500 shares of common stock at prices ranging from $3.20 to $4.77 per share during the year ended March 31, 2007.

Employees and directors were awarded 178,261 shares of restricted stock that vest over a three year period withpublic offering under a weighted-average grant date price of $17.07 during the year ended December 31, 2008.shelf registration statement.

9.

Stock Option and Restricted Stock Plans

We have stock based award plans that are administered by the Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors, which selects persons eligible to receive awards and determines the number of stock options, restricted stock, or restricted stock units subject to each award and the terms, conditions and other provisions of the awards. EmployeeTotal shares available for future stock option grants, restricted stock grants, and restricted stock unit grants to employees and directors under existing plans were 960,521 at December 31, 2010. Of the total shares available, no more than 730,421 shares may be granted in the form of restricted stock.

Prior to 2010, we granted stock-based compensation in the form of stock option awards and restricted stock awards with vesting based solely on time of service conditions. In 2010, we continued to grant stock option awards with vesting based on time of service conditions and we began granting restricted stock unit awards with vesting based on time of service conditions, and in certain cases, performance conditions. We recognize compensation cost for stock option, restricted stock and restricted stock unit awards based on the grant-date fair value estimated in accordance with ASC Topic 718, and utilizing the graded vesting method.

Stock Options

We grant stock option awards which generally become exercisable over three- to five-year periods, and generally expire 10 years after the date of grant. Stock option awards granted to outside directors vest immediately and expire fiveten years after the date of grant. Our stock-based compensation plans provide that all stock optionsoption awards must have an exercise price not less than the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. Restricted stock awards consistWe issue shares of our common stock that vest over a three year period. Total shares available for futurewhen vested stock option grants and restricted stock grants to employees and directors under existing plans were 2,035,073 at December 31, 2008. Of the total shares available, no more than 822,489 shares may be granted in the form of restricted stock.awards are exercised.

We estimate the fair value of each stock option grant on the date of grant using a Black-Scholes options-pricing model. The following table summarizes the assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option-pricing model based on a weighted-average calculation for the yearyears ended December 31, 2008, for the nine months ended December 31, 20072010, 2009 and for the year ended March 31, 2007:2008:

 

   Year Ended
December 31,
2008
  Nine Months
Ended
December 31,
2007
  Year Ended
March 31,
2007
 

Expected volatility

   44%  46%  49%

Weighted-average risk-free interest rates

   2.7%  4.7%  5.0%

Weighted-average expected life in years

   3.72   4.00   2.86 

Weighted-average grant-date fair value

  $5.66  $5.84  $5.36 
   Years ended December 31, 
   2010  2009  2008 

Expected volatility

   62  58  44

Risk-free interest rates

   2.6  2.1  2.7

Expected life in years

   5.61    5.48    3.72  

Grant-date fair value

  $4.91   $2.09   $5.66  

The assumptions above are based on multiple factors, including historical exercise patterns of homogeneous groups with respect to exercise and post-vesting employment termination behaviors, expected future exercising patterns for these same homogeneous groups and volatility of our stock price. As we have not declared dividends since we became a public company, we did not use a dividend yield. In each case, the actual value that will be realized, if any, will depend on the future performance of our common stock and overall stock market conditions. There is no assurance the value an optionee actually realizes will be at or near the value we have estimated using the Black-Scholes options-pricing model.

At December 31, 2008, there was $5.7 million of unrecognized compensation cost relating to stock options which are expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.06 years.

The following table represents stock option activity from MarchDecember 31, 20072008 through December 31, 2008:2010:

 

  Number of
Shares
 Weighted-Average
Exercise Price
  Weighted-Average
Remaining
Contract Life
 Number of
Shares
 Weighted-Average
Exercise Price
Per Share
 Weighted-Average
Remaining Contract
Life in Years
 

Outstanding stock options as of March 31, 2007

  1,946,500  $9.29  

Outstanding stock options as of December 31, 2008

  3,769,695   $12.85   

Granted

  931,500   14.06    1,526,550    3.96   

Exercised

  (22,500)  4.74  

Canceled

  —     —    

Forfeited

  (55,001)  11.73    (240,632  12.88   
               

Outstanding stock options as of December 31, 2007

  2,800,499  $10.87  

Outstanding stock options as of December 31, 2009

  5,055,613   $10.17   

Granted

  787,200    8.64   

Forfeited

  (90,634  12.84   

Exercised

  (63,900  3.73   
               

Granted

  1,460,764  $15.89  

Exercised

  (170,054)  4.61  

Canceled

  —     —    

Forfeited

  (321,514)  13.74  

Outstanding stock options as of December 31, 2010

  5,688,279   $9.98    6.81  
                 

Outstanding stock options as of December 31, 2008

  3,769,695  $12.85  7.70

Stock options exercisable as of December 31, 2010

  3,503,596   $11.25    5.82  
                  

Stock options exercisable as of December 31, 2008

  1,741,932  $10.30  6.20
         

The following table summarizes the compensation expense recognized for stock option awards during the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 (amounts in thousands):

   Years ended December 31, 
   2010   2009   2008 

General and administrative expense

  $4,047    $4,290    $3,085  

Operating costs

   500     971     871  
               
  $4,547    $5,261    $3,956  
               

At December 31, 2008,2010, the aggregate intrinsic value of stock options outstanding was $0.9$9.9 million and the aggregate intrinsic value of stock options exercisable was $0.9$5.0 million. Intrinsic value is the difference between the exercise price of a stock option and the closing market price of our common stock, which was $5.57$8.81 on December 31, 2008.2010.

The following table summarizes our nonvested stock option activity from MarchDecember 31, 20072008 through December 31, 2008:2010:

 

  Number of
Shares
 Weighted-Average
Grant-Date
Fair Value
  Number of
Shares
 Weighted-Average
Grant-Date

Fair Value
Per Share
 

Nonvested stock options as of March 31, 2007

  880,666  $5.48

Nonvested stock options as of December 31, 2008

   2,027,763   $5.74  

Granted

  931,500   5.84   1,526,550    2.09  

Vested

  (253,324)  5.49   (831,539  5.62  

Forfeited

  (55,001)  5.89   (185,300  4.73  
             

Nonvested stock options as of December 31, 2007

  1,503,841  $5.64

Nonvested stock options as of December 31, 2009

   2,537,474   $3.65  

Granted

  1,460,764   5.67   787,200    4.91  

Vested

  (627,993)  5.63   (1,115,991  4.19  

Forfeited

  (308,849)  5.17   (24,000  3.34  
             

Nonvested stock options as of December 31, 2008

  2,027,763  $5.74

Nonvested stock options as of December 31, 2010

   2,184,683   $3.83  
             

At December 31, 2010, there was $2.4 million of unrecognized compensation cost relating to stock options which are expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.4 years.

During the year ended December 31, 2010, employees exercised stock options for the purchase of 63,900 shares of common stock at prices ranging from $3.67 to $4.77 per share. Employees did not exercise any stock options during the year ending December 31, 2009. Employees exercised stock options for the purchase of 170,054 shares of common stock at prices ranging from $3.67 to $10.31 per share during the year December 31, 2008. We receive a tax deduction for certain stock option exercises during the period the options are exercised, generally for the excess of the fair market value of our stock on the date of exercise over the exercise price of the options. In accordance with ASC Topic 718, we reported all excess tax benefits resulting from the exercise of stock options as financing cash flows in our consolidated statement of cash flows.

