Earnings Labs

Expro Group Holdings N.V. (XPRO)

Q4 2014 Earnings Call· Wed, Feb 25, 2015

$18.11

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good morning and welcome to the Frank's International Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2014 Earnings Call. My name is Brendon and I will be your operator for today. At this time all participants in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Please note, that this conference is being recorded. And I will now turn over to Thomas Dunavant. You may begin Sir.

Thomas Dunavant

Management

Good morning, everyone. And welcome to Frank's International's conference call to discuss fourth quarter and full year 2014 earnings. I am Thomas Dunavant, Manager of Finance and Investor Relations. Joining me on our call today are Keith Mosing, Executive Chairman; Gary Luquette, President and Chief Executive Officer; John Walker, Executive Vice President of Operations; and Jeff Bird, Executive Vice President and CFO. Before we begin commenting on fourth quarter and full year results, there are a few legal items that we would like to cover. First, remarks and answers to questions by the company representatives on today's call may refer to or contain forward-looking segments. Such remarks and answers are subject to risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements and such statements speak only as of today's date or if different as of the date specified. The company assumes no responsibility to update any forward-looking statements as of any future date. The company has included in its SEC filings cautionary language identifying important factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those set forth in any forward-looking statements. A more complete discussion of these risks is included in the company's SEC filings which may be accessed on the SEC’s website or on our website at www.franksinternational.com. Also you may access both the fourth quarter and full year earnings press release and a replay of this call on our website. Please note that any non-GAAP financial measures discussed during this call are defined and reconciled to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure in the fourth quarter and full year 2014 earnings release, which was issued by the company today and is available on our website. I will now turn the call over to Keith for his comments.

Keith Mosing

Management

Thank you, Thomas. Frank's has been run by the Mosing Family since it was founded 1938. My grandfather, my dad, and then I built a foundation that has allowed us to be a leader in our industry. We have grown from a one casing crew company to a corporation with our third consecutive year of $1 billion plus in revenue. During the national public offering, I mentioned how being a public company will allow us to retain current employees and track new employees that could help the company continue to grow, innovate, and exceed the expectations of our customer. As I thought about succession planning and who would lead the company after me, I was drawn to the experience of Gary Luquette. Soon after our IPO we asked Gary Luquette to join our board. He has 35 years of experience in the industry, and was a customer of Frank's while at Chevron. He recognizes and understands the value that Frank's offers to our customers. After serving on our board for the last year the topic was discussed about him taking the role of Chief Executive Officer. That brings us to today where I have the honor to introduce Gary Luquette who officially became Frank's International’s President and CEO last month. I will now serve as Executive Chairman. This will allow Gary to lead the business of our company while I continue to be involved in the establishment of our strategic direction. Lastly, we recently added Bill Barry to our board. Bill brings over 30 years of experience with Conoco Philips. He is a great addition and I look forward to his contributions to the board. With that, I'll turn the call over to Gary.

Gary Luquette

Management

Thank you, Keith. It's an honor to serve as CEO of a company with such a rich history of providing outstanding service to its customers. I have known Frank's for a long time and their reputation in the energy business is second to none. When I joined the board, I was eager to help the company make the transition to a public company. Then when Keith approached me about the opportunity to become CEO, I was excited to jump into action and lead the company and grow value for our customers, our shareholders, and employees. I want to thank Keith for placing his trust in me, I want to ensure him, the Mosing Family, and all of Frank's employees worldwide and our shareholders that I will endeavor to do my best to protect the great brand that has been established. As we look for opportunities to grow through innovation and help our customers improve the cost and the integrity of their wills, we will remain focused on ensuring that everyone stays safe while focusing on efficient and effective execution of the tasks at hand. 2014 was another record year for Frank's, we delivered over $1 billion in revenue, a 7% increase over the prior year. Our adjusted EBITDA was $450 million, a 3% increase over 2013. And our adjusted EBITDA margin was 39%. John Walker and Jeff Bird will provide a more detailed review of our quarter four and 2014 results following my remarks. Note, with the arrival of Jeff Bird, John Sinders will continue in his prior role of Executive Vice President of Administration. He will have responsibility for Corporate Development, Corporate Strategy, Investor Relations, and other administrative functions. Continuing on, I want to focus on what lies ahead. We are facing a lot of uncertainty given the current…

