CJ 2017 Annual Report

Our operating strategy is focused on maintaining high asset utilization levels to maximize revenue generation while controlling cost to gain a competitive advantage and drive returns. We believe that the quality and efficiency of our service execution and aligning with customers who recognize the value that we provide through efficiency gains are central to our efforts to support utilization and grow our business. However, asset utilization is not necessarily indicative of our financial and/ or operational performance and should not be given undue reliance. Given the volatile and cyclical nature of activity drivers in the U.S. onshore oilfield services industry, coupled with the varying prices we are able to charge for our services and the cost of providing those services, among other factors, operating margins can fluctuate widely depending on supply and demand at a given point in the cycle. Historically, our utilization levels have been highly correlated to U.S. onshore spending by our customers as a group. Generally, as capital spending by our customers increases, drilling, completion and production activity also increases, resulting in increased demand for our services, and therefore more days or hours worked (as the case may be). Conversely, when drilling, completion and production activity levels decline due to lower spending by our customers, we generally provide fewer services, which results in fewer days or hours worked (as the case may be). Additionally, during periods of decreased spending by our customers, we may be required to discount our rates or provide other pricing concessions to remain competitive and support utilization, which negatively impacts our revenue and operating margins. During periods of pricing weakness for our services, we may not be able to reduce our costs accordingly, and our ability to achieve any cost reductions from our suppliers typically lags behind the decline in pricing for our services, which could further adversely affect our results. For additional information about factors impacting our business and results of operations, please see “Industry Trends and Outlook” in this Part II, Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Management evaluates the performance of our reportable business segments primarily based on Adjusted EBITDA because management believes Adjusted EBITDA provides important information about the activity and profitability of our lines of business within each reportable business segment and aids us in analytical comparisons for purposes of, among other things, efficiently allocating our assets and resources. Our management team also monitors asset utilization, among other factors, for purposes of assessing our overall activity levels and customer demand. In our Completion Services segment, we measure our asset utilization levels primarily by the total number of days that our asset base works on a monthly basis, based on the available working days per month, which excludes scheduled maintenance days. We generally consider an asset to be working such days that it is at or in transit to a job location, regardless of the number of hours worked or whether it generated any revenue during such time. In our Well Support Services segment, we measure activity levels primarily by the number of hours our assets work on a monthly basis, based on the available working days per month. However, given the variance in revenue and profitability from job to job, depending on the type of service to be performed and the equipment, personnel and consumables required for the job, as well as competitive factors and market conditions in the region in which the services are performed, asset utilization cannot be relied on as indicative of our financial or operating performance. For additional information, please see “Our Reportable Business Segments” in this Part II, Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” 43 Industry Trends and Outlook We face many challenges and risks in the industry in which we operate. Although many factors contributing to these risks are beyond our ability to control, we continuously monitor these risks and have taken steps to mitigate them to the extent practicable. In addition, while we believe that we are well positioned to capitalize on available growth opportunities, we may not be able to achieve our business objectives and, consequently, our results of operations may be adversely affected. Please read the factors described in the sections titled “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report for additional information about the known material risks that we face. General Industry Trends The oil and gas industry has traditionally been volatile and is influenced by a combination of long-term, short-term and cyclical trends, including the domestic and international supply and demand for oil and gas, current and expected future prices for oil and gas and the perceived stability and sustainability of those prices, production depletion rates and the resultant levels of cash flows generated and allocated by oil and gas companies to their drilling, completion and workover budgets. The oil and gas industry is also impacted by general domestic and international economic conditions, political instability in oil producing countries, government regulations (both in the United States and elsewhere), levels of consumer demand, the availability of pipeline capacity, weather conditions, and other factors that are beyond our control. In light of the above, demand for our services tends to be extremely volatile and cyclical, as it is a direct function of our customers’ willingness to make operating and capital expenditures to explore for, develop and produce hydrocarbons in the United States. Our customers’ willingness to undertake such activities and expenditures depends largely upon prevailing