On February 2, 2011, our Board of Directors approved the grant of stock options representing 597,298 shares of common stock to officers and employees that will vest over a three-year period.

Restricted Stock

We grant restricted stock awards that vest over a three-year period with a fair value based on the closing price of our common stock on the date of the grant. When restricted stock awards are granted, shares of our common stock are considered issued, but subject to certain restrictions.

The following table summarizes our restricted stock activity from December 31, 20072008 through December 31, 2008:2010:

 

  Number
of Shares
 Weighted-Average
Grant-Date Fair
Value per Share
  Number of
Shares
 Weighted-Average
Grant-Date

Fair  Value per Share
 

Nonvested restricted stock as of December 31, 2007

  —    $—  

Nonvested restricted stock as of December 31, 2008

   173,866   $17.07  

Granted

  178,261   17.07   326,748    4.23  

Vested

  (3,645)  17.07   (54,956  17.07  

Forfeited

  (750)  17.07   (18,300  11.86  
             

Nonvested restricted stock as of December 31, 2008

  173,866  $17.07

Nonvested restricted stock as of December 31, 2009

   427,358   $7.48  

Granted

   66,224    6.04  

Vested

   (160,223  8.52  

Forfeited

   (3,700  9.20  
             

Nonvested restricted stock as of December 31, 2010

   329,659   $6.66  
       

The 178,261following table summarizes the compensation expense recognized for restricted stock awards granted during the yearyears ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 were the first restricted stock awards granted under our stock based award plans. (amounts in thousands):

   Years ended December 31, 
   2010   2009   2008 

General and administrative expense

  $1,119    $1,641    $532  

Operating costs

   145     314     109  
               
  $1,264    $1,955    $641  
               

At December 31, 2008,2010, there was $2.2$0.7 million of unrecognized compensation cost relating to restricted stock awards which are expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.651.4 years.

Restricted Stock Units

We grant restricted stock unit awards with vesting based on time of service conditions only, and we grant restricted stock unit awards with vesting based on time of service and performance conditions. Shares of our common stock are issued to recipients of restricted stock units only when they have satisfied the applicable vesting conditions.

During the year ended December 31, 2010, we granted restricted stock unit awards with vesting based on time of service conditions. These restricted stock unit awards vest over a three-year period and represent 72,120 shares of common stock. The fair value of these restricted stock unit awards is based on the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant.

During the year ended December 31, 2010, we also granted restricted stock unit awards with vesting based on time of service and performance conditions. These restricted stock unit awards vest over a three-year period. The fair value of these restricted stock unit awards is computed based on the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant and the estimated number of shares of common stock. The estimated number of shares of

common stock will be adjusted based on our actual achievement levels that are measured against predetermined performance conditions. Compensation cost ultimately recognized is equal to the fair value of the restricted stock unit award based on the actual outcome of the service and performance conditions.

We did not grant any restricted stock unit awards prior to 2010. The following table summarizes our restricted stock unit activity from December 31, 2009 through December 31, 2010:

  Time-Based Award  Performance-Based Award 
  Number of
Time-Based
Award Units
  Weighted-Average
Grant-Date

Fair Value per Unit
  Number of
Performance-Based
Award Units
  Weighted-Average
Grant-Date

Fair Value per Unit
 

Nonvested restricted stock units as of December 31, 2009

  —     $—      —     $—    

Granted

  72,120    8.86    194,680    8.86  

Vested

  —      —      —      —    

Forfeited

  (5,040  8.86    (2,160  8.86  
                

Nonvested restricted stock units as of December 31, 2010

  67,080   $8.86    192,520   $8.86  
                

As of December 31, 2010, we estimated that our actual achievement level will be 80% of the predetermined performance conditions. Therefore, the outstanding 192,520 restricted stock units would be adjusted to represent 154,016 shares of our common stock.

The following table summarizes the compensation expense recognized for restricted stock unit awards during the year ended December 31, 2010 (amounts in thousands):

   Year ended
December 31, 2010
 

General and administrative expense

  $748  

Operating costs

   116  
     
  $864  
     

At December 31, 2010, there was $0.9 million of unrecognized compensation cost relating to restricted stock unit awards which are expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.1 years.

On February 2, 2011, our Board of Directors approved the grant of restricted stock units representing 249,382 shares of common stock to officers and employees that will vest over a three-year period.

 

10.9.

Employee Benefit Plans and Insurance

We maintain a 401(k) retirement plan for our eligible employees. Under this plan, we may make a matching contribution, on a discretionary basis, equal to a percentage of each eligible employee’s annual contribution, which we determine annually. Our matching contributions for the yearyears ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 the nine months ended December 31, 2007 and the year ended March 31, 2007 were $1.8$0.9 million, $0.8$0.7 million and $1.0$1.8 million, respectively.

We maintain a self-insurance program, for major medical, hospitalization and dental coverage for employees and their dependents, which is partially funded by employee payroll deductions. We have provided for both reported and incurred but not reported medical costs in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. WeAs of January 1, 2011, we have a maximum liability of $125,000$150,000 per employee/dependent per year, except for individuals employed by our Production Services Division where we had no deductibleup from

$125,000 during the period ended December 31, 2008.2010. Amounts in excess of the stated maximum are covered under a separate policy provided by an insurance company. Accrued expenses—payrollPayroll and employee related costscost accruals at December 31, 20082010 and December 31, 20072009 include $1.1$1.5 million and $0.8$1.0 million, respectively, for our estimate of incurred but unpaid costs related to the self-insurance portion of our health insurance.

We are self-insured for up to $500,000 per incident for all workers’ compensation claims submitted by employees for on-the-job injuries, except in North Dakota where there is no deductible. Our deductible under workers’ compensation insurance increased from $250,000 in October 2007.injuries. We have deductibles of $250,000 and $100,000 per occurrence under our general liability insurance and auto liability insurance, respectively. We accrue our workers’ compensation claim cost estimates based on historical claims development data and we accrue the cost of administrative services associated with claims processing. Accrued expenses—insuranceInsurance premiums and deductibles accruals at December 31, 20082010 and December 31, 20072009 include $9.6$6.6 million and $8.6$7.0 million, respectively, for our estimate of costs relative to the self-insured portion of our workers’ compensation, general liability and auto liability insurance. Based upon our past experience, management believes that we have adequately provided for potential losses. However, future multiple occurrences of serious injuries to employees could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations.

 

11.10.

Segment Information

At December 31, 2008,2010, we had two operating segments referred to as the Drilling Services Division and the Production Services Division which is the basis management uses for making operating decisions and assessing performance. Prior to our acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE and Competition on

March 1, 2008, all our operations related to the Drilling Services Division and we reported these operations in a single operating segment. The acquisitions of the production services businesses from WEDGE and Competition resulted in the formation of our Production Services Division. SeeDivision (see Note 2.2,Acquisitions).