John Walker

Management

Thank you, Gary. We are very pleased with our fourth quarter and full year results. First, safety is our number one core value. In 2014 our total recordable incident rate or TRIR was 1.27, and our lost time incident rate or LTIR was 0.36. 2013 and 2014 have proven to be two of our safest years. Our key initiatives relating to leadership programs, no harm plans, and innovation of new technology has contributed to this reduction from prior years. We look for 2015 to be another year of safe performance as we focus on ensuring the safety of everyone. We continue to introduce new technology that aims to improve efficiency, increase safety and reduce the overall cost of wells to our customers. One recent introduced technology is our new breakout device; overtime completion tubulars might have to be replaced. In some scenarios completions left in wells for years in high temperature environment can require as much as twice the original makeup to breakout. Conventional power tones can crush the pipe at high breakout torques where the breakout device can accomplish this task without any damage. This device can reduce the time to complete the job, it can yield substantial cost savings to our customers by salvaging tubulars that would have otherwise incurred extensive recuts of threads or been lost all together due to being crushed. Congratulations to our technology group and all of our operations people for continuing to find ways to meet and exceed the needs of our customers and their most complex issues. As I review 2014 results I will provide comments about 2015. I will now provide specific guidance for 2015, instead I will frame the opportunities that will drive revenue through the year and into 2016 and beyond. While as Gary mentioned, there are lot of…

Jeff Bird

Management

Thank you, John. I'm excited about joining Frank's. During my first 90 days of the company I've enjoyed meeting and beginning to work with the people here. We will continue to build on the foundation the finance team has started to establish over the last year. We will build out a world-class finance team to serve needs of being a public company, and as important, being a value added business partner. We've already begun to identify productivity improvement opportunities that will result in more efficient use of our inventories, day sales outstanding in accounts receivable, and reduce costs through focused productivity projects. We will share more with you in the coming quarters around these projects. Now turning to our results for the fourth quarter and full year. Fourth quarter revenue for the quarter was $319 million, an 8% increase sequentially and 13% increase year-over-year. For the full year revenue was $1.153 billion, up 7% versus 2013. Net income for the fourth quarter was $51 million with net income attributable to Frank’s International NV of $35 million or $0.22 per share. Diluted net income, which includes $4.7 million in assumed tax impact of conversion of preferred shares was $46.8 million or $0.22 per diluted share. For the full year net income was $229 million, with net income attributable to Frank's International NV of $159 million or $1.03 per share. Diluted net income which includes $15.4 million and assumed tax impact to conversion of preferred shares was $214 million, or $1.03 per diluted share. A full reconciliation of our EPS calculations is in our press release. Fourth quarter tax rate was 32%, higher than previous quarters and full year 2014, primarily due to a higher proportion of total income earned in the US. Full year tax rate was 25%. Fourth quarter and…

Gary Luquette

Management

Thank you, Jeff. 2015 is going to be a challenging year for all in oil and gas industry. Our opportunities are created by the activities of E&P companies which are impacted by the outlook of commodity prices, however, we see no need to panic, the world will continue to need oil and gas. As populations increase and nations become more developed, the demand for energy will also increase. Longer term, we are bullish on our future and our ability to grow revenues profitably. In the short term, although the outlook isn’t as promising, there are some things that we can do to prepare for brighter future. Our balance sheet gives us the opportunity to maintain a longer term view on the industry and the ability to invest through the cycle. Although we will not be providing guidance for the year or the quarter, I want to assure you that we will not be sitting idle. We will continue to be opportunistic, both in improving our internal capabilities, as well as looking to capture additional market share where advisable. We look forward to updating you on our progress throughout the year and I personally look forward to meeting many of you over the coming year. Thank you for your time. And now we'll turn the call over to your questions.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And from RBC Capital Markets we have Kurt Hallead on the line. Please go ahead.

