UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
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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.
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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.
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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.
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
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If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes
The aggregate market value of the registrant's Class A common stock, $0.01 par value per share, held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2022, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was $
As of March 23, 2023, the registrant had
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for the 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after December 31, 2022, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PART I |
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Item 1. |
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Item 1A. |
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Item 1B. |
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Item 2. |
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Item 3. |
44 |
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Item 4. |
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Item 5. |
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Item 6. |
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Item 7. |
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
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Item 7A. |
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Item 8. |
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Item 9. |
Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure |
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Item 9A. |
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Item 9B. |
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Item 9C. |
Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections |
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Item 10. |
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Item 11. |
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Item 12. |
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters |
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Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence |
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Item 15. |
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”) contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Forward-looking statements include those that express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements include information regarding our future plans and goals, as well as our expectations with respect to:
These forward-looking statements may be accompanied by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “outlook,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “likely,” “future,” “budget,” “pursue,” “target,” “seek,” “objective,” or similar expressions that are predictions of or indicate future events or trends that do not relate to historical matters.
The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report speak only as of the date of this Annual Report, or such other date as specified herein. We disclaim any obligation to update these statements unless required by law, and we caution you not to place undue reliance on them. Forward-looking statements are not assurances of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. 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 include, but are not limited to, the following:
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These and other important factors that could affect our operating results and performance are described in (i) Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” and in Part II, Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this Annual Report, and elsewhere within this Annual Report, (ii) our other reports and filings we make with the SEC from time to time, and (iii) other announcements we may make from time to time. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties described in the documents above or in this Annual Report occur, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results, performance, achievements or plans could differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements in this Annual Report are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in this section.
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Summary of Principal Risk Factors
Our business is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The following is a summary of the principal risk factors that could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. A more complete statement of those risks and uncertainties is set forth in “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Part I of this Annual Report.
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PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Unless the context otherwise requires or as is otherwise indicated, references in this Annual Report to the “Company,” “ProFrac,” “we,” “our” and “us,” or like terms, refer to (i) before the completion of the Corporate Reorganization, ProFrac Holdings, LLC, a Texas limited liability company (“ProFrac LLC”), and its consolidated subsidiaries; and (ii) following the completion of the Corporate Reorganization, ProFrac Holding Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “Issuer”), and its consolidated subsidiaries.
When we refer to a “fleet” or a “frac fleet,” we are referring to the pumping units, truck tractors, data trucks, storage tanks, chemical additive and hydration units, blenders and other equipment necessary to perform well stimulation services, including back-up pumping capacity.
Overview and Strategy
We are a technology-focused, vertically integrated energy services company providing well stimulation services, proppants production and other complementary products and services to oil and gas companies engaged in exploration and production (“E&P”) of unconventional oil and natural gas resources throughout the United States. Founded in 2016, ProFrac was built to be the go-to service provider for E&P companies’ most demanding hydraulic fracturing needs. Our business combines a young fleet of modern, technologically advanced pressure pumping equipment with vertically integrated proppant, chemicals and manufacturing, enabling us to deliver premium service quality while maintaining an advantaged cost structure. We believe the technical and operational capabilities of our fleets, as well as our internal frac sand production and equipment manufacturing capabilities uniquely position us to capitalize on the growing demand for well stimulation services to support the ongoing development of American oil and gas reserves. Additionally, we have a focused M&A strategy to acquire high-quality businesses at attractive valuations that increase our scale and expand our technological and supply chain competencies. Since the completion of our IPO, we have completed six acquisitions adding approximately 18.7 million tons of annual sand capacity and 13 frac fleets. These acquisitions provide us with an opportunity to generate attractive returns, when combined with our operational and commercial platform.
Our operations are focused on the most active unconventional regions in the United States, where we have cultivated deep and longstanding customer relationships with some of those regions’ leading E&P companies. We believe we are among the largest well stimulation services providers in the United States, with 42 active fleets as of January 3, 2023. We operate throughout nearly all major unconventional oil and gas basins in the United States and our scale and geographical footprint provide us with both operating leverage as well as exposure to a diversified customer and commodity mix.
We employ a differentiated business model, focused on vertical integration, technological innovation and actively acquiring assets and businesses that expand our capabilities. In combination with our deep technical expertise, our ability to design and manufacture equipment and internally produce proppant positions us to custom tailor our products and services to meet the needs of our customers. Additionally, we believe we are uniquely positioned as an industry consolidator. ProFrac’s management team has extensive expertise in making strategic acquisitions, as well as a proven ability to rapidly and successfully integrate acquired businesses into our operations.
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The following map shows our operating locations throughout the United States as of January 3, 2023:
Business Strategies
We are focused on employing new technologies to significantly reduce “greenhouse gas” (“GHG”) emissions and increase efficiency in what has historically been an emissions-intensive component of the unconventional E&P development process. We believe the technical and operational capabilities of our fleets position us to serve our customers’ shifting preferences, which are increasingly favoring the sustainable development of natural resources. We intend to create value for our stakeholders through the following business strategies:
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Operating Segments
Stimulation Services Segment
ProFrac is one of the largest providers of well stimulation services in the United States. As of January 3, 2023, we had 42 active fleets, with an additional four fleets under construction. Our total fleet includes 20 Tier IV fleets (17 of which are dual fuel or DGB), eight electric fleets and four newbuild electric fleets. Currently, our operations are focused on the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Appalachia and the Rockies. With our broad operating footprint, we are able to serve a diversified customer base with balanced exposure to public and private E&P customers that are developing both oil and natural gas reserves.
Our conventional hydraulic fracturing fleets have been designed to handle the most demanding well completions, which are characterized by higher pumping pressures, higher pumping volumes and longer horizontal wellbores. We continue to upgrade and overhaul our fleets with the goal of having all of our conventional fleets similarly equipped with lower-emission Tier IV diesel engines, a process made cheaper by our in-house manufacturing capabilities detailed below. Additionally, we continue to expand our electric frac fleets. This strategy aligns with our environmental focus to minimize our carbon footprint as a part of our goal to have all of our conventional fleets equipped with emissions reduction technology.
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In addition to our conventional fleets, we are constructing and have acquired electric powered fleets. This technology utilizes electric motors powered by lower-cost, lower-emission power solutions, primarily using on-site generation from natural gas produced and conditioned in the field or compressed natural gas (“CNG”). We believe that this fuel supply can provide our customers with additional tools to meet their emissions and sustainability goals by reducing their reliance on diesel fuel, as well as offer significant fuel cost savings. These fleets are intended to provide our customers a suite of options to satisfy their ESG objectives while maximizing operating efficiency.
Our stimulation services competitors include Halliburton Company, Liberty Energy Inc. and NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc.
Proppant Segment
In connection with our vertically integrated business model, we own and operate frac sand mines and processing facilities. We are the largest producer of in-basin proppants, with approximately 21 million tons of annual production capacity across eight mines serving the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford and Haynesville markets. Acquiring and integrating sand mines is a critical element of our operating strategy. Since December 2021, we have completed four proppant acquisitions, consisting of six operating mines and one greenfield development which we brought to production in December 2022.
Our mines are strategically located throughout key pressure pumping markets, allowing us to produce proppants in close proximity to the areas in which our fleets operate. We believe that mining our own sand helps to insulate us from market volatility, as ProFrac is able to ensure adequate supply in tight markets, minimizing disruptions to our operations and associated non-productive time, and to bolster fleet profitability through cycles as we aggregate profit margin from the mine to the wellhead. We believe that our scale in proppant production in combination with our logistics expertise supports our ability to deliver best-in-class service quality and cost for our customers. Further, we believe that our concentration of active fleets in the markets in which we operate sand mines provides significant baseload demand that will help us drive utilization of our mines and offer significant opportunities for cost optimization.
Our mining operations currently serve the following markets:
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Manufacturing Segment
We operate facilities in which we assemble new fleets, refurbish existing fleets, rebuild engines and transmissions, and manufacture many of the components used by our fleets, including pumps, fluid ends, power ends, flow iron and other consumables. These facilities perform substantially all of the maintenance, repair and servicing of our hydraulic fracturing fleets, as well as provide in-house manufacturing capacity that enables cost-advantaged growth and maintenance. Additionally, our internal manufacturing capabilities enable us to upgrade and modernize acquired fleets in a cost-efficient manner.
Vertical integration enables us to realize a lower capital investment and operating expense by capturing the margin of manufacturing and/or maintenance, and by enabling the ongoing improvement of our equipment and processes as part of a continuous research and development cycle. This combination also facilitates our “Acquire, Retire, Replace” approach to growing, maintaining and modernizing our fleets, and we believe that it helps us mitigate supply chain constraints that have disrupted competitors’ and customers’ operations in the past. Our in-house manufacturing capabilities also allow us to rapidly implement new technologies in a cost-effective manner.
Our manufacturing capabilities and control over the manufacturing process have allowed us to design and build hydraulic fracturing fleets to uniform specifications intended for deployment in resource basins requiring high levels of pressure, flow rate and sand intensity. We believe the standardized, modular configuration of our equipment provides us with several competitive advantages, including reduced repair and maintenance costs, reduced downtime, reduced inventory costs, reduced complexity in our operations, training efficiencies and the ability to redeploy equipment among operating basins.
2022 Significant Events
Initial Public Offering and Corporate Reorganization
On May 17, 2022, we consummated the initial public offering (“IPO”) of 16,000,000 shares of the Issuer’s Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Class A Common Stock”), at a public offering price of $18.00 per share. On June 6, 2022, the underwriters’ over-allotment option was partially exercised, resulting in a sale of an additional 2,228,153 shares of Class A Common Stock at a price of $18.00 per share. The IPO and exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option generated combined net proceeds of $301.7 million, after deducting underwriter discounts and commissions and estimated offering costs. In connection with our IPO and the corporate reorganization (see “Note 1. Organization and Description of Business” in the notes to our consolidated financial statements), the Issuer became a holding company.
After giving effect to the corporate reorganization and the IPO, ownership of the issued and outstanding limited liability company interests of ProFrac LLC (the “Units”) was distributed as follows: (i) approximately 27.8% was owned, directly or indirectly, by the Issuer, and (ii) the balance (approximately 72.2%) was owned, together with all of the Issuer’s Class B common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Class B Common Stock”) by legacy members.
Information regarding consideration paid in connection with our acquisitions in 2022, discussed below, should be read in conjunction with the further disclosure contained in Note 4 to our consolidated financial statements (see “Note 4. Business Combinations and Asset Acquisition”):
Acquisition of FTS International, Inc.
On March 4, 2022, ProFrac LLC acquired FTS International Inc. (“FTSI”) for a purchase price of approximately $405.7 million, consisting of cash consideration of $332.8 million and certain equity interests in ProFrac LLC of $72.9 million (the “FTSI Acquisition”). Prior to the FTSI Acquisition, FTSI was one of the largest providers of hydraulic fracturing services in North America, with 1.3 million HHP as of December 31, 2021. FTSI averaged 13 active fleets in the fourth quarter of 2021, with operations in the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford Shale, Midcontinent, Haynesville Shale and Uinta Basin.
Consolidation of Flotek Industries, Inc.
Through a series of transactions in the first half of 2022, we entered into a supply agreement with Flotek Industries, Inc. (“Flotek”) to provide full downhole chemistry solutions for 30 of our hydraulic fracturing fleets for a period of ten years starting on April 1, 2022. In exchange for entry into the supply agreement, we received $60.0 million in principal amount of convertible notes, and we received the right to designate up to four out of seven directors to Flotek’s board of directors.
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Because of our power to appoint directors to the board of directors of Flotek without a direct equity interest in Flotek, we determined that Flotek is a variable interest entity (“VIE”). We further determined that the Company is the primary beneficiary of the VIE, due to our ability to appoint a majority of directors to Flotek’s board of directors. As a result, subsequent to May 17, 2022, the date that Flotek shareholders approved the supply agreement, we have accounted for this transaction as a business combination using the acquisition method of accounting. Accordingly, Flotek’s financial statements have been included in our consolidated financial statements from May 17, 2022.
We believe our investment in and strategic relationship with Flotek demonstrates our commitment to our vertical integration strategy and provides greater control over our supply chain.
Acquisition of SP Silica of Monahans, LLC and SP Silica Sales, LLC
On July 25, 2022, we acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding membership interests of the West Texas subsidiaries of Signal Peak Silica, for a purchase price of $90.0 million in cash (the “Monahans Acquisition”). In connection with the closing of the Monahans Acquisition, we acquired an in-basin frac sand facility and related mining operations in the Permian Basin (the “Monahans Sand Mine”).
Acquisition of U.S. Well Services, Inc.
On November 1, 2022, we acquired U.S. Well Services, Inc. (“USWS”) for a total purchase consideration of $479.1 million, consisting of cash consideration of $195.9 million, issuance of 12.9 million shares of Class A Common Stock valued at $282.0 million, and issuance of Class A Common Stock warrants valued at $1.1 million (the “USWS Acquisition”).
Prior to the USWS Acquisition, USWS was a technology-driven oilfield service company focused on electric-powered pressure pumping services in the United States. The USWS fleets consist mostly of all-electric, mobile pressure pumping equipment and other auxiliary heavy equipment to perform stimulation services. The USWS Clean Fleet® electric fleets replace the traditional engines, transmissions, and radiators used in conventional diesel fleets with electric motors.
Acquisition of Monarch Silica, LLC
On December 23, 2022, we completed the acquisition of the Eagle Ford sand mining operations of Monarch Silica, LLC, and related real estate property, for total purchase consideration of $175 million, consisting of cash consideration of $87.5 million and a secured note payable to the seller, Monarch Capital Holdings, LLC, for the remaining $87.5 million. A portion of the consideration is subject to certain customary post-closing adjustments.