Drilling Services DivisionDivision—Our Drilling Services Division provides contract land drilling services with its fleet of 7071 drilling rigs in the following locations:

 

Drilling Division Locations

  Rig
Count

South Texas

  1719

East Texas

  2213

West Texas

3

North Dakota

9

North Texas

  93

Utah

  6

North Dakota

3
  6

Oklahoma

  56

Appalachia

7

Colombia

  58

Production Services Division—Our Production Services Division provides a broad range of well services to oil and gas drillingexploration and producingproduction companies, including workoverwell services, wireline services, and fishing and rental services. Our production services operations are managed regionally and arethrough locations concentrated in the major United States onshore oil and gas producing regions in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and Rocky Mountain and Appalachian states. We have a premium fleet of 74 workover75 well service rigs consisting of sixty-nineseventy 550 horseposewerhorsepower rigs, four 600 horsepower rigs and one 400 horsepower rig. We provide wireline services with a fleet of 5986 wireline units and rental services with approximately $15$13.5 million of fishing and rental tools.

The following tables set forth certain financial information for our two operating segments and corporate as of and for the year ended December 31, 20082010 (amounts in thousands):

 

  As of and for the Year Ended December 31, 2008  As of and for the Year Ended December 31, 2010 
  Drilling
Services
Division
  Production
Services
Division
  Corporate  Total  Drilling
Services
Division
   Production
Services
Division
   Corporate   Total 

Identifiable assets

  $567,956  $232,063  $24,460  $824,479  $542,242    $261,777    $37,324    $841,343  
                            

Revenues

  $456,890  $153,994  $—    $610,884  $312,196    $175,014    $—      $487,210  

Operating costs

   269,846   80,097   —     349,943   227,136     105,295     —       332,431  
                            

Segment margin

  $187,044  $73,897  $—    $260,941  $85,060    $69,719    $—      $154,779  
                            

Depreciation and amortization

  $66,270  $21,441  $434  $88,145  $92,800    $26,740    $1,271    $120,811  

Capital expenditures

  $107,344  $38,921  $1,831  $148,096  $109,261    $25,411    $479    $135,151  

The following tables set forth certain financial information for our two operating segments and corporate as of and for the year ended December 31, 2009 (amounts in thousands):

   As of and for the Year Ended December 31, 2009 
   Drilling
Services
Division
   Production
Services
Division
   Corporate   Total 

Identifiable assets

  $536,858    $234,920    $53,177    $824,955  
                    

Revenues

  $219,751    $105,786    $—      $325,537  

Operating costs

   147,343     68,012     —       215,355  
                    

Segment margin

  $72,408    $37,774    $—      $110,182  
                    

Depreciation and amortization

  $81,078    $23,893    $1,215    $106,186  

Capital expenditures

  $94,887    $15,162    $404    $110,453  

The following table reconciles the segment profits reported above to income from operations as reported on the condensed consolidated statements of operations for the yearyears ended December 31, 20082010 and 2009 (amounts in thousands):

 

   Year Ended
December 31, 2008
 

Segment margin

  $260,941 

Depreciation and amortization

   (88,145)

Selling, general and administrative

   (44,834)

Bad debt (expense) recovery

   (423)

Impairment of goodwill

   (118,646)

Impairment of intangible assets

   (52,847)
     

Loss from operations

  $(43,954)
     

   Year Ended
December 31, 2010
  Year Ended
December 31,  2009
 

Segment margin

  $154,779   $110,182  

Depreciation and amortization

   (120,811  (106,186

General and administrative

   (52,047  (37,478

Bad debt (expense) recovery

   (493  1,642  
         

Loss from operations

  $(18,572 $(31,840
         

The following table sets forth certain financial information for our international operations in Colombia as of and for the yearyears ended December 31, 20082010 and 2009 which is included in our Drilling Services Division (amounts in thousands):

 

  As of and for the
Year Ended
December 31, 2008
  As of and
for the
Year Ended
December 31, 2010
   As of and
for the
Year Ended
December 31, 2009
 

Identifiable assets

  $107,927  $157,509    $120,319  
           

Revenues

  $51,414  $86,432    $56,617  
           

Identifiable assets as of December 31, 2010 include five drilling rigs that are owned by our Colombia subsidiary and three drilling rigs that are owned by one of our domestic subsidiaries and leased to our Colombia subsidiary. Identifiable assets as of December 31, 2009 include five drilling rigs that are owned by our Colombia subsidiary and one drilling rigs that is owned by one of our domestic subsidiaries and leased to our Colombia subsidiary.

 

12.11.

Commitments and Contingencies

In connection with our expansion into international markets, our foreign subsidiaries have obtained bonds for bidding on drilling contracts, performing under drilling contracts, and remitting customs and importation duties. We have guaranteed payments of $36.2$62.8 million relating to our performance under these bonds.

The Colombian government enacted a tax reform act which, among other things, adopted a one-time, net-worth tax for all Colombian entities. The tax is assessed on an entity’s net equity, measured on a Colombian tax basis as of January 1, 2011, and is payable in eight semi-annual installments from 2011 through 2014. Based on our Colombian operations’ net equity, as defined, we estimate that our total net-worth tax obligation is approximately $7.3 million, which is not deductible for tax purposes. In addition, dueJanuary 2011, the actual net-worth tax obligation will be recognized in full in other expense in our consolidated statement of operations and in other accrued expenses and other long-term liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet.

Due to the nature of our business, we are, from time to time, involved in routine litigation or subject to disputes or claims related to our business activities, including workers’ compensation claims and employment-related disputes. Legal costs relating to these matters are expensed as incurred. In the opinion of our management, none of the pending litigation, disputes or claims against us will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flow from operations and there is only a remote possibility that any such matter will require any additional loss accrual.operations.

 

13.12.

Quarterly Results of Operations (unaudited)

The following table summarizes quarterly financial data for the yearyears ended December 31, 20082010 and the nine months ended December 31, 20072009 (in thousands, except per share data):

 

Year Ended December 31, 2008 (1) (2)

  First
Quarter
 Second
Quarter
 Third
Quarter
 Fourth
Quarter
 Total 

Year Ended December 31, 2010

  First
Quarter
 Second
Quarter
 Third
Quarter
 Fourth
Quarter
 Total 

Revenues

  $113,397  $152,547  $174,245  $170,695  $610,884   $86,021   $117,027   $135,544   $148,618   $487,210  

Income (loss) from operations

   17,995   33,716   42,073   (137,738)  (43,954)   (20,116  (7,856  2,536    6,864    (18,572

Income tax (expense) benefit

   (6,250)  (9,609)  (12,760)  22,562   (6,057)   9,159    4,498    1,612    (972  14,297  

Net loss

   (14,547  (10,142  (2,580  (5,992  (33,261

Loss per share:

      

Basic

  $(0.27 $(0.19 $(0.05 $(0.11 $(0.62

Diluted

  $(0.27 $(0.19 $(0.05 $(0.11 $(0.62

Year Ended December 31, 2009

            

Revenues

  $100,840   $69,120   $74,366   $81,211   $325,537  

Income (loss) from operations

   2,857    (9,273  (12,022  (13,402  (31,840

Income tax expense

   180    3,547    4,406    8,824    16,957  

Net earnings (loss)

   11,848   19,117   24,194   (117,904)  (62,745)   618    (6,259  (9,190  (8,384  (23,215

Earnings (loss) per share:

            

Basic

  $0.24  $0.38  $0.49  $(2.37) $(1.26)  $0.01   $(0.13 $(0.18 $(0.16 $(0.46

Diluted (3)

  $0.24  $0.38  $0.48  $(2.37) $(1.26)

Nine Months Ended December 31, 2007

            

Revenues

  $102,779  $106,516  $104,589  $—    $313,884 

Income from operations

   19,569   17,307   18,384   —     55,260 

Income tax expense

   (7,362)  (6,255)  (4,512)  —     (18,129)

Net earnings

   13,088   11,780   14,777   —     39,645 

Earnings per share:

      

Basic

  $0.26  $0.24  $0.30  $—    $0.80 

Diluted (3)

  $0.26  $0.23  $0.29  $—    $0.79 

Diluted

  $0.01   $(0.13 $(0.18 $(0.16 $(0.46

(1)13.