Kurt Hallead

Analyst

Good morning, gentlemen.

Gary Luquette

Management

Good morning.

Kurt Hallead

Analyst

I had a quick question relating to the offshore markets, obviously yesterday there was an offshore driller that announced that some of their customers were seeking to cancel contracts. I know you have quite a bit of exposure and last year it was a good growth market for you on that dynamic. Just wondering to trying to calibrate our views with yours and see how you're risk assessing the offshore market globally for 2015.

John Walker

Management

Sure. Good morning Kurt, this is John Walker speaking. So in regard to the overall market conditions with respect to international, we're seeing a slight softening within the market but to the earlier comments, we believe that we are well positioned within the segments that we operate and being the complex wells and specifically the Deepwater applications. You saw the tail end of last year, quite a few exploration wells that came up that were dry hole in nature, however, the projects that we have focused our efforts on have tend to be in the appraisal and the development phases. And as I'm sure that you are aware, as the development phases are sanctioned, it's more about long term outlook. So we are seeing slight softening but not the levels of course that we're seeing in the US side of the business with US land side. The Gulf of Mexico is still a very decent bright spot for us, again lever to the deepwater complex well side of it. So overall we do understand that there is a transitioning happening at this time but we're still very optimistic in it on the future.

Kurt Hallead

Analyst

Okay, that's great. Thank you.

John Walker

Management

Thanks, Kurt.

Operator

Operator

From Guggenheim we have Michael LaMotte on the line. Please go ahead.

Michael LaMotte

Analyst

Thanks, good morning. I was hoping with the changes in the business model for addressing the US onshore market over the last 12 months, I was hoping that you could talk about how the current environment might impact that effort and whether or not the business model would change again in terms of the aggressiveness with which you would go after share or even look to do M&A in that market in particular?

Gary Luquette

Management

Michael this is Gary Luquette. Let me make a cut at that and you will see if John Walker wants to add anything. So certainly we're going to adjust the timing of some of our plans but I think longer term our plans are still very appropriate, i.e., to grow market share in the onshore like US land business, clearly we were underrepresented, much of our efforts in the early part of 2014 is the reason why we were pretty much quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year able to sustain our revenues despite a falling market. So right now gives us an opportunity to reassess our plans and to improve that repositioning plan and as I mentioned in my opening remarks, to move on any acquisition opportunities assuming those fit well with the strategic plan. But longer term our strategy we think is still sound as just maybe tweaking a bit on timing.

John Walker

Management

Michael, just one thing to add to Gary’s comments there, something to be clear on. As far as our concentration of market share at Europe we are obviously seeing a significant decline in the unconventional side of the business but we did not have a large concentration of market share in the broader picture of the land business, we were building that out. So it allowed us an opportunity to look at the overall business and just reorganize it appropriately as it affects us directly.

Michael LaMotte

Analyst

I'm curious just from an organic standpoint as a follow-up question, as operators in this environment look to get their own cost structure in line, the value proposition that you bring in a market that has historically been very relationship driven, as operators become more cost conscious and certainly more safety conscious if the organic opportunities for market share gain can come - not necessarily just through discounts or aggressive pricing tactics but really the value sell if you will.

Gary Luquette

Management

Sure. I tend to highlight also if you recall that our customer base tends to be more in the blue-chip side of the business and of course they actually feel better during this downturn period. But to the point I was talking about earlier about the concentration that we have - we're reviewing all our site locations and some of the stores will look out potentially are consolidating and we'll just - we will try and lower our costs in a line with how we see the contraction in the market. But we still have some grey opportunity there because the sweet spots of the market - obviously the focus will be for us is where those additional market penetration for us.

Michael LaMotte

Analyst

Alright Gary and John, thanks.

Operator

Operator

From KeyBanc Capital Markets we have Robin Shoemaker online. Please go ahead.