Acquisition of REV Energy Holdings, LLC
On December 30, 2022, we acquired REV Energy Holdings, LLC (“REV”), a privately owned pressure pumping service provider with operations in the Rocky Mountains and Eagle Ford Shale. REV operates three premium frac fleets totaling 204,500 HHP. This acquisition expanded ProFrac’s presence in the Rocky Mountains and Eagle Ford Shale.
We acquired REV for a total purchase consideration of $140.0 million, consisting of (i) a number of shares of Class B Common Stock and Units, valued at $70.0 million, (ii) a secured note payable to BCKW LLC (REV sellers’ representative), with a principal amount of $39.0 million, (iii) approximately $5.5 million in debt assumption, and (iv) cash consideration of $25.5 million. A portion of the total purchase consideration is subject to certain customary post-closing adjustments. The agreement pursuant to which we acquired REV provides for up to $20.0 million of earn-out payments to the sellers if certain EBITDA-based performance targets are achieved during 2023.
Recent Developments
Potential Redemption by Related Parties
See the discussion in Item 9B of this Annual Report.
Acquisition of Producers Service Holdings LLC
On January 3, 2023, we acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding membership interest of Producers Service Holdings LLC (“Producers”), a Delaware limited liability company, an employee-owned pressure pumping services provider serving Appalachia and the Mid-Continent, for approximately $35.0 million of total transaction value, of which approximately half was payable in shares of Class A Common Stock, with the remainder consisting of cash and debt assumption. A portion of the cash consideration is subject to certain customary post-closing adjustments. Through this transaction, we have added three fleets, of which two are currently active, totaling 200,000 HHP as well as a 50,000 square foot manufacturing facility located near Zanesville, OH, through which we plan to expand our manufacturing footprint to support Northeast operations.
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Acquisition of Performance Proppants
On February 24, 2023, we acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding membership interests in (i) Performance Proppants, LLC, a Texas limited liability company, (ii) Red River Land Holdings, LLC, a Louisiana limited liability company, (iii) Performance Royalty, LLC, a Louisiana limited liability company, (iv) Performance Proppants International, LLC, a Louisiana limited liability company, and (v) Sunny Point Aggregates, LLC, a Louisiana limited liability company (together, “Performance Proppants”) for an aggregate purchase price of $475.0 million, consisting of (x) $469.0 million in cash and (y) a number of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to $6.0 million. A portion of the cash consideration is subject to certain customary post-closing adjustments. Performance Proppants is a frac sand provider in the Haynesville basin.
ESG focus
We are committed to sustainable operations and recognize the importance of ESG principles. As part of our ESG focus, we have established an internal ESG committee with the goal of producing a corporate sustainability report to document our ESG efforts in greater detail.
Customers
Our customers consist primarily of E&P companies in the continental United States. For the year ended December 31, 2022, no individual customer represented more than 10% of our consolidated revenues. For the year ended December 31, 2021, our top three customers individually represented 15%, 10%, and 7% of our consolidated revenues. For the year ended December 31, 2020, our top three customers individually represented 16%, 11%, and 10% of our consolidated revenues. The loss of any of our largest customers could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Seasonality
Historically, our operations have been subject to seasonal factors, and our historical financial results reflect seasonal variations. For example, we have observed a slowdown or pause by our customers around the holiday season in the fourth quarter, some of which may be related to our customers’ annual capital spending budgets. Additionally, our operating results may decline during periods of inclement weather conditions.
Human Capital Management
Our employees are a critical asset and are key to our innovative culture and overall success. We are focused on building upon our high-performance culture by attracting, engaging, developing, retaining and rewarding top talent. We strive to enhance the economic and social well-being of our employees. We are committed to providing a welcoming, inclusive environment for our workforce, with training and career development opportunities to enable employees to thrive and achieve their career goals.
As of December 31, 2022, we employed 3,664 people, none of whom are represented by labor unions or subject to collective bargaining agreements.
Health and Safety. The health, safety, and well-being of our employees is of utmost importance to us. We are an industry leader with a proven track record in safety with a Total Reportable Incident Rate of 0.59 for the year ended December 31, 2022, including our manufacturing division, as compared to the industry average of 0.70, according to the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers.
Employee Welfare and Development. We provide employees the option to participate in health and welfare plans, including medical, dental, life, accidental death and dismemberment and short-term and long-term disability insurance plans. We also offer a number of health and wellness programs, including telemedicine, health screens and fitness reimbursement as well as access to the Employee Assistance Program, which provides employees and their family members access to professional providers to help navigate challenging life events 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
In response to COVID-19, we adopted enhanced safety measures and practices to protect employee health and safety and continue to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control to protect our employees and minimize the risk of business disruption.
Intellectual Property
USWS has been granted 96 patents worldwide, 60 of which are U.S. patents. These begin to expire in late 2032. USWS has an additional 247 patent applications pending worldwide, 51 of which are U.S. patent applications. Many of these patents were filed in an effort to protect USWS electric fleet technology from being duplicated by competitors. We also use proprietary technology to support our preventative maintenance program and prolong equipment useful life. Although in the aggregate, our trademarks and patents are important to us, we do not regard any single trademark, patent, or group of related trademarks or patents as critical or essential to our business as a whole.
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Operating Risks and Insurance
Our operations are subject to hazards inherent in the energy services industry, such as accidents, blowouts, explosions, fires and spills and releases that can cause personal injury or loss of life, damage or destruction of property, equipment, natural resources and the environment and suspension of operations.
In addition, claims for loss of oil and natural gas production and damage to formations can occur in the oilfield services industry. If a serious accident were to occur at a location where our equipment and services are being used, it could result in our being named as a defendant in lawsuits asserting large claims.
Because our business involves the transportation of heavy equipment and materials, we may also experience traffic accidents which may result in spills, property damage and personal injury.
Despite what we view as our strong safety record and our efforts to maintain safety standards, we from time to time have suffered accidents in the past and anticipate that we could experience accidents in the future. In addition to the property damage, personal injury and other losses from these accidents, the frequency and severity of these incidents affect our operating costs and insurability and our relationships with customers, employees, regulatory agencies and other parties. Any significant increase in the frequency or severity of these incidents, or the general level of compensation awards, could adversely affect the cost of, or our ability to obtain, workers’ compensation and other forms of insurance, and could have other material adverse effects on our financial condition and results of operations.
We maintain commercial general liability, workers’ compensation, business auto, commercial property, excess liability, and directors and officers insurance policies providing coverage of risks and amounts that we believe to be customary in our industry. Further, we have pollution legal liability coverage for our business entities, which would cover, among other things, third party liability and costs of clean-up relating to environmental contamination on our premises, while our equipment is in transit and while on our customers’ job site. With respect to our hydraulic fracturing operations, coverage would be available under our pollution legal liability policy for any surface environmental clean-up and liability to third parties arising from any surface contamination. We also have certain specific coverage for some of our business segments, including for our hydraulic fracturing services.
Although we maintain insurance coverage of types and amounts that we believe to be customary in the industry, we are not fully insured against all risks, either because insurance is not available or because of the high premium costs relative to perceived risk. Further, insurance rates have in the past been subject to wide fluctuation and changes in coverage could result in less coverage, increases in cost or higher deductibles and retention. Liabilities for which we are not insured, or which exceed the policy limits of our applicable insurance, could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations
Our operations are subject to stringent laws and regulations governing the discharge of materials into the environment or otherwise relating to environmental protection, compliance, and occupational health and safety. Numerous federal, state, and local governmental agencies issue regulations that often require difficult and costly compliance measures that could carry substantial administrative, civil, and criminal penalties and may result in injunctive obligations for non-compliance. States have the option of adopting more stringent environmental standards and regulations than are implemented on the federal level. These laws and regulations may, for example, restrict the types, quantities and concentrations of various substances that can be stored, transported, disposed of or released into the environment; limit or prohibit construction or drilling activities on certain lands lying within wilderness, wetlands, ecologically or seismically sensitive areas and other protected areas; or require action to prevent, control, or remediate pollution from current or former operations. Also, these laws and regulations often require permits, authorizations, or licenses that impose operational restrictions and reporting obligations. Moreover, it is not uncommon for neighboring landowners and other third parties to file claims for personal injury and property damage allegedly caused by the release of hazardous substances, hydrocarbons or other waste products into the environment. Changes in environmental, health and safety laws and regulations occur frequently, and any changes that result in more stringent and costly requirements could materially adversely affect our operations and financial position. For example, following political and administrative changes, it is possible that there may be greater environmental, health and safety restrictions, particularly with regards to hydraulic fracturing, permitting, and greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions that may affect our operations. We have not experienced any material adverse effect from compliance with current requirements; however, we cannot guarantee this will always be the case.
Below is an overview of some of the more significant environmental, health and safety requirements with which we must comply. Our customers’ operations are subject to similar laws and regulations. Any material adverse effect of these laws and regulations on our customers’ operations and financial position may also have an indirect material adverse effect on our operations and financial position.
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Waste Handling. We handle, transport, store and dispose of wastes that are subject to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) and comparable state laws and regulations, which affect our activities by imposing requirements regarding the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, disposal and cleanup of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes. With federal approval, the individual states administer some or all of the provisions of the RCRA, sometimes in conjunction with their own, more stringent requirements. Although certain petroleum production wastes are exempt from regulation as hazardous wastes under the RCRA, such wastes may constitute “solid wastes” that are subject to the less stringent requirements of non-hazardous waste provisions.
Administrative, civil and criminal penalties can be imposed for failure to comply with waste handling requirements. Moreover, the EPA or state or local governments may adopt more stringent requirements for the handling of non-hazardous wastes or re-categorize some non-hazardous wastes as “special waste” or hazardous wastes in the future. Indeed, legislation has been proposed from time to time in the U.S. Congress to re-categorize certain oil and natural gas exploration, development and production wastes as hazardous wastes. Several environmental organizations have also at times petitioned the EPA to modify existing regulations to re-categorize certain oil and natural gas exploration, development and production wastes as hazardous. Any such changes in these laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our capital expenditures and operating expenses. Although we do not believe the current costs of managing our wastes, as presently classified, to be significant, any legislative or regulatory reclassification of oil and natural gas exploration and production (“E&P”) wastes could increase our costs to manage and dispose of such wastes.
Remediation of Hazardous Substances. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA” or “Superfund”) and analogous state laws generally impose liability without regard to fault or legality of the original conduct, on classes of persons who are considered to be responsible for the release of a hazardous substance into the environment. These persons can include the current owner (or lessee) or operator of a contaminated facility, a former owner (or lessee) or operator of the facility at the time of contamination, and those persons that disposed or arranged for the disposal of the hazardous substance at the facility. Liability for the costs of removing or remediating previously disposed wastes or contamination, damages to natural resources, and the costs of conducting certain health studies, among other things, is strict and joint and several. In the course of our operations, we use materials that, if released, could be subject to regulation under CERCLA and comparable state laws. Therefore, governmental agencies or third parties may seek to hold us responsible under CERCLA and comparable state statutes for all or part of the costs to clean up sites at which such hazardous substances have been released. Such liability could require us to engage in expensive litigation to defend the claims, and to allocate our proportionate share of liability, if any. Further, we may need to make significant expenditures to investigate and remediate such contamination or attain and maintain compliance with such laws, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, competitive position or financial condition.
NORM. In the course of our operations, some of our equipment may be exposed to naturally occurring radioactive materials (“NORM”) associated with oil and gas deposits and, accordingly, may result in the generation of wastes and other materials containing NORM. NORM exhibiting levels of radiation in excess of established state standards are subject to special handling and disposal requirements, and any storage vessels, piping and work area affected by NORM may be subject to remediation or restoration requirements.
Some of our operations involve equipment containing regulated radioactive materials that require federal and/or state permits, reporting, testing and proper management practices. Any releases from that equipment may result in liability and/or an obligation to complete remediation and restoration.
Water Discharges. The Clean Water Act (“CWA”), Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”), Oil Pollution Act (“OPA”) and analogous state laws and regulations impose restrictions and strict controls regarding the unauthorized discharge of pollutants, including produced waters and other oil and gas wastes, into regulated waters. The discharge of pollutants into regulated waters is prohibited, except in accordance with the terms of a permit issued by the EPA or the state. Federal and state laws and regulations may also regulate the discharge of stormwater or discharge to groundwater, often necessitating additional permits and design criteria. The discharge of dredge and fill material into regulated waters, including wetlands, is also prohibited, unless authorized by a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”). The scope of these regulated waters has been subject to controversy in recent years, culminating in the issuance of a revised definition of “waters of the United States” by EPA in December 2022, which exerts federal jurisdiction under the CWA over traditional navigable waters, the territorial seas, interstate waters, as well as upstream water resources that significantly affect those waters. Additionally, many states have similar requirements that apply to state waters where federal jurisdiction ends, and as a result, under most circumstances, discharges of pollutants reaching any permanent waterbodies will likely be regulated.
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Noncompliance with the CWA, SDWA, OPA, or other laws or regulations relating to water discharges may result in substantial administrative, civil and criminal penalties, as well as injunctive obligations, for us or our customers. The process for obtaining or renewing permits also has the potential to delay operations. Additionally, spill prevention, control and countermeasure plan requirements require appropriate containment berms and similar structures to help prevent the contamination of regulated waters.
