2018 Guide to Effective Proxies

6 TH EDITION | GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE PROXIES 478 EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION Performance Peer Group* Performance Used to measure our financial performance under our LTI program, in particular the PSUs. • Basic Energy Services, Inc. • Halliburton Co. • Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. • Helmerich & Payne, Inc. • Key Energy Services, Inc. • Nabors Industries Ltd. • National Oilwell Varco, Inc. • Oceaneering International, Inc. • Oil States International, Inc. • Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. • RPC, Inc. • Schlumberger Ltd. • Weatherford International plc *Reference group for the PSUs granted in 2017 Compensation Peer Group Compensation Used to evaluate and benchmark executive compensation. • Baker Hughes, a GE Company • Basic Energy Services, Inc. • Ensco plc • Forum Energy Technologies • Halliburton Co. • Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. • Helmerich & Payne, Inc. • Key Energy Services, Inc. • Nabors Industries • National Oilwell Varco, Inc. • Oceaneering International, Inc. • Oil States International, Inc. • Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. • RPC, Inc. • Weatherford International plc The Compensation Peer Group set forth above had a trailing twelve month median revenue of $1.9 billion as of December 31, 2017. We also had revenue of $1.9 billion for the same period. At the Committee’s request, Pearl Meyer conducts an annual executive compensation review to benchmark the Company’s senior executive compensation relative to the Compensation Peer Group with supplemental data from published market surveys. The Committee uses this report to evaluate whether the executive compensation levels, including base salary and actual incentive payouts, are within industry norms and the Company’s stated strategy. Pearl Meyer supplements data from the Compensation Peer Group with broad-based compensation survey data to develop a comprehensive view of the competitive market data. We believe using survey data is an important element of our compensation evaluation. Compensation survey data includes companies from the broader energy industry that influence the competitive market for executive talent. In addition, the survey data also includes data from companies that are comparable to us in terms of size and scale. Review of Tally Sheets We annually review and evaluate an executive tally sheet that contains a listing and quantification (as appropriate) of each component of our executive compensation program for our executive officers, including special executive benefits and perquisites, as well as accumulated values (e.g., stock option holdings) and other contingent compensation such as severance arrangements. We believe that our balance of annual and long-term compensation elements, our mix of long-term incentive vehicles and our stock ownership guidelines result in a compensation program that aligns our executives’ interests with those of our stockholders and does not encourage our management to take unreasonable risks relating to our business. The various components of our executive compensation program are described in detail below. COMPONENTS OF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION The main components of our executive compensation program are base salary, our AIP and LTI program. Our executives also participate in our SERP. Overall, the primary emphasis of our executive compensation program is to provide variable performance-based compensation that is at-risk, with a focus on our long- term performance. As an executive’s level of responsibility increases, a greater portion of total compensation is at-risk, creating the potential for greater variability in the individual’s compensation from year to year. As reflected in the charts set forth above, our CEO’s component mix is very heavily weighted towards long- term performance and reflects our view that his role in 39 SUPERIOR ENERGY SERVICES, INC.