Robin Shoemaker

Analyst

Thank you. So in terms of the offshore markets again where you have won major competitor, I wonder if you could describe for us the - you talked about you're getting pressures for pricing discounts in all of your business, as I assume that is in that arena as well. And just in terms of past experience, we - since Frank's is relatively new public company we don't have data for 2008-2009 when we did see a big drop off in the market. What was the experience then in terms of the pricing pressures on casing running services? And how should we think about potential margin pressures in this cycle in that key area where you principally have one competitor?

John Walker

Management

Good morning, Robin, it's John Walker. We talked about that during the last downturn, while during the last downturn of course you know it's little bit of an upper limit [ph] because we were previously multiple entities and now you know we're one Frank's. And an important factor from 2008 to now is that the deepwater activity was not as prominent during the last downturn. So with our technology and the uptake of the technology, yes we're working with our customers to reach agreements on the pricing discounts but ultimately to Gary’s earlier point, it's about the reduction in well construction costs and the total cost of the ownership with the tubulars for well integrity and the production life. So we are talking to our customers about the value that we create in that arena, it's been well received and some of those pricing impacts that we work for the customers on are being offset against that technology uptake.

Robin Shoemaker

Analyst

I see, okay, thank you. So just one other question, you also brought up your balance sheet in potential acquisitions; we've heard some companies say in this very early phases of the downturn that it's a bit too early for the best acquisition opportunities that those will come later in the cycle or as the downturn progresses but how do you view the timing now versus what might later this year or early 2016 or are you really focused on timing at all?

Gary Luquette

Management

Robin, this is Gary. I would say we're - this is the never present, part of our portfolio is to look for acquisition opportunities, sometimes they present themselves irrespective of where we are in the market but clearly as time passes and if prices stay in the ranges that they are now you will see additional stress being placed on the markets. I guess my comments would be it depends, in certain sectors obviously in US land is - both John and I have highlighted in our opening remarks, the key contraction that we're seeing in US land is going to introduce a lot of stress into that market. Clearly, we are aware of that and we're in position to take advantage of that assuming that strategically aligns with our plans. So it depends on how the market is moving and what the balance sheets look like for the asset holders, as today as to timing but it's something that we are aware of, it's part of our ongoing business analysis process and we'll just keep close eye on them.

Robin Shoemaker

Analyst

Okay, thanks a lot.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And from UBS we have Angie Sedita online. Please go ahead.

Angie Sedita

Analyst

Good morning guys.

Gary Luquette

Management

Hi, Angie.

Angie Sedita

Analyst

So just to go a little bit further on the acquisition side, I was going to ask how - why are you focused on US land but it clearly sounds that's where you think might be some opportunities given that crashed in the market. So maybe you could talk about that a little bit more and if you are interested in similar product lines that you're already in or would be looking at something that you're currently not already in or something that's an adjunct. And are you also still looking for acquisitions potentially in new GO markets offshore.

Gary Luquette

Management

There is a lot to that Angie and I don't yet - it's too much detail for fair that maybe some of our competitors are listening in, but one of the things that strategically we announced in previous quarter was our desire to grow market share on US land and that was a portfolio move for us, in other words, we start ourselves as underrepresented relatively to our capabilities and it provided somewhat of a hitch against our very, very significant deepwater offshore business. Now I would suggest you that I would turn my nose up to a great opportunity to further improve our Deepwater offshore position but our strategy to grow market share onshore is still sound, we think longer term, for those who have been in this industry as long as Keith and I have, the price cycles - we are very experienced through these cycles and we know what goes up comes down and what goes down goes back up. So we still see the opportunity to grow market share and the unconventional space is going to be very active at some point in the future and we want to have a reasonable market share in that space as part of our portfolio diversification. Clearly there is going to be a lot of stress in that space just because of the nature of the operators and the leverage that they were carrying. So this probably will represent the most robust opportunities that we're adding to the portfolio but we have to be very selective with this. As these Shale Plays have played out, the sweet spots have been identified, and these are the areas that will be most active in areas that will become active the soon as prices recover, so it's not a strategy that says all shale’s are equal, it's going to be a very focused and targeted acquisition activity level for us in areas where we think we can grow share in the right spots and be one of the earlier companies to get back at it.