Air Emissions. The Clean Air Act (“CAA”) and comparable state laws and regulations, regulate emissions of various air pollutants through the issuance of permits and the imposition of other emissions control requirements. The EPA has developed, and continues to develop, stringent regulations governing emissions of air pollutants from specified sources. New facilities may be required to obtain permits and meet more stringent design criteria before work can begin, and existing facilities may be required to obtain additional permits and incur capital costs in order to remain in compliance. For example, the EPA has established emission control requirements for crude oil and natural gas production and processing operations and established criteria for aggregating multiple small surface sites into a single source for air quality permitting purposes, which could cause small facilities, on an aggregate basis, to be deemed a major source subject to more stringent air permitting processes and requirements. These and other laws and regulations may increase the costs of compliance for some facilities where we operate. Obtaining or renewing permits also has the potential to delay the development of oil and natural gas projects.
Climate Change. Climate change continues to attract considerable public and scientific attention. As a result, numerous proposals have been made and are likely to continue to be made at the international, national, regional and state levels of government to monitor and limit emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other GHGs. These efforts have included consideration of cap-and-trade programs, carbon taxes, GHG reporting and tracking programs and regulations that directly limit GHG emissions from certain sources.
In the United States, no comprehensive climate change legislation has been implemented at the federal level. However, President Biden has highlighted addressing climate change as a priority of his administration and has issued several executive orders addressing climate change. Moreover, following the U.S. Supreme Court finding that GHG emissions constitute a pollutant under the CAA, the EPA has adopted regulations that, among other things, establish construction and operating permit reviews for GHG emissions from certain large stationary sources, require the monitoring and annual reporting of GHG emissions from certain petroleum and natural gas system sources in the United States, and together with the DOT, set GHG emissions and fuel economy standards for vehicles in the United States. The regulation of methane from oil and gas facilities has been subject to uncertainty in recent years. The EPA previously had promulgated the New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”), imposing limitations on methane emissions from sources in the oil and gas sector. Subsequently, in September 2020, the Trump Administration rescinded those methane standards and removed the transmission and storage segments from the oil and gas source category under the CAA’s NSPS. However, in June 2021, President Biden signed a resolution passed by the U.S. Congress under the Congressional Review Act nullifying the September 2020 rule, effectively reinstating the prior standards. In November 2021, as required by President Biden’s executive order, the EPA proposed new regulations to expand NSPS requirements for oil and gas sector sources and establish comprehensive standards of performance and emission guidelines for methane and volatile organic compound emissions from existing operations in the oil and gas sector, including the exploration and production, transmission, processing, and storage segments. The EPA published its proposed rule in November 2022 to update, strengthen and expand its November 2021 proposal by reducing emissions of methane and other air pollutants from both new and existing oil and gas operations. The EPA held a public hearing in January 2023 and the comment period closed in February 2023. Once finalized, the regulations are likely to be subject to legal challenge and will also need to be incorporated into the individual state’s implementation plans, which will need to be approved by the EPA in individual rulemakings that could also be subject to legal challenge. The reinstatement of direct regulation of methane emission for new sources and the promulgation of requirements for existing oil and gas customers could result in increased costs for our customers and consequently adversely affect demand for our services.
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Separately, various states and groups of states have adopted or are considering adopting legislation, regulation or other regulatory initiatives that are focused on such areas as GHG cap and trade programs, carbon taxes, reporting and tracking programs, and restriction of GHG emissions. For example, several states, including Pennsylvania and New Mexico, have proposed or adopted regulations restricting the emission of methane from E&P activities. At the international level, the United Nations-sponsored “Paris Agreement” requires member states to submit non-binding, individually-determined reduction goals known as Nationally Determined Contributions every five years after 2020. President Biden has recommitted the United States to the Paris Agreement and, in April 2021, announced a goal of reducing the United States’ emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030. In November 2021, President Biden released “The Long-Term Strategy of the United States: Pathways to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050,” which, among other things, explains that the U.S. and EU are co-leading the “Global Methane Pledge” that aims to cut global methane pollution at least 30% by 2030 relative to 2020 levels. Further, in 2022, the Biden Administration signed the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) that committed to spending approximately $375 billion over a decade, primarily on promoting “clean energy,” in the form of incentives for solar and wind power and electric vehicles. However, the bill calls for new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and in federal waters. In addition, for the first time ever, the IRA imposes a fee on methane emissions from certain facilities, including certain oil and gas facilities but provides for a conditional exemption from the fee if facilities are subject to and are in compliance with EPA methane regulations that are (1) in effect nationwide, and (2) will “result in equivalent or greater emissions reductions as would be achieved” if EPA’s November 2021 proposed rule (“New Source Performance Standards and Emissions Guidelines for Existing Sources from the Oil and Gas Sector”) were finalized as proposed. The full impacts of these orders, pledges, agreements, and any further legislation or regulation promulgated to fulfill the United States’ commitments under these initiatives cannot be predicted at this time.
Governmental, scientific, and public concern over the threat of climate change arising from GHG emissions has resulted in increasing political risks in the United States, including climate change related pledges made by certain candidates now in public office. On January 27, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order that calls for substantial action on climate change, including, among other things, the increased use of zero-emission vehicles by the federal government, the elimination of subsidies provided to the fossil fuel industry, and increased emphasis on climate-related risks across government agencies and economic sectors. The Biden Administration has previously also issued orders suspending the issuance of new leases pending a study, of oil and gas development on federal lands. In addition, in November 2022, the BLM issued a proposed rule to reduce the waste of natural gas from venting, flaring and leaks during oil and gas production activities on federal and American Indian leases. For more information, see our regulatory disclosure below titled “Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing and Related Activities.” As a result, we cannot predict the full impact of these developments or whether the Biden Administration may pursue further restrictions. Other actions that could be pursued by the Biden Administration may include the imposition of more restrictive requirements for the establishment of pipeline infrastructure or the permitting of LNG export facilities, as well as more restrictive GHG emission limitations for oil and gas facilities.
Additionally, in March 2022, the SEC proposed new rules relating to the disclosure of a range of climate-related risks. At this time, we cannot predict the costs of implementation or any potential adverse impacts resulting from the rule. To the extent this rule is finalized as proposed, we or our customers could incur increased costs related to the assessment and disclosure of climate-related risks. In addition, enhanced climate disclosure requirements could accelerate the trend of certain stakeholders and lenders restricting or seeking more stringent conditions with respect to their investments in certain carbon intensive sectors.
The adoption and implementation of new or more stringent international, federal or state legislation, regulations or other regulatory initiatives that impose more stringent standards for GHG emissions from the oil and natural gas sector or otherwise restrict the areas in which this sector may produce oil and natural gas or generate the GHG emissions could result in increased costs of compliance or costs of consuming, and thereby reduce demand for oil and natural gas, which could reduce demand for our services. Additionally, political, litigation and financial risks may result in our customers restricting or canceling production activities, incurring liability for infrastructure damages as a result of climatic changes, or impairing their ability to continue to operate in an economic manner, which also could reduce the demand for our services. One or more of these developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation.
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Endangered and Threatened Species. Environmental laws such as the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) and analogous state laws may impact exploration, development and production activities in areas where we operate. The ESA provides broad protection for species of fish, wildlife and plants that are listed as threatened or endangered. Similar protections are offered to migratory birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”) and various state analogs. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (“FWS”) may identify previously unidentified endangered or threatened species or may designate critical habitat and suitable habitat areas that it believes are necessary for survival of a threatened or endangered species. For example, the dunes sagebrush lizard, which is found only in the active and semi-stable shinnery oak dunes of southeastern New Mexico and adjacent portions of Texas (including areas where our customers operate), was a candidate species for listing under the ESA by the FWS for many years. As a result of a recent settlement with the environmental groups, the FWS, in July 2020, acted on a petition to list the dunes sagebrush lizard finding sufficient information to warrant a formal one-year review to consider listing the species. While the listing review is ongoing, FWS has also developed a conservation agreement that would implement certain protective practices for the species and authorize incidental taking of the species resulting from certain covered activities, including exploration and development of oil and gas fields. The conservation agreement is known as a CCAA. We have joined the CCAA in an effort to mitigate potential impacts on our business of a listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard by the FWS. On February 8, 2022, the FWS issued a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments on a draft amendment to the CCAA. Comments were due on March 11, 2022. At this time the draft amendment is still pending.
On November 25, 2022, the FWS announced that the Northern distinct population segments (“DPS”) of the lesser prairie-chicken meets the definition of a threatened species and that the Southern DPS of the lesser prairie-chicken meets the definition of an endangered species. Therefore, FWS listed them as such and finalized a rule under the ESA, which became effective January 24, 2023. Separately, on July 1, 2021, a lawsuit was filed by conservation groups to overturn a 2019 FWS decision listing the eastern hell bender salamander under the ESA. In October 2021, the Biden administration published two rules that reversed changes made by the Trump administration, namely to the definition of “habitat” and a policy that made it easier to exclude territory from critical habitat. On March 23, 2022, the FWS proposed a rule to redesignate the northern long-eared bat from a threatened species to an endangered species under ESA, and to remove its species-specific rule that excluded most development activities from the ESA’s prohibition on taking listed species. The effective date of the redesignation is March 31, 2023. To the extent any protections are implemented or increased for these or any other species or habitat, it could cause us or our customers to incur additional costs or become subject to operating restrictions or operating bans in the affected areas.
Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing and Related Activities. Our hydraulic fracturing operations are a significant component of our business. Hydraulic fracturing is an important and common practice that is used to stimulate production of hydrocarbons, particularly natural gas, from tight formations, including shales. The process, which involves the injection of water, sand and chemicals under pressure into formations to fracture the surrounding rock and stimulate production, is typically regulated by state oil and natural gas commissions. Currently, hydraulic fracturing is generally exempt from federal regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act Underground Injection Control (the “SDWA UIC”) program and is typically regulated by state oil and gas commissions or similar agencies. However, certain federal agencies have increased scrutiny and regulation. For example, in late 2016, the EPA released a final report on the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources, concluding that “water cycle” activities associated with hydraulic fracturing may impact drinking water resources under certain limited circumstances. To date, the EPA has taken no further action in response to the 2016 report. Additionally, the EPA has asserted regulatory authority pursuant to the SDWA UIC program over hydraulic fracturing activities involving the use of diesel fuel in the fracturing fluid and issued guidance for such activities. The EPA also previously issued a series of rules under the CAA that establish new emission control requirements for certain oil and natural gas production and natural gas processing operations and associated equipment. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (the “BLM”) also finalized rules to impose new or more stringent standards for performing hydraulic fracturing on federal and American Indian lands. While this regulation was subsequently rescinded in December 2017, which rescission was upheld by the District Court of Northern California, litigation is ongoing. Additionally, the Biden Administration may seek to revisit these regulations. Separately, the Biden Administration may also pursue further restriction of hydraulic fracturing and other oil and gas development on federal lands. For example, on January 27, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order that, among other things, called for the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies from federal budget requests beginning in 2022 and suspended the issuance of new leases for oil and gas development on federal lands to the extent permitted by law and called for a review of existing leasing and permitting practices for such activities on federal lands (the order clarifies that it does not restrict such operations on tribal lands that the federal government merely holds in trust). In addition, in November 2022, the BLM issued a proposed rule to reduce the waste of natural gas from venting, flaring and leaks during oil and gas production activities on federal and American Indian leases.
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In response to President Biden’s executive order, the Department of Interior issued a report recommending various changes to the federal leasing program, though many such changes would require Congressional action. However, legal challenges to this suspension are ongoing, and the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana has issued a preliminary injunction against the implementation of this suspension while such challenges are pending. The Biden Administration has appealed the injunction, but is complying with the injunction during the appeals process. Separately, the state of Louisiana, among other states, have challenged the Biden Administration’s use of the social cost of carbon in its decision-making, including federal leasing decisions, resulting in an injunction from the Western District of Louisiana preventing the Biden Administration’s use of the social cost of carbon. In response, the Biden Administration again halted leasing activities. However, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned the lower court’s decision, and the plaintiff states sought review by the Supreme Court, which declined to vacate the Fifth Circuit’s order. On April 15, 2022, the Department of the Interior announced that it would again resume leasing on federal lands, though with significant changes to the program, including an 80% reduction in the number of acres nominated and the first-ever increase in onshore royalties, to 18.7% from 12.5%. Separately, there has been a significant reduction in the number of approvals of applications for permits to drill on federal lands in 2022. However, in 2022, the IRA conditioned issuance of wind and solar rights-of-way on new oil and gas lease sales on federal land. There remains a significant uncertainty and increased regulatory risks and costs relating to onshore oil and gas exploration and production activities. These issues could result in decreased activity on federal land, adversely impacting demand for our services.
As a result, we cannot predict the final scope of regulations or restrictions that may apply to oil and gas operations on federal lands, nor the outcome of pending litigation. Although the executive order does not apply to existing operations under valid leases, ProFrac cannot guarantee that further action will not be taken to curtail oil and gas development on federal lands. Any restrictions for new or existing production activities on federal land could adversely impact our customer’s operations and consequently reduce demand for our services. The increase in royalties associated with leasing on federal lands, and any future increases that may occur, may adversely impact exploration and production activities on federal lands and reduce demand for our services. Further, legislation to amend the SDWA to repeal the exemption for hydraulic fracturing (except when diesel fuels are used) from the definition of “underground injection” and require federal permitting and regulatory control of hydraulic fracturing, as well as legislative proposals to require disclosure of the chemical constituents of the fluids used in the fracturing process, have previously been proposed in Congress. Several states and local jurisdictions in which we or our customers operate also have adopted or are considering adopting regulations that could restrict or prohibit hydraulic fracturing in certain circumstances, impose more stringent operating standards and/or require the disclosure of the composition of hydraulic fracturing fluids.