Our quarterly results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2008 include the results of operations relating to acquisitions of WEDGE and Competition, both of which occurred on March 1, 2008. See note 2.Guarantor/Non-Guarantor Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

Our Senior Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed, jointly and severally, on a senior unsecured basis by our existing domestic subsidiaries, except for Pioneer Services Holdings, LLC, and certain of our future domestic subsidiaries. The subsidiaries that generally operate our non-U.S. business concentrated in Colombia do not guarantee our Senior Notes. The non-guarantor subsidiaries do not have any payment obligations under the Senior Notes, the guarantees or the Indenture. In the event of a bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization of any non-guarantor subsidiary, such non-guarantor subsidiary will pay the holders of its debt and other liabilities, including its trade creditors, before it will be able to distribute any of its assets to us. In the future, any non-U.S. subsidiaries, immaterial subsidiaries and subsidiaries that we designate as unrestricted subsidiaries under the Indenture will not guarantee the Senior Notes. As of December 31, 2010, there were no restrictions on the ability of subsidiary guarantors to transfer funds to the parent company.

(2)

Our quarterly results of operations for the fourth quarter of the year ended December 31, 2008 reflect the impact of a goodwill impairment charge of $118.6 million and an intangible asset impairment charge of $52.8 million. See note 1.

As a result of the guarantee arrangements, we are presenting the following condensed consolidated balance sheets, statements of operations and statements of cash flows of the issuer, the guarantor subsidiaries and the non-guarantor subsidiaries.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Unaudited, in thousands)

 

(3)

Due to the effects of rounding, the sum of quarterly earnings per share does not equal total earnings per share for the fiscal year.

  December 31, 2010 
  Parent  Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Non-Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Eliminations  Consolidated 

ASSETS

     

Current assets:

     

Cash and cash equivalents

 $15,737   $(1,840 $8,114   $—     $22,011  

Short-term investments

  12,569    —      —      —      12,569  

Receivables

  —      78,575    10,940    —      89,515  

Intercompany receivable (payable)

  (80,900  80,942    (42  —      —    

Deferred income taxes

  178    4,167    5,522    —      9,867  

Inventory

  —      2,874    6,149    —      9,023  

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

  263    4,604    3,930    —      8,797  
                    

Total current assets

  (52,153  169,322    34,613    —      151,782  
                    

Net property and equipment

  1,601    562,390    92,267    (750  655,508  

Investment in subsidiaries

  714,292    114,483    —      (828,775  —    

Intangible assets, net of amortization

  235    21,731    —      —      21,966  

Noncurrent deferred income taxes

  14,632    —      —      (14,632  —    

Other long-term assets

  6,739    2,844    2,504    —      12,087  
                    

Total assets

 $685,346   $870,770   $129,384   $(844,157 $841,343  
                    

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

     

Current liabilities:

     

Accounts payable

 $242   $20,134   $6,553    —     $26,929  

Current portion of long-term debt

  63    1,345    —      —      1,408  

Prepaid drilling contracts

  —      1,000    2,669    —      3,669  

Accrued expenses

  9,861    30,786    2,987    —      43,634  
                    

Total current liabilities

  10,166    53,265    12,209    —      75,640  

Long-term debt, less current portion

  277,830    1,700    —      —      279,530  

Other long-term liabilities

  267    6,744    2,669    —      9,680  

Deferred income taxes

  —      94,769    23    (14,632  80,160  
                    

Total liabilities

  288,263    156,478    14,901    (14,632  445,010  

Total shareholders’ equity

  397,083    714,292    114,483    (829,525  396,333  
                    

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity

 $685,346   $870,770   $129,384   $(844,157 $841,343  
                    
  December 31, 2009 
  Parent  Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Non-Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Eliminations  Consolidated 

ASSETS

     

Current assets:

     

Cash and cash equivalents

 $33,352   $(2,716 $9,743   $—     $40,379  

Receivables

  —      76,490    4,977    —      81,467  

Intercompany receivable (payable)

  (86,442  86,663    (221  —      —    

Deferred income taxes

  —      3,909    1,651    —      5,560  

Inventory

  —      1,791    3,744    —      5,535  

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

  224    4,008    1,967    —      6,199  
                    

Total current assets

  (52,866  170,145    21,861    —      139,140  
                    

Net property and equipment

  1,898    550,730    85,143    (749  637,022  

Investment in subsidiaries

  712,720    104,256    —      (816,976  —    

Intangible assets, net of amortization

  698    24,695    —      —      25,393  

Noncurrent deferred income taxes

  980    11    2,339    (991  2,339  

Long-term investments

  13,228    —      —      —      13,228  

Other long-term assets

  3,779    3,561    493    —      7,833  
                    

Total assets

 $680,437   $853,398   $109,836   $(818,716 $824,955  
                    

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

     

Current liabilities:

     

Accounts payable

 $286   $12,277   $2,761   $—     $15,324  

Current portion of long-term debt

  2,100    1,941    —      —      4,041  

Prepaid drilling contracts

  —      324    84    —      408  

Accrued expenses

  226    26,070    2,735    —      29,031  
                    

Total current liabilities

  2,612    40,612    5,580    —      48,804  

Long-term debt, less current portion

  255,628    2,445    —      —      258,073  

Other long-term liabilities

  —      6,457    —      —      6,457  

Deferred income taxes

  —      91,164    —      (991  90,173  
                    

Total liabilities

  258,240    140,678    5,580    (991  403,507  

Total shareholders’ equity

  422,197    712,720    104,256    (817,725  421,448  
                    

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity

 $680,437   $853,398   $109,836   $(818,716 $824,955  
                    

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited, in thousands)

   Year Ended December 31, 2010 
   Parent  Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Non-Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Eliminations  Consolidated 

Revenues:

  $—     $400,778   $86,432   $—     $487,210  
                     

Costs and expenses:

      

Operating costs

   —      263,649    68,782    —      332,431  

Depreciation and amortization

   1,271    109,971    9,569    —      120,811  

General and administrative

   15,337    34,177    2,959    (426  52,047  

Intercompany leasing

   —      (4,323  4,323    —      —    

Bad debt recovery

   —      493    —      —      493  
                     

Total costs and expenses

   16,608    403,967    85,633    (426  505,782  
                     

Income (loss) from operations

   (16,608  (3,189  799    426    (18,572
                     

Other income (expense):

      

Equity in earnings of subsidiaries

   (1,982  1,335    —      647    —    

Interest expense

   (26,240  (399  (20  —      (26,659

Interest income

   —      66    26    —      92  

Impairment of investments

   (3,331  —      —      —      (3,331

Other

   —      953    385    (426  912  
                     

Total other income (expense)

   (31,553  1,955    391    221    (28,986
                     

Income (loss) before income taxes

   (48,161  (1,234  1,190    647    (47,558

Income tax benefit (expense)

   14,900    (748  145    —      14,297  
                     

Net earnings (loss)