Angie Sedita

Analyst

Right, so that's helpful. And then, so therefor over the long term have you actually thought through in your mind of a strategic level of market share that you would like to have in the US land given the diversification you are seeking in your portfolio?

Gary Luquette

Management

We have some ideas, I'm not going to quantify that but we certainly have some ideas as to what we feel would be a good position to move to and that's probably not the end game but it represents a nice portfolio shift for us and it allows us to continue to execute with excellence versus getting into something too big too quickly and then having some execution issues.

Angie Sedita

Analyst

Alright. And then finally, going back to the offshore market, if you look back historically whether it's the growth of the ultra-deepwater rig count where you obviously have more exposure as well as Deepwater, if you look at the growth of the rig count or even the decline of the rig count, have you looked back at how your revenues correlate and the point being as of course from the Gulf of Mexico we're seeing ultra-deepwater rig being released as they roll off of contract, we're seeing of course some cancellations, so net-net, we could actually see the ultra-deepwater rig counts declining at least in 2015, even with the new build. Can you talk through that on your correlation of revenue with that rig count, does it correlate with that rig count or can you be over and above that given your services and your value lead.

Gary Luquette

Management

So what you're seeing - this is our perspective, what you're seeing with some of the announcements, the recent announcements concerning cancel of contracts, we think a lot of that represented the potential for growth in that sector and some of these companies that were going to look at growth are now trying to tap the breaks a bit because of cash flow concerns and capital reduction concerns. What we are seeing thought is that there is an underlying base activity level that is sustaining itself, this is driven by - as John Walker said in some of his comments, delineation and development drilling by the operators these are activities that are governed by lease terms. So you either drill, you either continue to move towards first oil or you lose these leases and of course, they have lease bonus, they have certain cost from exploration, so they are very committed on these deepwater wells that constitute eventually large major capital projects. So those cycles - the operators, the blue-chip operators can invest and should invest through the cycle and those areas, we're seeing that kind of pop-up the deepwater offshore market. As we mentioned in previous calls and in our opening remarks today, we feel we have a superior offering in the Deepwater market, this is where Frank's has differentiated itself, we have the ability to handle heavier loads for some of these deep complex wells, we have the technology that a lot of these operators recognize as premium services. So as a counter to some of the price discounts, this is where John Walker was pointing towards our ability to upsell new technology or to upsell equipment that is not subject to some of the more traditional discounts that are coming from your more typical casing running tools and services. So although there is pressure we are dealing with that pressure through volume, our offsets, if you want rate reduction it will miss the operator, let's talk about extending our contract or giving us a volume commitment in order to earn those discounts or in some cases we're able to introduce new tools and technologies that they enjoy because they look at it as lowering the total overall cost of the well versus just the services itself.

Angie Sedita

Analyst

Got it, thanks. I'll turn it over guys.

Operator

Operator

From Simmons we have Ian Macpherson online. Please go ahead.

Ian Macpherson

Analyst

Hi, thanks, good morning. I perfectly understand your reluctance to guide on the year but just for few ones since we're through February now, clearly apart from land I think you've conveyed pretty stable trends, the Gulf of Mexico is clearly up activity wise versus last year and the decline in international has been relatively orderly so far. So given that offshore is 85% of your business right, I wonder is it really the volatility of land that explains your reluctance to guide the quarter or are these directional indicators for offshore just not a bankable indicator for your available business if you want at this point or is it just some combination. Thanks.

Jeff Bird

Management

Thank you, and this is Jeff Bird. Obviously, as you pointed out due to the uncertainty we're very reluctant to provide revenue or EBITDA guidance. We do remain pretty optimistic, the current and anticipated activity levels in Q1 are probably going to be in line with Q1 2014. We do have seasonality and slowdown that normally sequentially happens from Q4 to Q1 but year-over-year we expect those top lines to be in line and I'll let John comment a little bit more on the regional splits there.