Federal and state governments have also investigated whether the disposal of produced water into underground injection wells has caused increased seismic activity in certain areas. In response to concerns regarding induced seismicity, regulators in some states have imposed, or are considering imposing, additional requirements in the permitting of produced water disposal wells or otherwise to assess any relationship between seismicity and the use of such wells. For example, Oklahoma has issued rules for wastewater disposal wells that impose permitting and operating restrictions and reporting requirements on disposal wells in proximity to faults and also, from time to time, has implemented plans directing certain wells where seismic incidents have occurred to restrict or suspend disposal well operations. In particular, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s well completion seismicity guidelines for operators in the South Central Oklahoma Oil Province (“SCOOP”) and the Sooner Trend (oil field), Anadarko (basin) and Canadian and Kingfisher (countries) (“STACK”) require hydraulic fracturing operations to be suspended following earthquakes of certain magnitudes in the vicinity. In addition, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s Oil and Gas Conservation Division has previously issued an order limiting future increases in the volume of oil and natural gas wastewater injected into the ground in an effort to reduce the number of earthquakes in the state. The Texas Railroad Commission has adopted similar rules.
If new laws or regulations that significantly restrict hydraulic fracturing and related activities are adopted, such laws could make it more difficult or costly to perform fracturing to stimulate production from tight formations. In addition, if hydraulic fracturing is further regulated at the federal or state level, fracturing activities could become subject to additional permitting and financial assurance requirements, more stringent construction specifications, increased monitoring, reporting and record keeping obligations, plugging and abandonment requirements and also to attendant permitting delays and potential increases in costs. Such legislative changes could cause us to incur substantial compliance costs, and compliance or the consequences of any failure to comply could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
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OSHA Matters. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”) and comparable state statutes regulate the protection of the health and safety of workers. In addition, the OSHA hazard communication standard requires that information be maintained about hazardous materials used or produced in operations and that this information be provided to employees, state and local government authorities and the public. In March 2016, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a final rule to impose stricter standards for worker exposure to silica; our sand mining operations are subject to this rule and, moreover, the rule went into effect on June 23, 2021 for hydraulic fracturing activities. As a result, we or our customers may be required to incur additional costs associated with compliance with these standards, which costs may be material.
Mining Activities. Our sand mining operations are subject to the oversight of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”), which is the primary regulatory agency with jurisdiction over the commercial silica industry. MSHA regulates quarries, surface mines, underground mines, and the industrial mineral processing facilities associated with quarries and mines. In June 2022, the MSHA launched a new enforcement initiative to better protect miners in the United States from health hazards resulting from repeated overexposure to respirable crystalline silica. MSHA administers and enforces the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (“FMSHA”), as amended by the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006. FMSHA imposes stringent health and safety standards on numerous aspects of our operations inclusive of mineral extraction and processing operations, transportation and transloading of silica and delivery of silica sand to well sites. These standards include, among others, the training of personnel, operating procedures, operating and safety equipment, and other matters. As part of MSHA’s oversight, its representatives must perform at least two unannounced inspections annually for each surface mining facility in its jurisdiction.
Availability of Information
Our website is located at http://www.pfholdingscorp.com. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other reports and filings with the SEC are available free of charge on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after the reports are filed with or furnished to the SEC. Information contained on our website is not incorporated into this Annual Report or on our other filings with the SEC. Our filings are also available in hard copy, free of charge, by contacting us at 333 Shops Boulevard, Suite 301, Willow Park, Texas 76087, Attention: Investor Relations, telephone: (254) 776-3722. The SEC also maintains a website (www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. Additionally, we make available free of charge on our website:
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
We face various risks and uncertainties in the industry in which we operate and in the course of our business. Investors in our securities should carefully consider the following risk factors and all of the other information set forth or incorporated into this Annual Report. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us, or that we currently deem immaterial, may also adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Risks Related to our Growth Strategy
To achieve our growth and vertical integration objectives, our management relies on a rapid succession of strategic acquisitions, investments and procurement arrangements the pace and scope of which may have the potential to adversely affect the day-to-day operation of our business, and our cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.
Since the beginning of 2022, before the May 17th closing of our initial public offering and the start of trading of our Class A Common Stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”), we have aggressively pursued our growth and vertical integration strategies through a series of acquisitions, investments and procurement arrangements that increased our total assets from $664.6 million at December 31, 2021, to $2.9 billion at the end of fiscal year 2022. As explained in greater detail under Item 1 (Business) above, these acquisitions, investments and transactions include:
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In addition, in December 2022 we also announced our agreements to acquire Producers and Performance Proppants for approximately $35.0 million and $475.0 million, respectively, in total consideration value. Both transactions are now closed.
For a company of our size and resources, the pace and volume of the deal-making activity described above may create risks and uncertainties that can have a material adverse effect on the daily conduct of our business, and negatively impact our cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. For example, we are exposed to the risk that the day-to-day management, oversight, and operation of our business and our financial results may be adversely affected by:
In addition, because the historical utilization rates of any acquired assets may be lower than ours in recent periods, our utilization ratio could decrease during the course of an initial integration period. Accordingly, there can be no assurance the utilization for acquired assets will align with the utilization of our existing fleet or on our anticipated timeline or at all.
We have incurred and will continue to incur substantial indebtedness to finance acquisitions. We have also issued equity and may issue additional equity, 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.
Our growth and vertical integration objectives require substantial capital that we may be unable to obtain, or may only obtain at a cost or under terms that adversely affect our cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.
We have historically financed capital expenditures primarily with cash generated by operations, equipment and vendor financing, and borrowings under our credit facilities and other debt financing. As of the date of this annual report, however, the continued reliability of our traditional sources of funding has to be questioned. Any further disruptions or continuing volatility in the global financial markets (including as a result of a potential U.S. government default) may lead to additional increases in interest rates, or to a contraction in credit availability that could impair our ability to finance our operations and acquisitions. In the event our capital expenditure requirements at any time are greater than the amounts then available to us, we may not be able to obtain funding from such alternative sources of capital, and may be required to curtail or eliminate contemplated activities. Even if we can obtain capital from alternative sources, the terms of such fundings may not be favorable to us. In particular, the terms of any debt financing may include covenants that significantly restrict our operations. Our inability to grow as planned may reduce our chances of maintaining and improving profitability.
We may have difficulty managing growth in our business, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Growth in accordance with our business strategy, if achieved, could place a significant strain on our financial, operational and management resources. As we expand the scope of our activities and our geographic coverage through both organic growth and acquisitions, there will be additional demands on our financial, legal, accounting, technical, operational and management resources. The failure to continue to upgrade our technical, administrative, operating and financial control systems or the occurrence of unexpected expansion difficulties, including the failure to recruit and retain experienced managers and other professionals, could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity positions, financial condition, results of operations and prospects and our ability to successfully or timely execute our business strategy.
We may experience difficulties in integrating acquired assets into our business and in realizing the expected benefits of an acquisition.
The success of an acquisition, if achieved, will depend in part on our ability to realize anticipated business opportunities and benefits from combining the acquired assets with our business in an effective and efficient manner. The integration process could take longer than anticipated and could result in the loss of key employees, the disruption of each company’s ongoing businesses, tax costs or inefficiencies or inconsistencies in standards, controls, information technology systems, procedures and policies, any of which could adversely affect our ability to maintain relationships with customers, employees or third parties or our ability to achieve the anticipated benefits, and could harm our financial performance. If we are unable to successfully or timely integrate acquired assets with our business, we may incur unanticipated liabilities and be unable to realize the anticipated benefits, and our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
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Our indebtedness and liquidity needs could restrict our operations and make us more vulnerable to adverse economic conditions.
Our existing and future indebtedness, whether incurred in connection with acquisitions, operations or otherwise, and limited access to liquidity may adversely affect our operations and limit our growth, and we may have difficulty making debt service payments on such indebtedness as payments become due. Our level of indebtedness may affect our operations in several ways, including:
In addition, any failure to comply with the financial or other debt covenants could result in an event of default, which could result in some or all of our indebtedness becoming immediately due and payable. That occurrence would substantially and adversely affect our ability to continue operating our business and would severely and adversely affect our cash flows and financial condition and results.
We may not be able to generate sufficient cash flow to service all of our obligations, including our obligations under our credit and other financing facilities.
Our ability to make payments on and to upsize our current facilities, refinance any of our outstanding indebtedness, and obtain additional financing, and to fund planned capital expenditures, strategic transactions and expansion efforts will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future. This, to a certain extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control.
Our business may not be able to generate sufficient cash flows from operations, and there is no assurance that future borrowings will be available to us in amounts sufficient to enable us to make payments due on our indebtedness and to fund our other liquidity needs. If this is the case, we will need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness on or before maturity, and we cannot assure that we will be able to refinance any of our indebtedness in a timely manner, on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. We may need to implement one or more alternatives, such as reducing or delaying planned expenses and capital expenditures, selling assets, restructuring debt, or obtaining additional equity or debt financing. These financing strategies may not be executed on satisfactory terms, if at all. Our ability to upsize our current facilities, refinance our indebtedness or obtain additional financing, and to do so on commercially reasonable terms, will depend on, among other things, our financial condition at the time, restrictions in agreements governing our indebtedness, and other factors, including the condition of the financial markets and the markets in which we will compete.
If we do not generate sufficient cash flows from operations, and additional borrowings, refinancings or proceeds of asset sales are not available to us, we may not have sufficient cash to enable us to meet all of our obligations.
Risks Related to our Business
Our business and financial performance depends on the level of capital spending by oil and gas companies operating within the areas we service.
Demand for our services depends on the level of capital expenditures in the United States by companies in the oil and natural gas industry. A prolonged reduction in oil and gas prices would generally depress the level of oil and natural gas exploration, development, production, and well completion activity and would result in a corresponding decline in the demand for the hydraulic fracturing services that we provide. For example, the significant decline in oil and natural gas prices that followed the outset of the COVID pandemic in 2020 caused a reduction in our customers’ spending and associated drilling and completion activities, all of which had an adverse effect on our revenue. While oil and natural gas prices have since increased, should prices decline again, similar declines in our customers’ spending would have an adverse effect on our revenue.
Numerous factors beyond our control affect our customers’ decisions regarding their level of exploration and production activity at any given time and, therefore, have an impact on the level of demand for our services at such time, including:
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These factors, together with the historical tendency of oil and gas companies to increase production in response to price increases, which typically leads to overproduction and a collapse in prices, have often contributed to the volatility of the energy markets and the cyclical nature of the energy business. Accordingly, it would be unwise for anyone to expect the recent recovery of the sector to be of unlimited duration, or to disregard the likelihood (even certainty) of turbulent times in the foreseeable future.
Our business depends upon our ability to obtain specialized equipment, parts and key raw materials from third-party suppliers, and we may be vulnerable to delayed deliveries and future price increases.
While we operate a vertically integrated business, each of our segments relies on specialized equipment, parts and raw materials supplied by third parties and affiliates. At times during the commodity price cycle, there is a high demand for hydraulic fracturing and other oilfield services and extended lead times to obtain equipment and raw materials needed to provide stimulation services. Similarly, our manufacturing business relies on a limited number of suppliers for major equipment to build our new electric-powered hydraulic fracturing fleets utilizing Clean Fleet® technology.
Should our current suppliers be unable or unwilling to provide the necessary equipment, parts or raw materials or otherwise fail to deliver the products timely and in the quantities required, any resulting delays in the provision of our services, or in the time needed to upgrade our fleet, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
In addition, future price increases for the equipment, parts and raw materials we purchase from others could negatively impact our ability to update or expand our existing fleets, to timely repair equipment in our existing fleets or meet the demands of our customers.
Our reliance upon a few large customers may adversely affect our revenue and operating results.
The majority of our revenue is generated from the provision of hydraulic fracturing services to a discrete number of recurring customers. During the fiscal years ended on December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, our top ten customers represented, respectively, 35%, 63% and 70% of our consolidated revenues. Similarly, USWS, our recently acquired company, reported that for its fiscal years ended on December 31, 2021 and 2020, each of three and five customers, respectively, accounted for greater than 10.0% of its total consolidated revenues.
It is likely that we will depend on a relatively small number of customers for a significant portion of our revenue in the future. If a major customer fails to pay us, cash flow from operations would be impacted and our operating results and financial condition could be harmed. Additionally, if we were to lose any material customer, we may not be able to redeploy our equipment at similar utilization or pricing levels and such loss could have an adverse effect on our business until the equipment is redeployed at similar utilization or pricing levels.
Oil and natural gas companies’ operations using hydraulic fracturing are substantially dependent on the availability of water. Restrictions on the ability to obtain water for E&P activities and the disposal of flowback and produced water may impact their operations and have a corresponding adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Water is an essential component of shale oil and natural gas production during both the drilling and hydraulic fracturing processes. Our oil and natural gas producing customers’ access to water to be used in these processes may be adversely affected due to reasons such as periods of extended drought, privatization, third party competition for water in localized areas or the implementation of local or state governmental programs to monitor or restrict the beneficial use of water subject to their jurisdiction for hydraulic fracturing to assure adequate local water supplies. The occurrence of these or similar developments may result in limitations being placed on allocations of water due to needs by third party businesses with more senior contractual or permitting rights to the water. Our customers’ inability to locate or contractually acquire and sustain the receipt of sufficient amounts of water could adversely impact their E&P operations and have a corresponding adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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Moreover, the imposition of new environmental regulations and other regulatory initiatives could include increased restrictions on our producing customers’ ability to dispose of flowback and produced water generated by hydraulic fracturing or other fluids resulting from E&P activities. Applicable laws impose restrictions and strict controls regarding the discharge of pollutants into waters of the United States and require that permits or other approvals be obtained to discharge pollutants to such waters. Additionally, regulations implemented under both federal and state laws prohibit the discharge of produced water and sand, drilling fluids, drill cuttings and certain other substances related to the natural gas and oil industry into coastal waters. These laws provide for civil, criminal and administrative penalties for any unauthorized discharges of pollutants and unauthorized discharges of reportable quantities of oil and hazardous substances. Compliance with current and future environmental regulations and permit requirements governing the withdrawal, storage and use of surface water or groundwater necessary for hydraulic fracturing of wells and any inability to secure transportation and access to disposal wells with sufficient capacity to accept all of our flowback and produced water on economic terms may increase our customers’ operating costs and could result in restrictions, delays, or cancellations of our customers’ operations, the extent of which cannot be predicted.