  $(33,261 $(1,982 $1,335   $647   $(33,261
                     
   Year Ended December 31, 2009 
   Parent  Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Non-Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Eliminations  Consolidated 

Revenues:

  $—     $268,920   $56,617   $—     $325,537  
                     

Costs and expenses:

      

Operating costs

   —      174,579    41,091    (315  215,355  

Depreciation and amortization

   1,215    97,015    7,956    —      106,186  

General and administrative

   12,222    25,293    1,379    (1,416  37,478  

Bad debt recovery

   —      (1,642  —      —      (1,642
                     

Total costs and expenses

   13,437    295,245    50,426    (1,731  357,377  
                     

Income (loss) from operations

   (13,437  (26,325  6,191    1,731    (31,840
                     

Other income (expense):

      

Equity in earnings of subsidiaries

   (2,250  9,245    —      (6,995  —    

Interest expense

   (8,585  (555  (5  —      (9,145

Interest income

   1    111    105    —      217  

Other

   1,056    1,362    (91  (1,731  596  
                     

Total other income (expense)

   (9,778  10,163    9    (8,726  (8,332
                     

Income (loss) before income taxes

   (23,215  (16,162  6,200    (6,995  (40,172

Income tax benefit (expense)

   —      13,912    3,045    —      16,957  
                     

Net earnings (loss)

  $(23,215 $(2,250 $9,245   $(6,995 $(23,215
                     
   Year Ended December 31, 2008 
   Parent  Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Non-Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Eliminations  Consolidated 

Revenues:

  $—     $559,470   $51,414   $—     $610,884  
                     

Costs and expenses:

      

Operating costs

   —      313,319    37,254    (630  349,943  

Depreciation and amortization

   830    82,252    5,063    —      88,145  

General and administrative

   17,483    27,011    1,435    (1,095  44,834  

Bad debt recovery

   —      423    —      —      423  

Impairment of goodwill

   —      118,646    —      —      118,646  

Impairment of intangible assets

   —      52,847    —      —      52,847  
                     

Total costs and expenses

   18,313    594,498    43,752    (1,725  654,838  
                     

Income (loss) from operations

   (18,313  (35,028  7,662    1,725    (43,954
                     

Other income (expense):

      

Equity in earnings of subsidiaries

   (32,531  5,483    —      27,048    —    

Interest expense

   (12,523  (547  (2  —      (13,072

Interest income

   5    1,143    108    —      1,256  

Other

   675    1,647    (1,451  (1,789  (918
                     

Total other income (expense)

   (44,374  7,726    (1,345  25,259    (12,734
                     

Income (loss) before income taxes

   (62,687  (27,302  6,317    26,984    (56,688

Income tax benefit (expense)

   6    (5,229  (834  —      (6,057
                     

Net earnings (loss)

  $(62,681 $(32,531 $5,483   $26,984   $(62,745
                     

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited, in thousands)

   Year Ended December 31, 2010 
   Parent  Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Non-Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Eliminations   Consolidated 

Cash flows from operating activities:

  $31,841   $115,650   $14,542   $—      $98,351  
                      

Cash flows from investing activities:

       

Acquisition of other production services businesses

   —      (1,340  —      —       (1,340

Purchases of property and equipment

   (478  (114,313  (16,212  —       (131,003

Proceeds from sale of property and equipment

   —      2,290    41    —       2,331  

Proceeds from insurance recoveries

   —      531    —      —       531  
                      
   (478  (112,832  (16,171  —       (129,481
                      

Cash flows from financing activities:

       

Debt repayments

   (254,914  (1,942  —      —       (256,856

Proceeds from issuance of debt

   274,375    —      —      —       274,375  

Debt issuance costs

   (4,865  —      —      —       (4,865

Proceeds from exercise of options

   238    —      —      —       238  

Purchase of treasury stock

   (130  —      —      —       (130
                      
   14,704    (1,942  —      —       12,762  
                      

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

   17,615    876    (1,629  —       (18,368

Beginning cash and cash equivalents

   33,352    (2,716  9,743    —       40,379  
                      

Ending cash and cash equivalents

  $15,737   $(1,840 $8,114   $—      $22,011  
                      
   Year Ended December 31, 2009 
   Parent  Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Non-Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Eliminations   Consolidated 

Cash flows from operating activities:

  $26,598   $91,432   $5,283   $—      $123,313  
                      

Cash flows from investing activities:

       

Purchases of property and equipment

   (404  (106,628  (7,680  —       (114,712

Proceeds from sale of property and equipment

   —      694    73    —       767  

Proceeds from insurance recoveries

   —      36    —      —       36  
                      
   (404  (105,898  (7,607  —       (113,909
                      

Cash flows from financing activities:

       

Debt repayments

   (15,152  (2,146  —      —       (17,298

Debt issuance costs

   (2,560  —      —      —       (2,560

Proceeds from common stock, net of offering costs of $454

   24,043    —      —      —       24,043  

Purchase of treasury stock

   (31  —      —      —       (31
                      
   6,300    (2,146  —      —       4,154  
                      

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

   32,494    (16,612  (2,324  —       13,558  

Beginning cash and cash equivalents

   858    13,896    12,067    —       26,821  
                      

Ending cash and cash equivalents

  $33,352   $(2,716 $9,743   $—      $40,379  
                      
   Year Ended December 31, 2008 
   Parent  Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Non-Guarantor
Subsidiaries
  Eliminations   Consolidated 

Cash flows from operating activities:

  $98,637   $71,444   $16,554   $—      $186,635  
                      

Cash flows from investing activities:

       

Acquisition of production services business of WEDGE

   (313,621  —      —      —       (313,621

Acquisition of production services business of Competition

   (26,772  —      —      —       (26,772

Acquisition of other production services businesses

   (9,301  —      —      —       (9,301

Purchases of property and equipment

   (1,831  (133,598  (12,026  —       (147,455

Purchase of auction rate securities, net

   (15,900  —      —      —       (15,900

Proceeds from sale of property and equipment

   —      4,008    —      —       4,008  

Proceeds from insurance recoveries

   —      3,426    —      —       3,426  
                      
   (367,425  (126,164  (12,026  —       (505,615
                      

Cash flows from financing activities:

       

Debt repayments

   (87,305  (462  —      —       (87,767

Proceeds from issuance of debt

   359,400    —      —      —       359,400  

Debt issuance costs

   (3,319  —      —      —       (3,319

Proceeds from exercise of options

   784    —      —      —       784  
                      
   269,560    (462  —      —       269,098  
                      

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

   772    (55,182  4,528    —       (49,882

Beginning cash and cash equivalents

   86    69,078    7,539    —       76,703  
                      

Ending cash and cash equivalents

  $858   $13,896   $12,067   $—      $26,821  
                      

Item 9.Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

Not applicable.

 

Item 9A.Controls and Procedures

In accordance with Exchange Act Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 20082010, to provide reasonable assuranceensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is (1) recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms.forms and (2) accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

There has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the three months ended December 31, 20082010 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

We completed the acquisitions of the production services businesses of WEDGE, Competition, Paltec and Pettus during 2008. We are in the process of transferring accounting processes for the new acquisition to our headquarters and into our existing internal control processes. The integration will lead to changes in these internal controls in future fiscal periods, but we do not expect these changes to materially affect our internal controls over financial reporting. Consistent with published guidance of the SEC, our management excluded from its assessment of the effectiveness of Pioneer Drilling Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008, the internal control over financial reporting for WEDGE, Competition, Paltec and Pettus associated with total assets of $232.1 million and total revenues of $154.0 million included in the consolidated financial statement amounts of Pioneer Drilling Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2008. We will include these acquired companies in the scope of our assessment of internal control over financial reporting for the year ending December 31, 2009.