John Walker

Management

Sure. So just to extrapolate that, obviously it goes without saying that the US land side of the business is - there is going to be some contraction there, so that is offset with, for example, our plan from - without going into too much detail about Middle East, where we set some plans in place in the second half of 2014, and we are seeing some nice growth opportunities in the Middle East, that part of the market, North Africa, also you talked about in Australia. So when you put the mix all together the tubular sales side of the business as well as also seeing nice portion of growth, all lever to the offshore side of the business. So when you put on excel together to Jeff’s point, the Q1 revenue should be in line with what we saw last year. Taken into account from a sequential basis of declines, the seasonality and slowdown in activity which is traditional within the industry.

Ian Macpherson

Analyst

Very good, thanks John. Follow-up question, can you update us what you're seeing from other competitors apart from while referred in terms of market share, success, or like thereof compared to what you were expecting a year ago from the smaller players, offshore.

Thomas Dunavant

Management

Yes, this is Thomas Ian. We really don't have to talk about the kind of competitive environment or specific responses from our competitors.

Ian Macpherson

Analyst

Alright, thank you.

Gary Luquette

Management

Thanks Ian.

Operator

Operator

From Tudor, Pickering, Holt we have Jeff Tillery online. Please go ahead.

Jeff Tillery

Analyst

Hi, good morning.

Gary Luquette

Management

Good morning, Jeff.

Jeff Tillery

Analyst

I was wondering if you could talk about one of the things, it's I think been probed on some of the other questions, it's relatively easy to track offshore rig commitments, it's much tougher to understand and track the new ones of what those rigs are doing, are they actually drilling wells or is it more intervention type of work. Can you just talk through, as you look at your opportunity side, do you see well construction activity in the Deepwater being consistent with what we observe from just tracking deepwater rig activity or how do you see that?

John Walker

Management

So Jeff, the point that we talked about earlier on, the way that activity is rolling out right now is on the appraisal development side. If you look at the middle to the second part of last year, there was a flurry of activity in the Northwest African plays, of course ongoing in the Gulf of Mexico. So there has been some contraction in that side of it but that's definitely been offset by appraisal activity and to Gary’s point about the longer term execution plans of the subsea developments in the complex wells and the Deepwater. Obviously the equatorial margin and West Africa has been a bright spot as well and continues with the recent announcements of discoveries there, so hopefully that give you a little bit of color on how we see it.

Jeff Tillery

Analyst

It is, thank you. And then as you talk about pricing sessions, I guess I have two questions. One, is that on - just new contracts or is it on existing contracts in place? And then two, as you think about the technology and volume uplift that you may trade-off for price, should we think about margins are still being able to stay within few hundred basis points of where they are or is the risk greater than that?

Jeff Bird

Management

Yes, this is Jeff. If you think about it from a margin standpoint, obviously you should expect EBITDA to be down with the price discounts that we're seeing. We are evaluating cost savings opportunities right now, and we're doing that across all regions. Obviously, we're first evaluating the low hanging fruit, we're looking at overtime, we're looking at contractors and things like that, and then we're going beyond that from a more strategic standpoint but just not ready to comment right now. So margins will be down and we're doing what good businesses do quite frankly when that happens and we're going to address out cost situation.

Jeff Tillery

Analyst

Alright, thank you.

Gary Luquette

Management

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

And from Global Hunter Securities we have Ken Sill on the line. Please go ahead.

Gary Luquette

Management

Good morning, Ken.

Operator

Operator

Ken, if you could unmute your line?

Ken Sill

Analyst

Good morning guys, I'm sorry about that, I'm talking to my signal [ph]. Welcome to our crazy world of being a public company. I wanted to talk about the strategic vision a little bit, maybe try to get over more new ones on that. So - I mean you guys are in an enviable position with a clean balance sheet and a lot of cash. You've talked about North American onshore could be an opportunity area given it's the most stressed area. On the strategic vision side, I mean you could add new product lines, you could grow what you're doing. How do you guys look at it from 30,000 foot level about, what part of the onshore Shale or whatever you want to call it, Shale markets do you want to be involved and as it turn on the completion side, certainly you guys don't want to go out and buy drilling rigs, but just where in the lifecycle of this business do you see your place or do you even have at that?