Our operations are subject to unforeseen interruptions and hazards inherent in the oil and natural gas industry, for which we may not be adequately insured, and which could cause us to lose customers and substantial revenue.
Our operations are exposed to the risks inherent to our industry, such as equipment defects, vehicle accidents, fires, explosions, blowouts, surface cratering, uncontrollable flows of gas or well fluids, pipe or pipeline failures, abnormally pressured formations and various environmental hazards, such as oil spills and releases of, and exposure to, hazardous substances (including fracturing fluids, and chemical additives). In addition, our operations are exposed to potential natural disasters, such as blizzards, tornadoes, storms, floods, other adverse weather conditions and earthquakes. The occurrence of any of these events could result in substantial losses to us due to injury or loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of property, natural resources and equipment, pollution or other environmental damage, clean-up responsibilities, regulatory investigations and penalties or other damage resulting in curtailment or suspension of our operations. The cost of managing such risks may be significant. The frequency and severity of such incidents will affect operating costs, insurability and relationships with customers, employees and regulators.
Our insurance may not be adequate to cover all losses or liabilities we may suffer. Furthermore, we may be unable to maintain or obtain insurance of the type and amount we desire at reasonable rates. As a result of market conditions, premiums and deductibles for certain of our insurance policies have increased and could escalate further. In addition, sub-limits have been imposed for certain risks. In some instances, certain insurance could become unavailable or available only for reduced amounts of coverage. If we were to incur a significant liability for which we are not fully insured, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, we may not be able to secure additional insurance or bonding that might be required by new governmental regulations. This may cause us to restrict our operations, which might severely impact our financial position.
Since hydraulic fracturing activities are part of our operations, they are covered by our insurance against claims made for bodily injury, property damage and clean-up costs stemming from a sudden and accidental pollution event. However, we may not have coverage if we are unaware of the pollution event and unable to report the “occurrence” to our insurance company within the time frame required under our insurance policy. In addition, these policies do not provide coverage for all liabilities, and the insurance coverage may not be adequate to cover claims that may arise, or we may not be able to maintain adequate insurance at rates we consider reasonable. A loss not fully covered by insurance could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
We rely on a few key employees whose absence or loss could adversely affect our business.
Many key responsibilities within our business have been assigned to a small number of employees. The loss of their services could adversely affect our business. In particular, the loss of the services of one or more members of our executive team, including our Chief Executive Officer, Executive Chairman, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Financial Officer, could disrupt our operations. We do not maintain “key person” life insurance policies on any of our employees. As a result, we are not insured against any losses resulting from the death of our key employees.
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Inaccuracies in our estimates of mineral reserves and resource deposits, or deficiencies in our title to those deposits, could result in our inability to mine the deposits or require us to pay higher than expected costs.
We base our mineral reserve and resource estimates on engineering, economic and geological data assembled and analyzed by our mining engineers, which are reviewed periodically by outside firms. However, commercial silica reserve estimates are necessarily imprecise and depend to some extent on statistical inferences drawn from available drilling data, which may prove unreliable. There are numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities and qualities of commercial silica reserves and non-reserve commercial silica deposits and costs to mine recoverable reserves, many of which are beyond our control and any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. These uncertainties include:
In addition, title to, and the area of, mineral properties and water rights may also be disputed. Mineral properties sometimes contain claims or transfer histories that examiners cannot verify. A successful claim that we do not have title to one or more of our properties or lack appropriate water rights could cause us to lose any rights to explore, develop and extract any minerals on that property, without compensation for our prior expenditures relating to such property. Any inaccuracy in our estimates related to our mineral reserves and non-reserve mineral deposits, or our title to such deposits, could result in our inability to mine the deposits or require us to pay higher than expected costs.
Additionally, a portion of our Alpine reserves are located on approximately 630 acres that we lease pursuant to a lease that terminates in 2052 and requires that we commence production from the leased premises by January 1, 2032. If we do not commence mining activities by January 1, 2032, our lease of this property would terminate and we would lose our interest in these reserves.
We may be subject to claims for personal injury and property damage, which could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We operate with most of our customers under master service agreements (“MSAs”). We endeavor to allocate potential liabilities and risks between the parties in the MSAs. Generally, under our MSAs, including those relating to our hydraulic fracturing services, we assume responsibility for, including control and removal of, pollution or contamination which originates above surface and originates from our equipment or services. Our customer typically assumes responsibility for, including control and removal of, all other pollution or contamination which may occur during operations, including that which may result from seepage or any other uncontrolled flow of drilling fluids occurring below grade. We may have liability in such cases to the extent we were found to be grossly negligent or having committed willful acts. Generally, our customers also agree to indemnify us against claims arising from their employees’ personal injury or death to the extent that, in the case of our hydraulic fracturing operations, their employees are injured or their properties are damaged by such operations, unless resulting from our gross negligence or willful misconduct. Similarly, we generally agree to indemnify our customers for liabilities arising from personal injury to or death of any of our employees, unless resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct of the customer. In addition, our customers generally agree to indemnify us for loss or destruction of customer-owned property or equipment and in turn, we agree to indemnify our customers for loss or destruction of property or equipment we own. This reciprocal or mirrored indemnity and risk allocation model is known as knock for knock indemnity and is common in oilfield services agreements. Losses due to catastrophic events, such as blowouts, are generally the responsibility of the customer. However, despite this general allocation of risk, we might not succeed in enforcing such contractual allocation, might incur an unforeseen liability falling outside the scope of such allocation or may be required to enter into an MSA with terms that vary from the above allocations of risk. Litigation arising from a catastrophic occurrence at a location where our equipment and services are being used may result in ProFrac being named as a defendant in lawsuits asserting large claims. As a result, we may incur substantial losses which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operation.
If we are unable to fully protect our intellectual property rights, we may suffer a loss in our competitive advantage or market share.
If we are not able to protect our patents or maintain the confidentiality of our trade secrets, or if our competitors are able to replicate our technology or services, our competitive advantage would be diminished. We also cannot ensure that any patents we currently own or may obtain in the future would provide us with any significant commercial benefit or would allow us to prevent our competitors from employing comparable technologies or processes.
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If we fail to respond to our customers’ growing demand for environmentally sensitive equipment, our business will be adversely affected.
As our customers have become more focused on the reductions of their emissions footprint, we have introduced products and services (such as our electric-powered hydraulic fracturing fleets) to meet their needs. However, as of December 31, 2022, only 22.0% of our pumps rely on electric frac or Tier IV DGB technology (which we consider to be the most environmentally friendly currently available technologies used in our industry). In addition to being less attractive to customers, the legacy portion of our fleet is less efficient, and often requires additional maintenance and capital expenditures to be kept in good operating condition and may, therefore, be subject to longer or more frequent periods of unavailability.
If we fail to upgrade and replace our fleet with the higher efficiency and more environmentally friendly equipment the industry increasingly demands, our competitive position will deteriorate, which may have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
Our financial results may be materially adversely affected by the inclusion of Flotek’s financial statements in our consolidated financial statements, and we do not have the benefit of Flotek’s cash or liquidity.
Due to our determination that Flotek is a variable interest entity of which ProFrac is the primary beneficiary, Flotek’s financial statements have been included in our consolidated financial statements from May 17, 2022. Consequently, our financial results may be materially adversely affected if Flotek reports poor or worsened financial results. Any delays in Flotek’s reporting of its financial results or material inaccuracies in Flotek’s financial statements could negatively impact ProFrac’s ability to timely or accurately report its financial results. In addition, we do not have the ability to access or deploy Flotek’s cash or liquidity in our operations, which may limit our ability to mitigate the impact of the inclusion of Flotek’s financial statements in our consolidated financial statements.
Risks Related to Environmental and Regulatory Matters
Our operations and the operations of our customers are subject to environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, and future compliance, claims, and liabilities relating to such matters may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position or cash flows.
The nature of our operations and those of our customers, including our pressure pumping operations and the handling, transporting and disposing of a variety of fluids and substances, including hydraulic fracturing fluids and other regulated substances, air emissions, and wastewater, stormwater, and groundwater discharges exposes us and our customers to some risk of environmental liability, including the release of pollutants from oil and natural gas wells and associated equipment to the environment. We are also subject to laws and regulations associated with sand mining and equipment manufacturing operations, including the processing, and the related storage, handling, transportation and disposal of raw materials, products and wastes. The cost of compliance with these laws can be significant.
Under these laws and regulations, we may become liable for penalties, damages or costs of remediation or other corrective measures.
Failure to properly handle, transport or dispose of these materials or otherwise conduct our operations in accordance with these and other environmental, health and safety laws, permits, and authorizations could expose us to substantial liability for administrative, civil and criminal penalties, cleanup and site restoration costs and liability associated with releases of such materials, damages to natural resources and other damages, as well as potentially impair our ability to conduct our operations. Such liability is commonly on a strict, joint and several liability basis, without regard to fault or negligence. Liability may be imposed as a result of our conduct that was lawful at the time it occurred or the conduct of, or conditions caused by, prior operators or other third parties. Governmental agencies, citizen organizations, neighboring landowners and other third parties may file claims against us for personal injury or property damage allegedly caused by the release of pollutants into the environment. Costs associated with defending against these claims and any actual liabilities could impact our profitability.
Changes in laws or government regulations could increase our costs of doing business.
Environmental, health and safety laws and regulations are constantly evolving, and they may change in the future and become more stringent. Current and future claims and liabilities may have a material adverse effect on us because of potential adverse outcomes, defense costs, diversion of management resources, unavailability of insurance coverage and other factors. The ultimate costs of these liabilities are difficult to determine and may exceed any reserves we may have established. If existing environmental, health and safety requirements or enforcement policies change, we may be required to make significant unanticipated capital and operating expenditures.
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New and existing regulatory disclosure requirements may implicate our trade secrets and cause us competitive harm if such trade secrets become public.
Many states in which we operate require the disclosure of some or all the chemicals used in our pressure pumping operations. Certain aspects of one or more of these chemicals may be considered proprietary by us or our chemical suppliers. Disclosure of our proprietary chemical information to third parties or to the public, even if inadvertent, could diminish the value of our trade secrets or those of our chemical suppliers and could result in competitive harm to us, which could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, prospects and results of operations.
Supply chain issues, moratoriums, and increased regulatory requirements on our suppliers may impact the cost and availability of raw materials necessary to our operations.
Our business could be affected by moratoriums or increased regulation of other companies in the supply chain, such as sand mining by our proppant suppliers, or our chemical suppliers, which could limit our access to supplies and increase the costs of raw materials. At this time, it is not possible to estimate how these various restrictions could affect our ongoing operations.
Our operations, and those of our customers, are subject to a series of risks arising from climate change, which ultimately may result in increased GHG regulation, decreased demand for fossil fuels, and fewer oil and gas permits and licenses, all of which may affect our operations and profitability.
Climate change continues to attract considerable public and scientific attention. As a result, numerous proposals have been made and are likely to continue to be made at the international, national, regional and state levels of government to monitor and limit emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other GHGs. These efforts have included significant public investment in zero-carbon energy production and storage, consideration of cap-and-trade programs, carbon taxes, GHG reporting and tracking programs and regulations that directly limit GHG emissions from certain sources. The risk of these continued efforts to drive down carbon emissions may result in reduced business opportunities and profitability.
As a result of increased attention to combating climate change, various governmental and non-governmental groups have pledged to achieve reductions to GHG emissions. One recent development in this area, the 2022 IRA, discussed above, involves significant investment over the next 10 years into solar and wind energy production and battery storage infrastructure in an effort to reduce U.S. GHGs to about 40 percent lower than 2005 levels by 2030. Such significant public investment in non-fossil fuel energy production may reduce demand for traditional fossil fuel electricity production which could negatively impact prices of natural gas and profitability of our operations.
The regulation of methane from oil and gas facilities stands to become more restrictive under the current federal administration. The EPA already imposes limitations on methane emissions from new sources in the oil and gas sector through NSPS and the EPA’s November 2022 proposed rule seeks to further reduce emissions of methane and other air pollutants from both new and existing oil and gas operations. Such regulation of methane emission for new sources and the promulgation of further requirements for existing oil and gas customers could result in increased operational costs and adversely affect demand for our services. The complete impacts of these pledges, investments, agreements, and the legislation or regulation promulgated to fulfill the United States’ commitments to reduce GHG emissions, cannot be predicted at this time. Additionally, we cannot predict any future reductions and restrictions beyond what is currently proposed.
Litigation risks are also increasing as a number of entities have sought to bring suit against various oil and natural gas companies in state or federal court, alleging among other things, that such companies created public nuisances by producing fuels that contributed to climate change or alleging that the companies have been aware of the adverse effects of climate change for some time but defrauded their investors or customers by failing to adequately disclose those impacts.
There are also increasing financial risks for fossil fuel producers as shareholders currently invested in fossil-fuel energy companies may elect in the future to shift some or all of their investments into non-fossil fuel related sectors. Institutional lenders who provide financing to fossil fuel energy companies also have become more attentive to sustainable lending practices and some of them may elect not to provide funding for fossil fuel energy companies. There is also a risk that financial institutions will be required to adopt policies that have the effect of reducing the funding provided to the fossil fuel sector. In 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling for the development of a “climate finance plan” and, separately, the Federal Reserve announced that it had joined the Network for Greening the Financial System, a consortium of financial regulators focused on addressing climate-related risks in the financial sector. Limitation of investments in and financing for fossil fuel energy companies could result in the restriction, delay or cancellation of drilling programs or development or production activities. Enhanced climate disclosure requirements could accelerate the trend of certain stakeholders and lenders restricting or seeking more stringent conditions with respect to their investments in certain carbon intensive sectors.