Investigation by the Special Subcommittee of the Board of Directors

On May 12, 2008, the Company announced a delay in filing its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 (the “Quarterly Report”), as a result of certain questions raised with respect to the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. On May 15, 2008, the Board of Directors formed a special subcommittee of the Board (the “Special Committee”) to investigate the questions raised regarding the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and to determine whether such weaknesses, if any, have materially affected the Company’s financial statements The Special Committee engaged Bracewell & Giuliani LLP (“Bracewell”), as independent legal counsel, and Deloitte & Touche LLP (“Deloitte”), as independent forensic accountants, to assist in the investigation.

In July 2008, after an extensive document review and interviewing relevant current and former employees and vendors, Bracewell presented their report to the Special Committee. After consideration of the report, the Special Committee then met with the Board of Directors, at which meeting Bracewell also presented its report to the Board of Directors, to discuss the report and present the Special Committee’s recommendations.

After reviewing the report, the Special Committee and the Board of Directors concluded that they were not aware of any facts that caused them to believe that there was any material misstatement of the Company’s historical financial statements or in the financial statements proposed to be included in the Quarterly Report.

Furthermore, based on the Bracewell report, the Special Committee and the Board do not believe that the questions raised constituted a material weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. The Bracewell report, however, did identify certain control deficiencies and made recommendations, that have been adopted by the Board of Directors, to enhance the Company’s governance and control environment.

The Bracewell report noted some deficiencies in the Company’s manual process to record purchases and process expenditures, for both expense and capital expenditures. While there were certain compensating controls that mitigated the financial reporting risks associated with these deficiencies, the Bracewell report recommended that the Company implement a more effective systematic purchase order application integrated with the general ledger. Consistent with the recommendation in the Bracewell report, the Company intends to enhance its current process by expanding, upgrading, better systematizing and making prospective its current purchase order system.

The Bracewell report and the Special Committee’s review also noted the desirability to improve communications and more clearly delineate roles and responsibilities within the Company. As recommended in the Bracewell report, the Company has hired a general counsel and chief compliance officer, and intends to further define roles and responsibilities within the Company, and to undertake a series of training initiatives.

The Bracewell report also reviewed certain matters related to the Company’s Colombian operations. In light of the recent commencement of these operations and cultural and other issues involved in integrating them into the Company and its systems, including documentation procedures, the Bracewell report recommended, and the Board has already begun to focus on, additional oversight of these operations as the Company continues the intended expansion in this market.

Finally, the Board has directed management to consider and report back to the Board with respect to the implementation of additional controls and procedures. These include a disclosure committee comprised of representatives from operations, compliance and finance and accounting and a quarterly subcertification and management representation process with signoff by segment and service line operating executives and controllers, corporate accounting managers and other personnel involved in the financial reporting process. These processes should enhance internal accountability for our financial statements.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

The management of Pioneer Drilling Company is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Pioneer Drilling Company’sCompany'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’scompany'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 companyPioneer Drilling 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.

Pioneer Drilling Company’s management assessed the effectiveness of Pioneer Drilling Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008.2010. In making this assessment, it used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework. Based on our assessment we have concluded that, as of December 31, 2008,2010, Pioneer Drilling Company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective based on those criteria.

KPMG LLP, the independent registered public accounting firm that audited the consolidated financial statements of Pioneer Drilling Company included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, has issued an attestation report on the effectiveness of Pioneer Drilling Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008.2010. This report appears on page 57.

62.

Item 9B.Other Information

Not applicable.

PART III

In Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 below, we are incorporating by reference the information we refer to in those Items from the definitive proxy statement for our 20092011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. We intend to file that definitive proxy statement with the SEC byon or about April 10, 2009.8, 2011.

 

Item 10.Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

Please see the information appearing under the headings “Proposal 1—Election of Directors,” “Executive Officers,” “Information Concerning Meetings and Committees of the Board of Directors,” “Code of Conduct and Ethics” and “Section16(a)“Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance” in the definitive proxy statement for our 20092011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders for the information this Item 10 requires.

 

Item 11.Executive Compensation

Please see the information appearing under the headings “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” “Compensation of Directors,” “Compensation of Executive Officers,” “Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation” and “Compensation Committee Report” in the definitive proxy statement for our 20092011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders for the information this Item 11 requires.

 

Item 12.Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters

Please see the information appearing (1) under the headingheadings “Equity Compensation Plan Information” in Item 5 of Part II of this report and (2) under the heading “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” in the definitive proxy statement for our 20092011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders for the information this Item 12 requires.

 

Item 13.Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

Please see the information appearing under the headings “Proposal 1—Election of Directors” and “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions” in the definitive proxy statement for our 20092011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders for the information this Item 13 requires.

 

Item 14.Principal Accountant Fees and Services

Please see the information appearing under the heading “Proposal 2—Ratification of Appointment of Independent Auditors” in the definitive proxy statement for our 20092011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders for the information this Item 14 requires.

PART IV

 

Item 15.Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

(1) Financial Statements.

See Index to Consolidated Financial Statements on page 55.61.

Financial Statement Schedules.Schedules

No financial statement schedules are submitted because either they are inapplicable or because the required information is included in the consolidated financial statements or notes thereto.

(3) Exhibits. The following exhibits are filed as part of this report:

 

Exhibit
Number

     

Description

  2.1*  -  

Securities Purchase Agreement, dated January 31, 2008, by and among Pioneer Drilling Company, WEDGE Group Incorporated, WEDGE Energy Holdings, L.L.C., WEDGE Oil & Gas Services, L.L.C., Timothy Daley, John Patterson and Patrick Grissom (Form 8-K dated February 1, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 2.1)).

  2.2*  -  

Letter Agreement, dated February 29, 2008, amending the Securities Purchase Agreement, dated January 31, 2008, by and among Pioneer Drilling Company, WEDGE Group Incorporated, WEDGE Energy Holdings, L.L.C., WEDGE Oil & Gas Services, L.L.C., Timothy Daley, John Patterson and Patrick Grissom (Form 8-K dated March 3, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 2.1)).

  3.13.1*  -  

Restated Articles of Incorporation of Pioneer Drilling Company.Company (Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 3.1)).

  3.2*  -  

Amended and Restated Bylaws of Pioneer Drilling Company (Form 8-K dated December 15, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 3.1)).

  4.1*  -  

Form of Certificate representing Common Stock of Pioneer Drilling Company (Form S-8 filed November 18, 2003 (Reg. No. 333-110569, Exhibit 4.3)).

  4.2*  -  

Credit Agreement betweenIndenture, dated March 11, 2010, by and among Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd.Company, the subsidiary guarantors party thereto and FrostWells Fargo Bank, National Bank,Association, as Administrative Agent, Agent, Lead Arranger and Lender dated October 29, 2004trustee (Form 8-K dated November 2, 2004March 12, 2010, (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 4.1)).

  4.3*  -  

Second Amendment,Registration Rights Agreement, dated MayMarch 11, 2005, to Credit Agreement between2010, by and among Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd.Company, the subsidiary guarantors party thereto and Frost National Bank, as Administrative Agent, Lead Arranger and Lender dated October 29, 2004the initial purchasers party thereto (Form 8-K dated May 13, 2005March 12, 2010, (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 4.1)4.2)).