Gary Luquette

Management

Ken, this is Gary, and then I'll invite others. The simple near to data to add color but we know what we're good at, okay, so one of the opportunities in the four to five year opportunity that is to exploit what we're really good at. So that would infer that to opportunities to gain market share in the tubular running business, both on the completion side as well as on the drilling and casing side, clearly that's our sweet spot, that's where we're good at and that's how we differentiate ourselves. However, if you take a longer term view which we're doing now to try to understand where the oilfield of the future is going, both onshore and offshore, where we have a tremendous position. We are also trying to think what the drilling rigs that are going to be used for the oilfield of the future, exactly how they are going to get figured. Clearly they are moving towards more mechanized and automated systems, and we understand that we've got to reposition ourselves in that sector in order to be able to intersect it in the five to ten year sort of plateau. So that may lead to new product and service lines for us, clearly it's not a real short term play for us but it's something that we're thinking about today and evaluating. Our objective would be to intersect that and not find ourselves flat footed when that transition occurs to automated and mechanized drilling rig.

John Walker

Management

And Ken, if I could - this is John Walker, I just wanted to add a little bit color to that. To your point at the beginning, welcome to being a public company but the important factor of course is that we've been a global organization for over 30 years and 70 plus years in the tubular running sites, so very mature in that area. And my point that I want to get across is, that allows us a wiser breath of opportunity on a global basis because we do have infrastructure in all the major oilfield centers of the world. And as the US Dollar continues to strengthen the opportunities and valuations obviously become more attractive to us. So the opportunities are wide for us right now and with the strength of the balance sheet to Jeff’s point, we are very optimistic and excited about the future. And hope that answers your question Ken?

Ken Sill

Analyst

I appreciate the answer, that's good. And then I had just one more question, from a very high level, obviously the drop in oil prices is changing the economic realities of developing oil and gas around the world. We could see cost coming down a lot in the Deepwater side because of the rig supply situation, but do you guys have a feel for where you think oil prices need to be to see Deepwater activity kind of rebound from here or what price you think you need to see for activity to kind of remain at least relatively level on the development side?

Gary Luquette

Management

Ken, this is Gary, it's obviously not a question that we can answer but probably your contacts in the operator community may have a more informed view on that. What I will say, I having spent 35 years in this industry is that these downturns and these periods of lower commodity prices have a way of really having a healthy effect longer term on the supply chain and on development cost. And what - here to pull, let's say 12 months ago if you take the Deepwater market might needed anywhere from $60 to $80 a barrel to be commercial. What history has told us is those costs will significantly drop as the supply chain rationalizes itself at a lower commodity price. So what those actual trip points or hurdle rates are, we'll leave it to others to answer but I think history informs us that things are going to get a lot more economic as cost rationalize due to low commodity prices.

Ken Sill

Analyst

Alright, thank you. I think that's valuable perspective. I'll turn it over to other people, thanks.

Gary Luquette

Management

Thanks Ken.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. We will now turn it back to Gary for closing remarks.

Gary Luquette

Management

Yes, thank you. So I want to thank those on the line, especially those of you that presented question to us, thank you for doing that. Made me just to close into - maybe summarize, we've talked a number of times about the excellent financial position we're in and that cannot be over emphasized. We are extremely proud of how the Mosing’s have run their business and the conservative nature of managing their balance sheet, it is in fact for times like this that we do this. We're going to use this well in activity to re-tool our capabilities such that when it does come back, which it will, we're going to be better prepared to ramp up and our objective would be to become a very early mover in terms of capturing market opportunities as the market improves. We've talked about low commodity prices, placing some stress on certain companies that have not been as prudent as we in managing their balance sheet and have a lot of leverage, and we're in good position to move on but I want to emphasize it would be for the right opportunities that kind of fit our strategic opportunity set. And lastly, I'll just wrap up. Again thanking you, and telling all of you I look forward to meeting many of you personally in the coming few months. So with that I think we'll wrap up.

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.