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Additionally, political, litigation and financial risks may result in our customers restricting or canceling production activities, incurring liability for infrastructure damages as a result of climatic changes, or impairing their ability to continue to operate in an economic manner, which also could reduce the demand for our services. One or more of these developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation.
Finally, many scientists have concluded that increasing concentrations of GHG in the atmosphere may produce climate changes that have significant physical effects, such as increased frequency and severity of storms, droughts, and floods and other climate events that could have an adverse effect on our customers’ operations.
Federal, state, and local legislative and regulatory initiatives relating to hydraulic fracturing, as well as governmental reviews and investment practices for such activities, may serve to limit future oil and natural gas E&P activities and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and business.
Various federal, state and local legislative and regulatory initiatives have been, or could be undertaken which could result in additional requirements or restrictions being imposed on hydraulic fracturing operations. As discussed above, hydraulic fracturing is generally exempt from federal regulation under the SDWA UIC program and is typically regulated by state oil and gas commissions or similar agencies. However, certain federal agencies have increased scrutiny and regulation. Increased federal regulation of fracking operations would likely lead to increased compliance costs and a higher probability of enforcement actions and litigation.
Many states and local governments have also adopted regulations that impose more stringent permitting, disclosure, disposal and well-construction requirements on hydraulic fracturing operations, including states where we or our customers operate, such as Texas, Colorado and North Dakota. States could also elect to place prohibitions on hydraulic fracturing, as several states have already done. In addition, some states have adopted broader sets of requirements related to oil and gas development more generally that could impact hydraulic fracturing activities. Separately, state and federal regulatory agencies have at times focused on a possible connection between hydraulic fracturing related activities, including the underground injection of wastewater into disposal wells, and the increased occurrence of seismic activity. Regulators in some states have imposed, or are considering imposing, additional requirements in the permitting of produced water disposal wells or otherwise to assess any relationship between seismicity and the use of such wells. To the extent any new regulations are adopted to restrict hydraulic fracturing activities or the disposal of fluids associated with such activities, it may adversely affect our customers and, as a result, demand for our services.
Increased regulation and attention given to the hydraulic fracturing process could lead to greater opposition to, and litigation concerning, oil and natural gas production activities using hydraulic fracturing techniques. Additional legislation or regulation could also lead to operational delays for our customers or increased operating costs in the production of oil and natural gas, including from the developing shale plays, or could make it more difficult for us and our customers to perform hydraulic fracturing. The adoption of any additional laws or regulations regarding hydraulic fracturing or further restrictions on the availability of capital for hydraulic fracturing could potentially cause a decrease in the completion of new oil and natural gas wells and an associated decrease in demand for our services and increased compliance costs and time. Such a decrease could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, consolidated results of operations, and consolidated financial condition. Moreover, as discussed above, the increased competitiveness and investment into non-fossil fuel energy sources (such as wind, solar, geothermal, hydrogen, tidal, battery storage technologies, and biofuels) or increased focus on reducing the use of combustion engines in transportation (such as governmental mandates that ban the sale of new gasoline-powered automobiles) could reduce demand for hydrocarbon fuels and our services, which would lead to a reduction in our revenues.
Oilfield anti-indemnity provisions enacted by many states may restrict or prohibit a party’s indemnification of us.
We typically enter into agreements with our customers governing the provision of our services, which usually include certain indemnification provisions for losses resulting from operations. Such agreements may require each party to indemnify the other against certain claims regardless of the negligence or other fault of the indemnified party; however, many states place limitations on contractual indemnity agreements, particularly agreements that indemnify a party against the consequences of its own negligence. Furthermore, certain states, including Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming, have enacted statutes generally referred to as “oilfield anti-indemnity acts” expressly prohibiting certain indemnity agreements contained in or related to oilfield services agreements. Such oilfield anti-indemnity acts may restrict or void a party’s indemnification of us, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, prospects, and results of operations.
Conservation measures, commercial development and technological advances could reduce demand for oil and natural gas and our services.
Fuel conservation measures, alternative fuel requirements, increasing consumer demand for alternatives to oil and natural gas, technological advances in fuel economy and energy generation devices could reduce demand for oil and natural gas, resulting in reduced demand for oilfield services. For example, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission has raised concerns about the potential for certain indoor gas appliances to emit harmful quantities of certain air pollutants. The impact
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of the changing demand for oil and natural gas services and products, and proposed laws and regulations, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The commercial development of economically viable non-fossil fuel energy sources and related products (such as electric vehicles, wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, fuel cells and biofuels) could have a similar effect. In addition, certain U.S. federal income tax deductions currently available with respect to oil and natural gas exploration and development, including the allowance of percentage depletion for oil and natural gas properties, may be eliminated by proposed legislation. Any future decreases in the rate at which oil and natural gas reserves are discovered or developed, whether due to the passage of legislation, increased governmental regulation leading to limitations, or prohibitions on exploration and drilling activity, including hydraulic fracturing, or other factors, could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition, even in a stronger oil and natural gas price environment.
Additional restrictions on drilling activities intended to protect certain species of wildlife may adversely affect our ability to conduct completion activities.
In the United States, the ESA restricts activities that may affect endangered or threatened species or their habitats and similar protections are offered to migratory birds under the MBTA. To the extent species that are listed under the ESA or similar state laws, or are protected under the MBTA, inhabit the areas where we or our customers operate, our operations and the operations of our customers could be adversely impacted. Moreover, drilling activities may be delayed, restricted or precluded in protected habitat areas or during certain seasons, such as breeding and nesting seasons. The listing of new species under the ESA in the areas where our customers operate similarly has the potential to adversely impact our operations and demand for our services as a result of restrictions on oil and gas activities.
Similarly, the designation of previously unidentified endangered or threatened species could cause our operations to become subject to operating restrictions or bans, and limit future development activity in affected areas. Changes to existing rules could increase the portion of our customers’ operating areas that could be designated as critical habitat. Such new species designations or more restrictive rules could materially restrict use of or access to federal, state and private lands.
Risks related to our Corporate Structure and our Class A Common Stock
The Issuer is a holding company and its only material asset is its equity interest in ProFrac LLC; accordingly the Issuer is entirely dependent upon distributions from ProFrac LLC to meet its obligations, including the payment of taxes and covering its corporate and other overhead expenses.
The Issuer, ProFrac Holding Corp., is a holding company that has no material assets other than its equity interest in ProFrac LLC and, accordingly, has no independent means of generating revenue. To the extent ProFrac LLC has available cash, it is required to make (i) generally pro rata distributions to the holders of Units, including the Issuer, in an amount at least sufficient to allow the Issuer to pay its taxes (and those of its wholly owned subsidiaries) and to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement and any subsequent tax receivable agreement that it may enter into in connection with future acquisitions and (ii) non-pro rata payments to the Issuer to reimburse it for its corporate and other overhead expenses. If the Issuer needs funds, and ProFrac LLC or its subsidiaries are unable to provide such funds, or are restricted from doing so by applicable law or regulation or by the terms of any current or future financing arrangements, there is no assurance that the Issuer will be able to secure funds from other sources.
ProFrac Holding Corp.’s ability to make tax payments and payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be dependent on the ability of ProFrac LLC to make distributions to ProFrac Holding Corp. in an amount sufficient to cover ProFrac Holding Corp.’s tax obligations (and those of its wholly owned subsidiaries) and obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement. This ability, in turn, may depend on the ability of ProFrac LLC’s subsidiaries to make distributions to it. We intend that such distributions from ProFrac LLC and its subsidiaries be funded with cash from operations or from future borrowings. The ability of ProFrac LLC, its subsidiaries and other entities in which it directly or indirectly holds an equity interest to make distributions is subject to, among other things, (i) the applicable provisions of Texas law (or other applicable jurisdiction) that may limit the amount of funds available for distribution and (ii) restrictions in relevant debt instruments issued by ProFrac LLC or its subsidiaries and other entities in which it directly or indirectly holds an equity interest. To the extent that ProFrac Holding Corp. is unable to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, such payments will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid.
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Conflicts of interest could arise between us, on the one hand, and Dan Wilks and Farris Wilks and entities owned by or affiliated with them (collectively, the “Wilks Parties”), on the other hand, concerning among other things, business transactions, competitive business activities or business opportunities.
Conflicts of interest could arise between us, on the one hand, and the Wilks Parties, on the other hand, concerning among other things, business transactions, competitive business activities or business opportunities. The Wilks Parties operate in the energy and oilfield services industries. In the normal course of business, we have engaged in transactions with some of these companies. Furthermore, the Wilks Parties now, and in the future may, directly or indirectly, compete with us for investment or business opportunities.
The Wilks Parties are not restricted from owning assets or engaging in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us and do not have any duty to refrain from engaging, directly or indirectly, in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us, including those business activities or lines of business deemed to be competing with us, or doing business with any of our clients, customers or vendors.
The Wilks Parties may become aware, from time to time, of certain business opportunities (such as acquisition opportunities) and may direct such opportunities to other businesses in which they have invested, in which case we may not become aware of or otherwise have the ability to pursue such opportunities. In addition, the Wilks Parties may dispose of their interests in energy or other oilfield services companies or other assets in the future, without any obligation to offer us the opportunity to purchase any of those interests or assets.
In any of these matters, the interests of Dan Wilks, Farris Wilks and their affiliates and other business owned by or affiliated with them may differ or conflict with the interests of our other shareholders. Any actual or perceived conflicts of interest with respect to the foregoing could have an adverse impact on the trading price of our Class A Common Stock.
The requirements of being a public company, including compliance with the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”), may strain our resources, increase our costs and distract management, and we may be unable to comply with these requirements in a timely or cost-effective manner.
As a public company, we are required to comply with laws, regulations and requirements, including certain corporate governance provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley, and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the requirements of Nasdaq. Complying with these statutes, regulations and requirements has and will continue to occupy a significant amount of time of our board of directors and management and significantly increase our costs and expenses. We are required to:
Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley requires that, upon satisfaction of certain conditions, our management assess the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, and our independent registered public accounting firm issue an attestation report on those internal controls. Compliance with these provisions is onerous, and there is no assurance that we will be in a position to meet these legal requirements when they become applicable to us, or that we or our independent registered public accounting firm will not identify material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to comply with the requirements of Section 404 or if we or our independent registered public accounting firm identify and report such material weaknesses, the accuracy and timeliness of the filing of our annual and quarterly reports may be materially adversely affected and could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the price of our Class A Common Stock. In addition, a material weakness in the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting could result in an increased chance of fraud and the loss of customers, reduce our ability to obtain financing and require additional expenditures to comply with these requirements, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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Our stock price may be volatile, which could lead to losses by investors.
The market price of our Class A Common Stock could vary significantly as a result of a number of factors, some of which are beyond ProFrac’s control. For example, since we consummated our IPO, the closing sales price of our Class A Common Stock has fluctuated from a high of $25.72 per share on November 22, 2022, to a low of $11.04 per share on March 23, 2023.
The following is a non-exhaustive list of factors that could affect our stock price:
The stock markets in general have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price of our Class A Common Stock. Securities class action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the overall market and in the market price of a company’s securities. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in very substantial costs, divert our management’s attention and resources and materially harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
The current market price of our securities may not be indicative of future market prices or intrinsic value, and we may not be able to sustain or increase the value of an investment in our securities. Investors in our securities may experience a decrease, which could be substantial, in the value of their securities, including decreases unrelated to our operating performance, financial results or prospects. Your only opportunity to achieve a return on your investment in our securities may be if the market price of our securities appreciates and you sell your securities at a profit. The market price for our securities may never exceed, and may fall below, the price that you paid for such securities. You could lose all or part of your investment in us as a result.
The Wilks Parties have the ability to direct the voting of a majority of our voting stock, and their interests may conflict with those of our other stockholders.
As of December 31, 2022, the Wilks Parties controlled approximately 81.1% of our total voting power. As a result, the Wilks Parties are able to control matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors, changes to our organizational documents and significant corporate transactions. This concentration of ownership makes it unlikely that any other holder or group of holders of our Class A Common Stock will be able to affect the way we are managed or the direction of our business. The interests of the Wilks Parties with respect to matters potentially or actually involving or affecting us, such as future acquisitions, financings and other corporate opportunities and attempts to acquire us, may conflict with the interests of our other stockholders.
For example, the Wilks Parties may have different tax and other positions from us, especially in light of the Tax Receivable Agreement, that could influence their decisions regarding whether and when to support the disposition of assets, the incurrence or refinancing of new or existing indebtedness, or the termination of the Tax Receivable Agreement and acceleration of our obligations thereunder. In addition, the determination of future tax reporting positions, the structuring of future transactions and the handling of any challenge by any taxing authority to our tax reporting positions may take into consideration tax or other considerations of the Wilks Parties which may differ from the considerations of us or our other stockholders.
31
Furthermore, in connection with our IPO, ProFrac entered into a Stockholders’ Agreement, dated as of May 17, 2022, with certain of the Wilks Parties (as amended on January 13, 2023, the “ProFrac Stockholders’ Agreement”), which addresses the right to designate nominees for election to the ProFrac board of directors. The existence of significant stockholders may have the effect of deterring hostile takeovers, delaying or preventing changes in control or changes in management, or limiting the ability of ProFrac’s other stockholders to approve transactions that they may deem to be in the best interests of ProFrac. Moreover, the Wilks Parties’ concentration of stock ownership may adversely affect the trading price of ProFrac Class A Common Stock to the extent investors perceive a disadvantage in owning stock of a company with significant stockholders.