  4.4*10.1*  -  

Third Amendment,Purchase Agreement, dated October 25, 2005, to Credit Agreement betweenMarch 4, 2010, by and among Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd.Company, the subsidiary guarantors party thereto and Frost National Bank, as Administrative Agent, Lead Arranger and Lender dated October 29, 2004the initial purchasers party thereto (Form 8-K dated October 28, 2005March 5, 2010 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 4.1)10.1)).

  4.5*10.2*  -  

Fourth Amendment, dated December 15, 2005, to Credit Agreement between Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd. and Frost National Bank, as Administrative Agent, Lead Arranger and LenderCompany 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Long-Term Incentive Cash Award Agreement (Form 10-Q dated October 29, 2004 (Form 8-K dated December 16, 2005August 5, 2010 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 4.1)10.1)).

  4.6*10.3+*  -  

Fifth Amendment, dated October 30, 2006, to Credit Agreement between Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd. and Frost National Bank, as Administrative Agent, Lead Arranger and LenderCompany 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Long-Term Incentive Cash Award Agreement (Form 10-Q dated October 29, 2004 (Form 8-K dated October 31, 2006August 5, 2010 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 4.1)10.2)).

10.1+10.4+*-

Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Long-Term Incentive Restricted Stock Award Agreement (Form 10-Q dated August 5, 2010 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.3)).

10.5+*-

Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Restricted Stock Unit Agreement (Form 10-Q dated August 5, 2010 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.4)).

Exhibit
Number

Description

10.6+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd. Annual Incentive Compensation Plan dated August 5, 2005 (Form 8-K dated August 5, 2005 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.2+10.7+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Company Amended and Restated Key Executive Severance Plan dated December 10, 2007 (Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.4)).

10.3+10.8+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Company’s 1995 Stock Plan and form of Stock Option Agreement (Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2001 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.5)).

10.4+10.9+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Company’s 1999 Stock Plan and form of Stock Option Agreement (Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2001 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.7)).

10.5+10.10+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Company 2003 Stock Plan (Form S-8 filed November 18, 2003 (File No. 333-110569, Exhibit 4.4)).

10.6+10.11+*  -  

Amended and Restated Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan adopted May 16, 2008 (Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 200815, 2009 (Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A, filed April 10, 2009 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.5)Appendix A)).

Exhibit
Number

Description

10.7+10.12+*  -  

Joyce M. Schuldt Employment Letter, dated July 17,Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Stock Option Agreement (Form 8-K dated July 18, 2007September 4, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.8+10.13+*  -  

William D. Hibbetts Reassignment Letter, dated July 17,Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Employee Restricted Stock Award Agreement (Form 8-K dated July 18, 2007September 4, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.2)).

10.9+10.14+*-

Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Non-Employee Director Restricted Stock Award Agreement (Form 8-K dated September 4, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.3)).

10.15+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Company Form of Indemnification Agreement (Form 8-K dated August 8, 2007 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.10+10.16+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Company Employee Relocation Policy Executive Officers—Officers – Package A (Form 8-K dated August 8, 2007 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.3)).

10.11*10.17*  -  

Credit Agreement, dated February 29, 2008, among Pioneer Drilling Company, as Borrower, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, issuing lender, swing line lender and co-lead arranger, Fortis Bank SA/NV, New York Branch, as co-lead arranger, and each of the other parties listed therein (Form 8-K dated March 3, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.12*10.18*  -

First Amendment to Credit Agreement, dated as of October 5, 2009, among Pioneer Drilling Company, the lenders party thereto, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, issuing lender and swing line lender (Form 8-K dated October 6, 2009 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1))

10.19*-  

Waiver Agreement, dated as of June 9, 2008, among Pioneer Drilling Company, the guarantors party thereto, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, issuing lender and swing line lender, and each of the other financial institutions party thereto (Form 8-K dated June 11, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.13+10.20*-

Second Amendment to Credit Agreement, dated as of February 23, 2010, among Pioneer Drilling Company, the lenders party thereto, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, issuing lender and swing line lender (Form 8-K dated February 23, 2010 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.21+*  -  

Employment Letter, effective March 1, 2008, from Pioneer Drilling Company to Joseph B. Eustace (Form 8-K dated March 5, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.14+10.22+*  -  

Confidentiality and Non-Competition Agreement, dated February 29, 2008, by and between Pioneer Drilling Company, Pioneer Production Services, Inc. and Joe Eustace (Form 8-K dated March 5, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.2)).

10.15+

Exhibit
Number

Description

10.24+*  

Agreement between Joyce M. Schuldt and Pioneer Drilling Company, dated August 20, 2008 (Form 8-K dated August 21, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.16*

Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Stock Option Agreement (Form 8-K dated September 4, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.17*

Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Employee Restricted Stock Award Agreement (Form 8-K dated September 4, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.2)).

10.18*

Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Non-Employee Director Restricted Stock Award Agreement (Form 8-K dated September 4, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.3)).

10.19+*-  

Employment Letter Agreement, effective January 7, 2009, from Pioneer Drilling Company to Lorne E. Phillips (Form 8-K dated January 14, 2009 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

21.1  -  

Subsidiaries of Pioneer Drilling Company.

23.1  -  

Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.

31.1  -  

Certification by Wm. Stacy Locke, President and Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

31.2  -  

Certification by Lorne E. Phillips, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

32.1  -  

Certification by Wm. Stacy Locke, President and Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Subsections (a) and (b) of Section 1350, Chapter 63 of Title 18, United States Code).

32.2  -  

Certification by Lorne E. Phillips, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Subsections (a) and (b) of Section 1350, Chapter 63 of Title 18, United States Code).

 

*

Incorporated by reference to the filing indicated.

 

+

Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY

February 25, 200917, 2011

 

By: /s/BY: /S/    WM. STACY LOCKE        

 

Wm. Stacy Locke

Chief Executive Officer and President

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Signature

  

Title

 

Date

/s/S/    DEAN A. BURKHARDT        

Dean A. Burkhardt

  

Chairman

 February 25, 2009
Dean A. Burkhardt17, 2011

/s/S/    WM. STACY LOCKE        

Wm. Stacy Locke

  President, Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) February 25, 2009
Wm. Stacy Locke17, 2011

/s/S/    LORNE E. PHILLIPS        

Lorne E. Phillips

  

Executive Vice President and Chief

Financial Officer

 February 25, 2009
Lorne E. Phillips17, 2011

/s/S/    C. JOHN THOMPSON        

C. John Thompson

  

Director

 February 25, 2009
C. John Thompson17, 2011

/s/S/    JOHN MICHAEL RAUH        

John Michael Rauh

  

Director

 February 25, 2009
John Michael Rauh17, 2011

/s/S/    SCOTT D. URBAN        

Scott D. Urban

  

Director

 February 25, 2009
Scott D. Urban17, 2011

Exhibit
Number

     

Description

  2.1*  -  

Securities Purchase Agreement, dated January 31, 2008, by and among Pioneer Drilling Company, WEDGE Group Incorporated, WEDGE Energy Holdings, L.L.C., WEDGE Oil & Gas Services, L.L.C., Timothy Daley, John Patterson and Patrick Grissom (Form 8-K dated February 1, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 2.1)).