A significant reduction by the Wilks Parties of their ownership interests in ProFrac could adversely affect us.
We believe that the Wilks Parties’ substantial ownership interest in ProFrac provides them with an economic incentive to assist us to be successful. However, the Wilks Parties may elect at any time to sell all or a substantial portion of or otherwise reduce their ownership interest in us. If the Wilks Parties sell all or a substantial portion of their ownership interests in us, they may have less incentive to assist in our success. Such actions could adversely affect our ability to successfully implement our business strategies which could adversely affect our cash flows or results of operations. See the discussion in Item 9B of this Annual Report for additional information.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as Delaware law, contain provisions that could discourage acquisition bids or merger proposals, which may adversely affect the market price of our Class A Common Stock and could deprive our investors of the opportunity to receive a premium for their shares.
Our certificate of incorporation authorizes our board of directors to, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock in one or more series, and to fix the rights and preferences of each series. If our board of directors elects to issue preferred stock, it could be more difficult for a third party to acquire us. In addition, some provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of us, even if the change of control would be beneficial to our stockholders. Some of these provisions include, for example, the following:
In addition, certain change of control events will have the effect of accelerating the payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement, which could be substantial and accordingly serve as a disincentive to a potential acquirer of the Company.
32
Our certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or agents.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, the federal district court of the State of Delaware, will, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action, suit or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action, suit or proceeding asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our current or former directors, officers, employees or stockholders to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action, suit or proceeding asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or (iv) any action, suit or proceeding asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each such case subject to such Court of Chancery having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein. Investors in shares of our capital stock are bound by these provisions which may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and such persons. However, these choice of forum limitations do not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for any complaint asserting a cause of action under the Securities Act. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this forum provision providing for exclusive jurisdiction of federal district courts with respect to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act. If a court were to find these provisions of our certificate of incorporation inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We do not presently anticipate paying cash dividends on our Class A Common Stock and our existing debt agreements place restrictions on our ability to do so. Consequently, your only opportunity to achieve a return on your shares of Class A Common Stock is if the price of our Class A Common Stock appreciates.
While we look forward to the opportunity to pay dividends in the future, we do not presently anticipate paying any cash dividends on our Class A Common Stock in the foreseeable future. In addition, our existing debt agreements place, and we expect our future debt agreements will place, restrictions on our ability to pay cash dividends. Consequently, unless we revise our dividend policy and are released of the provisions in our loan agreements that restrict the payment of dividends, your only opportunity to achieve a return on your investment in us will be if you sell your Class A Common Stock at a price greater than the price that you paid for it. There is no guarantee that the price of our Class A Common Stock that will prevail in the market will ever exceed the amount that you paid for it.
The price of our Class A Common Stock may decline as a result of the large number of shares available for sale.
As of March 23, 2023, we had 54,702,269 shares of our Class A Common Stock outstanding, approximately 2,542,708 shares of Class A Common Stock remained available for issuance under our long-term incentive plan, and the Wilks Parties owned 97,447,865 shares of our Class B Common Stock which are freely convertible into Class A Common Stock on a one-for-one basis, all of which we are required to register for resale upon their demand. As described in Part II, Item 9B “Other Information,” of this Annual Report, certain holders of Units, including the Wilks Parties, have recently had discussions with us about a potential redemption of all of their Units, which would result in the issuance of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to the number of Units requested to be redeemed.
The fact that many or all of these unissued shares may become issued and available for resale on very short notice may adversely affect the price at which our Class A Common Stock trades. In addition, we may issue in the future additional shares of our Class A Common Stock, or securities convertible into Class A Common Stock, which may further adversely affect the trading price of our shares and dilute existing shareholders.
33
ProFrac Holding Corp. is required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for certain tax benefits that it may claim, and the amounts of such payments could be significant.
We are party to the Tax Receivable Agreement with the TRA Holders. This agreement generally provides for the payment by ProFrac to the TRA Holders of 85% of the net cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax and franchise tax (computed using simplifying assumptions to address the impact of state and local taxes) that ProFrac actually realizes (or is deemed to realize in certain circumstances) in periods after our IPO as a result of certain increases in tax basis available to ProFrac as a result of acquisitions of Units in connection with the IPO or pursuant to the exercise of the Redemption Right or the Call Right (as such terms are defined in the ProFrac LLC Agreement and certain benefits attributable to imputed interest. We will retain the benefit of the remaining 15% of any actual net cash tax savings.
The term of the Tax Receivable Agreement will continue until all tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement have been utilized or expired, unless we experience a change of control (as defined in the Tax Receivable Agreement, which includes certain mergers, asset sales, or other forms of business combinations) or the Tax Receivable Agreement otherwise terminates early (at our election or as a result of our breach or the commencement of bankruptcy or similar proceedings by or against us) and ProFrac makes the termination payments specified in the Tax Receivable Agreement in connection with such change of control or other early termination. In the event that the Tax Receivable Agreement is not terminated, the payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are anticipated to commence in 2023 and to continue for 15 years after the date of the last redemption of the Units.
The payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement are our obligations and not obligations of ProFrac LLC, and we expect that the payments required to be made under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be substantial. Estimating the amount and timing of payments that may become due under the Tax Receivable Agreement is by its nature imprecise. For purposes of the Tax Receivable Agreement, net cash tax savings generally are calculated by comparing our actual tax liability (determined by using the actual applicable U.S. federal income tax rate and an assumed combined state and local income and franchise tax rate) to the amount we would have been required to pay had we not been able to utilize any of the tax benefits subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement. The actual increases in tax basis covered by the Tax Receivable Agreement, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, will vary depending on a number of factors, including the timing of any redemption of Units, the price of our Class A Common Stock at the time of each redemption, the extent to which such redemptions are taxable transactions, the amount of the redeeming Unit Holder’s tax basis in its Units at the time of the relevant redemption, the depreciation and amortization periods that apply to the increase in tax basis, the amount and timing of taxable income we generate in the future, the U.S. federal income tax rates then applicable, and the portion of our payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement that constitute imputed interest or give rise to depreciable or amortizable tax basis. Any distributions made by ProFrac LLC to ProFrac in order to enable us to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, as well as any corresponding pro rata distributions made to the Unit Holders, could have an adverse impact on our liquidity.
The payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are not conditioned upon a TRA Holder having a continued ownership interest in ProFrac or ProFrac LLC. For more information, see the section “Tax Receivable Agreement.”
In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual benefits, if any, we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement.
If we experience a change of control (as defined under the Tax Receivable Agreement, which includes certain mergers, asset sales and other forms of business combinations) or the Tax Receivable Agreement otherwise terminates early (at our election or as a result of our breach or the commencement of bankruptcy or similar proceedings by or against us), our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement would accelerate and we would be required to make an immediate payment equal to the present value of the anticipated future payments to be made by it under the Tax Receivable Agreement (determined by applying a discount rate equal to (i) the greater of (A) 0.25% and (B) the 180-Day Average Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), plus (ii) 150 basis points) and such payment is expected to be substantial. The calculation of anticipated future payments will be based upon certain assumptions and deemed events set forth in the Tax Receivable Agreement, including (i) that we have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize the tax benefits covered by the Tax Receivable Agreement, and (ii) that any Units (other than those held by ProFrac) outstanding on the termination date are deemed to be redeemed on the termination date. Any early termination payment may be made significantly in advance of, and may materially exceed, the actual realization, if any, of the future tax benefits to which the termination payment relates.
If we experience a change of control (as defined under the Tax Receivable Agreement) or the Tax Receivable Agreement otherwise terminates early, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, or other forms of business combinations or changes of control. For example, if we were to experience a change of control or the Tax Receivable Agreement had otherwise been terminated at December 31, 2022, the estimated termination payments could range up to more than $475 million. The foregoing amount is merely an estimate and the actual payment could differ materially. There can be no assurance that we will be able to satisfy our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement.
34
In the event that payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement are accelerated in connection with certain mergers, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control, the consideration payable to holders of our Class A Common Stock could be substantially reduced.
If we experience a change of control (as defined under the Tax Receivable Agreement, which includes certain mergers, asset sales and other forms of business combinations), we would be obligated to make a substantial immediate lump-sum payment, and such payment may be significantly in advance of, and may materially exceed, the actual realization, if any, of the future tax benefits to which the payment relates. As a result of this payment obligation, holders of our Class A Common Stock could receive substantially less consideration in connection with a change of control transaction than they would receive in the absence of such obligation. Further, any payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement are not conditioned upon the TRA Holders’ having a continued interest in ProFrac or ProFrac LLC. Accordingly, the TRA Holders’ interests may conflict with those of the holders of our Class A Common Stock.
We will not be reimbursed for any payments made under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the event that any tax benefits are subsequently disallowed.
Payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be based on the tax reporting positions that we will determine. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or another taxing authority may challenge all or part of the tax basis increases covered by the Tax Receivable Agreement, as well as other related tax positions we take, and a court could sustain such challenge. The TRA Holders will not reimburse us for any payments previously made under the Tax Receivable Agreement if any tax benefits that have given rise to payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are subsequently disallowed, except that excess payments made to any TRA Holder will be netted against future payments that would otherwise be made to such TRA Holder, if any, after our determination of such excess (which determination may be made a number of years following the initial payment and after future payments have been made). As a result, in such circumstances, we could make payments that are greater than our actual cash tax savings, if any, and we may not be able to recoup those payments, which could materially adversely affect our liquidity.
If ProFrac LLC were to become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, ProFrac and ProFrac LLC might be subject to potentially significant tax inefficiencies, and we would not be able to recover payments previously made by ProFrac under the Tax Receivable Agreement even if the corresponding tax benefits were subsequently determined to have been unavailable due to such status.
We intend to continue to operate such that ProFrac LLC does not become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A “publicly traded partnership” is a partnership the interests of which are traded on an established securities market or are readily tradable on a secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof. Under certain circumstances, redemptions of Units pursuant to the Redemption Right (or acquisitions of Units pursuant to the Call Right) or other transfers of Units could cause ProFrac LLC to be treated as a publicly traded partnership. Applicable U.S. Treasury regulations provide for certain safe harbors from treatment as a publicly traded partnership, and we intend to operate such that redemptions or other transfers of Units qualify for one or more such safe harbors. For example, we intend to limit the number of unitholders of ProFrac LLC, and the ProFrac LLC Agreement entered into in connection with the closing of our IPO, provides for limitations on the ability of unitholders of ProFrac LLC to transfer their Units and will provide ProFrac, as the managing member of ProFrac LLC, with the right to impose restrictions (in addition to those already in place) on the ability of unitholders of ProFrac LLC to redeem their Units pursuant to the Redemption Right to the extent ProFrac believes it is necessary to ensure that ProFrac LLC will continue to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
If ProFrac LLC were to become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, significant tax inefficiencies might result for ProFrac and for ProFrac LLC, including as a result of our inability to file a consolidated U.S. federal income tax return with ProFrac LLC. In addition, we might not be able to realize tax benefits covered under the Tax Receivable Agreement, and we would not be able to recover any payments previously made by us under the Tax Receivable Agreement, even if the corresponding tax benefits (including any claimed increase in the tax basis of ProFrac LLC’s assets) were subsequently determined to have been unavailable.
We may issue preferred stock whose terms could adversely affect the voting power or value of our Class A Common Stock.
Our certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue, without the approval of our stockholders, one or more classes or series of preferred stock having the designations, preferences, limitations and relative rights, including preferences over our Class A Common Stock respecting dividends and distributions, that 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 Class A 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 our Class A Common Stock.
35
If we were deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), applicable restrictions could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Under Sections 3(a)(1)(A) and (C) of the 1940 Act, a company generally will be deemed to be an “investment company” for purposes of the 1940 Act if (i) it is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities or (ii) it engages, or proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and it owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. We do not believe that we are an “investment company,” as such term is defined in either of those sections of the 1940 Act.
As the sole managing member of ProFrac LLC, the Issuer controls and operates ProFrac LLC. On that basis, we believe that the Issuer’s interest in ProFrac LLC is not an “investment security” as that term is used in the 1940 Act. However, if the Issuer were to cease participation in the management of ProFrac LLC, its interest in ProFrac LLC could be deemed to be an “investment security” for purposes of the 1940 Act.
Although the Issuer and ProFrac LLC intend to continue to conduct their operations so that the Issuer will not be deemed an investment company, if the Issuer were to be deemed an investment company, restrictions imposed by the 1940 Act, including limitations on our capital structure and our ability to transact with affiliates, would make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules and, as a result, qualify for and intend to rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
Because the Wilks Parties beneficially own 30,805,107 shares of our Class A Common Stock and 97,447,865 Units (and an equal number of shares of Class B Common Stock), representing approximately 81.1% of the voting power of ProFrac as of December 31, 2022, we are a controlled company under Sarbanes-Oxley and rules of Nasdaq. Additionally, the Wilks Parties are currently, and we expect that they will continue to be, deemed a group for purposes of certain rules and regulations of the SEC as a result of the ProFrac Stockholders’ Agreement. Under the Nasdaq rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by another person or group of persons acting together is a controlled company and may elect not to comply with certain Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
These requirements will not apply to us as long as we remain a controlled company. We currently intend to continue to utilize some or all of these exemptions. Accordingly, you may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq.
General Risk Factors
Our business could be adversely affected by a decline in general economic conditions or a weakening of the broader energy industry, and inflation may adversely affect our financial position and operating results.