  2.2*  -  

Letter Agreement, dated February 29, 2008, amending the Securities Purchase Agreement, dated January 31, 2008, by and among Pioneer Drilling Company, WEDGE Group Incorporated, WEDGE Energy Holdings, L.L.C., WEDGE Oil & Gas Services, L.L.C., Timothy Daley, John Patterson and Patrick Grissom (Form 8-K dated March 3, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 2.1)).

  3.13.1*  -  

Restated Articles of Incorporation of Pioneer Drilling Company.Company (Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 3.1)).

  3.2*  -  

Amended and Restated Bylaws of Pioneer Drilling Company (Form 8-K dated December 15, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 3.1)).

  4.1*  -  

Form of Certificate representing Common Stock of Pioneer Drilling Company (Form S-8 filed November 18, 2003 (Reg. No. 333-110569, Exhibit 4.3)).

  4.2*  -  

Credit Agreement betweenIndenture, dated March 11, 2010, by and among Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd.Company, the subsidiary guarantors party thereto and FrostWells Fargo Bank, National Bank,Association, as Administrative Agent, Agent, Lead Arranger and Lender dated October 29, 2004trustee (Form 8-K dated November 2, 2004March 12, 2010, (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 4.1)).

  4.3*  -  

Second Amendment,Registration Rights Agreement, dated MayMarch 11, 2005, to Credit Agreement between2010, by and among Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd.Company, the subsidiary guarantors party thereto and Frost National Bank, as Administrative Agent, Lead Arranger and Lender dated October 29, 2004the initial purchasers party thereto (Form 8-K dated May 13, 2005March 12, 2010, (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 4.1)4.2)).

  4.4*10.1*  -  

Third Amendment,Purchase Agreement, dated October 25, 2005, to Credit Agreement betweenMarch 4, 2010, by and among Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd.Company, the subsidiary guarantors party thereto and Frost National Bank, as Administrative Agent, Lead Arranger and Lender dated October 29, 2004the initial purchasers party thereto (Form 8-K dated October 28, 2005March 5, 2010 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 4.1)10.1)).

  4.5*10.2*  -  

Fourth Amendment, dated December 15, 2005, to Credit Agreement between Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd. and Frost National Bank, as Administrative Agent, Lead Arranger and LenderCompany 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Long-Term Incentive Cash Award Agreement (Form 10-Q dated October 29, 2004 (Form 8-K dated December 16, 2005August 5, 2010 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 4.1)10.1)).

  4.6*10.3+*  -  

Fifth Amendment, dated October 30, 2006, to Credit Agreement between Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd. and Frost National Bank, as Administrative Agent, Lead Arranger and LenderCompany 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Long-Term Incentive Cash Award Agreement (Form 10-Q dated October 29, 2004 (Form 8-K dated October 31, 2006August 5, 2010 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 4.1)10.2)).

10.1+10.4+*-

Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Long-Term Incentive Restricted Stock Award Agreement (Form 10-Q dated August 5, 2010 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.3)).

10.5+*-

Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Restricted Stock Unit Agreement (Form 10-Q dated August 5, 2010 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.4)).

10.6+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd. Annual Incentive Compensation Plan dated August 5, 2005 (Form 8-K dated August 5, 2005 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.2+10.7+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Company Amended and Restated Key Executive Severance Plan dated December 10, 2007 (Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.4)).

10.3+10.8+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Company’s 1995 Stock Plan and form of Stock Option Agreement (Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2001 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.5)).

10.4+10.9+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Company’s 1999 Stock Plan and form of Stock Option Agreement (Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2001 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.7)).

10.5+

Exhibit
Number

Description

10.10+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Company 2003 Stock Plan (Form S-8 filed November 18, 2003 (File No. 333-110569, Exhibit 4.4)).

10.6+10.11+*  -  

Amended and Restated Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan adopted May 16, 2008 (Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 200815, 2009 (Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A, filed April 10, 2009 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.5)Appendix A)).

10.7+10.12+*  -  

Joyce M. Schuldt Employment Letter, dated July 17,Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Stock Option Agreement (Form 8-K dated July 18, 2007September 4, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

Exhibit
Number

Description

10.8+10.13+*  -  

William D. Hibbetts Reassignment Letter, dated July 17,Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Employee Restricted Stock Award Agreement (Form 8-K dated July 18, 2007September 4, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.2)).

10.9+10.14+*-

Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Non-Employee Director Restricted Stock Award Agreement (Form 8-K dated September 4, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.3)).

10.15+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Company Form of Indemnification Agreement (Form 8-K dated August 8, 2007 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.10+10.16+*  -  

Pioneer Drilling Company Employee Relocation Policy Executive Officers – Package A (Form 8-K dated August 8, 2007 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.3)).

10.11*10.17*  -  

Credit Agreement, dated February 29, 2008, among Pioneer Drilling Company, as Borrower, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, issuing lender, swing line lender and co-lead arranger, Fortis Bank SA/NV, New York Branch, as co-lead arranger, and each of the other parties listed therein (Form 8-K dated March 3, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.12*10.18*  -

First Amendment to Credit Agreement, dated as of October 5, 2009, among Pioneer Drilling Company, the lenders party thereto, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, issuing lender and swing line lender (Form 8-K dated October 6, 2009 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1))

10.19*-  

Waiver Agreement, dated as of June 9, 2008, among Pioneer Drilling Company, the guarantors party thereto, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, issuing lender and swing line lender, and each of the other financial institutions party thereto (Form 8-K dated June 11, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.13+10.20*-

Second Amendment to Credit Agreement, dated as of February 23, 2010, among Pioneer Drilling Company, the lenders party thereto, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, issuing lender and swing line lender (Form 8-K dated February 23, 2010 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.21+*  -  

Employment Letter, effective March 1, 2008, from Pioneer Drilling Company to Joseph B. Eustace (Form 8-K dated March 5, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.14+10.22+*  -  

Confidentiality and Non-Competition Agreement, dated February 29, 2008, by and between Pioneer Drilling Company, Pioneer Production Services, Inc. and Joe Eustace (Form 8-K dated March 5, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.2)).

10.15+10.24+*  

Agreement between Joyce M. Schuldt and Pioneer Drilling Company, dated August 20, 2008 (Form 8-K dated August 21, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.16*

Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Stock Option Agreement (Form 8-K dated September 4, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

10.17*

Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Employee Restricted Stock Award Agreement (Form 8-K dated September 4, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.2)).

10.18*

Pioneer Drilling Company 2007 Incentive Plan Form of Non-Employee Director Restricted Stock Award Agreement (Form 8-K dated September 4, 2008 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.3)).

10.19+*-  

Employment Letter Agreement, effective January 7, 2009, from Pioneer Drilling Company to Lorne E. Phillips (Form 8-K dated January 14, 2009 (File No. 1-8182, Exhibit 10.1)).

21.1  -  

Subsidiaries of Pioneer Drilling Company.

23.1  -  

Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.

31.1  -  

Certification by Wm. Stacy Locke, President and Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Exhibit
Number

Description

31.2  -  

Certification by Lorne E. Phillips, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

32.1  -  

Certification by Wm. Stacy Locke, President and Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Subsections (a) and (b) of Section 1350, Chapter 63 of Title 18, United States Code).

32.2  -  

Certification by Lorne E. Phillips, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Subsections (a) and (b) of Section 1350, Chapter 63 of Title 18, United States Code).

 

*

Incorporated by reference to the filing indicated.

 

+

Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

 

94108