A prolonged economic slowdown or recession, adverse events relating to the energy industry, or regional, national or global economic conditions and factors, particularly a slowdown in the E&P industry, could negatively impact our operations and therefore adversely affect our results. The risks associated with our business are more acute during periods of economic slowdown and recession because such periods may be accompanied by decreased exploration and development spending by our customers, decreased demand for oil and natural gas, and decreased prices for oil and natural gas.
Inflationary factors, such as increases in the labor costs, material costs, and overhead costs, may also adversely affect our financial position and operating results.
36
Developments related to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Russia is one of the main players in the global oil markets. Accordingly, any events that can impair or enhance its ability to compete in such markets are likely to have an impact on the industry in which we operate, the business decisions of our customers, and the level of demand for our services. Since the beginning of the war, sanctions imposed by Ukraine’s allies that seek to limit Russia’s ability to profit from oil and gas exports, and certain of the retaliatory measures taken by Russia in response (such as the ban on sales to certain countries), have created conditions resulting in an increased demand for our services. There is no assurance that such conditions will continue to exist, and even if they do, that we will continue to be able to benefit from them.
We may be adversely affected by disputes regarding intellectual property rights of third parties.
Third parties from time to time may initiate litigation against us by asserting that the conduct of our business infringes, misappropriates or otherwise violates intellectual property rights. If we are sued for infringement and lose, we could be required to pay substantial damages and/or be enjoined from using or selling the infringing products or technology. Any legal proceeding concerning intellectual property could be protracted and costly regardless of the merits of any claim and is inherently unpredictable and could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, regardless of its outcome.
If we were to discover that our technologies or products infringe valid intellectual property rights of third parties, we may need to obtain licenses from these parties or substantially re-engineer our products to avoid infringement. We may not be able to obtain the necessary licenses on acceptable terms, or at all, or be able to re-engineer our products successfully. If our inability to obtain required licenses for our technologies or products prevents us from selling our products, that could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.
We face significant competition that may cause a loss of market share.
The oilfield services industry is highly competitive and has relatively few barriers to entry. The principal competitive factors impacting sales of our services are price, reputation and technical expertise, equipment and service quality and health and safety standards. Numerous factors could cause us to lose our competitive position, including the nature of the markets we compete in, and the often-times price-based nature of the competition we face.
The market for hydraulic fracturing services is fragmented and includes, not only numerous small companies capable of competing effectively in our markets on a local basis, but also several large companies that possess substantially greater financial and other resources than we do. Our larger competitors’ greater resources could allow them to compete more effectively than we can. For instance, our larger competitors may offer services at below-market prices or bundle ancillary services at no additional cost to customers. We compete with large national and multi-national companies that have longer operating histories, greater financial, technical and other resources and greater name recognition than we do. Several of our competitors provide a broader array of services and have a stronger presence in more geographic markets.
Some jobs are awarded on a bid basis, which further increases competition based on price. Pricing is often the primary factor in determining which qualified contractor is awarded a job, and we have had in the past to lower our prices to remain competitive. For example, because of a combination of the increased competition which began during the second half of 2018 and 2019 and the decreased demand for our services in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to lower our prices to remain competitive, which contributed to a 35% decrease in revenues from stimulation services for fiscal year 2020 (as compared to 2019). Although our industry and results of operations have seen a strong recovery since those times, the vitality characteristic of the energy business makes it impossible for us to rule out potential adverse changes in the competitive landscape that may force us, once again, to lower our prices, which would adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, we may lose market share or be unable to maintain or increase prices for our present services or to acquire additional business opportunities, which could also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our wealthier competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies and services and changes in customer requirements. The amount of equipment available may exceed demand, which could result in active price competition. In addition, depressed commodity prices lower demand for hydraulic fracturing equipment, which results in excess equipment and lower utilization rates. In addition, some E&P companies have commenced completing their wells using their own hydraulic fracturing equipment and personnel. Any increase in the development and utilization of in-house fracturing capabilities by our customers could decrease the demand for our services and have a material adverse impact on our business.
37
If we are unable to employ a sufficient number of skilled and qualified workers, our capacity and profitability could be diminished and our growth potential could be impaired.
The delivery of our services requires skilled and qualified workers with specialized skills and experience who can perform physically demanding work. As a result of the volatility of the oilfield services industry and the demanding nature of the work, workers may choose to pursue employment in fields that offer a more desirable work environment at wage rates that are competitive. Our ability to be productive and profitable will depend upon our ability to employ and retain skilled workers. In addition, our ability to expand our operations depends in part on our ability to increase the size of our skilled labor force. The demand for skilled workers is high, and the supply is limited. As a result, competition for experienced oilfield service personnel is intense, and we face significant challenges in competing for crews and management with large and well-established competitors. A significant increase in the wages paid by competing employers could result in a reduction of our skilled labor force, increases in the wage rates that we must pay, or both. If either of these events were to occur, our capacity and profitability could be diminished and our growth potential could be impaired.
A negative shift in investor sentiment of the oil and gas industry has had and could in the future have adverse effects on our operations and ability to raise capital.
Certain segments of the investor community have developed negative sentiment towards investing in our industry. For example, certain sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, university endowments and family foundations, have stated policies to disinvest in the oil and gas sector based on their social and environmental considerations. Certain other stakeholders have also pressured commercial and investment banks and other lenders and investors to stop financing oil and gas production and related infrastructure projects, which adversely affects our customers. Such developments could result in downward pressure on the stock prices of oilfield service companies, including ours. This may also potentially result in a reduction of available capital funding for potential transactions, impacting our future financial results.
Negative public perception can lead to additional regulatory burdens and reduced business opportunities for us.
Negative public perception regarding our industry may lead to increased regulatory scrutiny, which may, in turn, lead to new state and federal safety and environmental laws, regulations, guidelines or enforcement interpretations. Additionally, environmental and other advocacy groups may oppose our customers’ operations through organized protests, attempts to block or sabotage our customers’ operations, intervene in regulatory or administrative proceedings involving our customers’ assets, or file lawsuits or other actions designed to prevent, disrupt or delay the development or operation of our customers’ assets. These actions may increase our costs of compliance and reduce our customers’ production levels over time which, as a result, may reduce demand for our services. Moreover, governmental authorities exercise considerable discretion in the timing and scope of permit issuance and the public may engage in the permitting process, including through intervention in the courts. Negative public perception could cause the permits that our customers require to conduct their operations to be withheld, delayed or burdened by requirements that restrict our customers’ ability to profitably conduct their businesses, which would also reduce demand for our services. Ultimately, this could make it more difficult to secure funding for our operations.
In addition, organizations that provide information to investors on corporate governance and related matters have developed ratings processes for evaluating companies on their approach to ESG matters. Such ratings are used by some investors to inform their investment and voting decisions. Unfavorable ESG ratings and recent activism directed at shifting funding away from companies with fossil fuel-related assets could lead to increased negative investor sentiment toward us and our industry and to the diversion of investment to other industries, which could have a negative impact on the price of our Class A Common Stock and our or our customers’ access to and cost of capital. Also, institutional lenders may decide not to provide funding for fossil fuel energy companies based on climate change-related concerns, which could affect our or our customers’ access to capital for potential growth projects.
38
We are subject to cyber security risks. A cyber incident could occur and result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
The oil and natural gas industry has become increasingly dependent on digital technologies to conduct certain processing activities. For example, we depend on digital technologies to perform many of our services and process and record operational and accounting data. At the same time, cyber incidents, including deliberate attacks or unintentional events, have increased. The U.S. government has issued public warnings that indicate that energy assets might be specific targets of cyber security threats. Our technologies, systems and networks, and those of our vendors, suppliers and other business partners, may become the target of cyberattacks or information security breaches that could result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, loss or destruction of proprietary and other information, or other disruption of our business operations. In addition, certain cyber incidents, such as surveillance, may remain undetected for an extended period. Our systems and insurance coverage for protecting against cyber security risks may not be sufficient. As cyber incidents continue to evolve, we may be required to expend additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to cyber incidents. Our insurance coverage for cyberattacks may not be sufficient to cover all the losses we may experience as a result of such cyberattacks.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Item 2. Properties
Our Non-Mining Properties
We lease office space for our corporate headquarters located at 333 Shops Boulevard, Suite 301, Willow Park, Texas 76087. We currently own or lease the following additional principal properties:
Location |
|
Size |
|
Leased or owned |
|
Purpose |
|
Segment |
Willow Park, TX |
|
8,244 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Corporate |
|
- |
Smithfield, PA |
|
47,800 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Asherton, TX |
|
48,797 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Sales Office |
|
Stimulation services |
Odessa, TX |
|
50,634 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Odessa, TX |
|
61,540 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Elk City, OK |
|
42,330 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Washington County, PA |
|
41,660 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Pleasanton, TX |
|
62,950 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Longview, TX |
|
36,000 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Vernal, UT |
|
18,827 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Aledo, TX |
|
94,050 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Manufacturing |
|
Manufacturing |
Hobbs, NM |
|
12,000 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Ozona, TX |
|
21,292 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Marshall, TX |
|
21,800 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Pleasanton, TX |
|
421,443 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
El Reno, OK |
|
507,202 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Fort Worth, TX |
|
109,823 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Manufacturing |
|
Manufacturing |
Fort Worth, TX |
|
79,346 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Manufacturing |
|
Manufacturing |
Fort Worth, TX |
|
11,193 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Manufacturing |
|
Manufacturing |
Fort Worth, TX |
|
89,522 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Manufacturing |
|
Manufacturing |
Fort Worth, TX |
|
22,604 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Corporate Office |
|
- |
Houston, TX |
|
19,865 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Corporate Office |
|
- |
Jane Lew, WV |
|
70,500 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Gillette, WY |
|
139,580 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Vernal, UT |
|
13,188 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
San Angelo, TX |
|
18,200 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Cisco, TX |
|
377,186 sq ft |
|
Owned |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Denver, CO |
|
4,286 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Corporate Office |
|
- |
Dickinson, ND |
|
226,222 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Hennessy, OK |
|
435,600 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Field Operations |
|
Stimulation services |
Zanesville, OH |
|
652,566 sq ft |
|
Owned |
|
Manufacturing |
|
Manufacturing |
Bossier City, LA |
|
3,400 sq ft |
|
Leased |
|
Corporate Office |
|
- |
39
Our Mining Properties
As of December 31, 2022, our mining activities in all mining properties described in Item 1301(a) of Regulation S-K included four sites operated by us (Kermit, Lamesa, Monahans and Monarch) and four sites which we had contracted to acquire and, therefore, it was “probable” (as the term is used in the regulations) that we would operate or have an economic interest in (Hat Creek, River Ridge, Sunny Point and Merryville). As of December 31, 2022, we did not have any individually material mining properties.
The map below shows the locations of our mining operations referred to above:
Summary Overview of Our Mining and Processing Facilities
The following table sets forth certain information about the mining properties required to be included in our mining operations as of December 31, 2022 pursuant to Item 1303(a) of Regulation S-K:
Mine |
Location |
Size |
Owned/Leased |
Operator |
Stage |
Kermit |
Winkler County, Texas |
641 acres |
Owned
|
Alpine Silica, LLC |
Production |
Kermit |
Winkler County, Texas |
630 acres |
Leased |
Alpine Silica, LLC |
Production |
Lamesa |
Dawson County, Texas |
6,700 acres |
Owned |
Alpine Silica, LLC |
Production |
Monahans |
Ector and Ward Counties, Texas |
2,723 acres |
Leased |
Alpine Silica, LLC |
Production |
Monarch |
Bexar County, Texas |
735.0 acres |
Owned |
Alpine Silica, LLC |
Production |
Hat Creek |
Bossier and Caddo Parishes, Louisiana |
706.2 acres |
Leased |
Performance Proppants, LLC |
Production |
River Ridge |
Miller and Lafayette Counties, Arkansas |
2,000 acres |
Owned |
Performance Proppants, LLC |
Production |
Sunny Point |
Bossier and Caddo Parishes, Louisiana |
843 acres |
Leased |
Performance Proppants, LLC |
Production |
Merryville |
Beauregard Parish, Louisiana |
1,200 acres |
Leased |
Performance Proppants, LLC |
Production |
40
Our aggregate annual production of frac sand in thousands of product tons for the fiscal years ended on December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 was 2,153, 1,646, and 737, respectively.
The following provides an overview of our operations in mining properties:
Kermit Sand Mine, Winkler County, TX
We operate a sand mine and processing facility located in Winkler County, Texas, strategically located in the Permian Basin that we refer to as our “Kermit Sand Mine.” The Kermit Sand Mine is a surface sand mine and a production stage property located on Farm-to-Market Road (“FM”) 1218 approximately 14 miles north of Kermit, Texas and approximately 58 miles west of the Midland-Odessa area. Our Kermit Sand Mine facility features two wash plants and a dry plant with two rotary dryers that clean and classify the sand. The Kermit Sand Mine facility was built in 2017 and produces 40/70 and 100 mesh sand. Additional onsite facilities include a scale house, office, shop, quality laboratory and onsite housing for up to 40 employees. Approximately 70 employees are located at the Kermit Sand Mine to facilitate the processing and storage of the proppant products. The plant does not crush the material but cleans and classifies the sand. Once the product is appropriately processed, it is stored in one of eight storage silos until it is transported by truck to its destination.
Our Kermit Sand Mine operates under five operating permits and complies with other state and federal regulations that do not require a specific permit. The Kermit Sand Mine’s current New Source Review (“NSR”) permit is renewable in 2028. Other permits held for such mine include: Stormwater, Above Ground Storage Tank, Aggregate Production Operation, and a Public Water System application that is pending. There are no formal state or federal reclamation plans or permits required for the operation.
Lamesa Sand Mine, Dawson County, TX
We operate a sand mine and processing facility located in Dawson County, Texas, strategically located in the Permian Basin that we refer to as our “Lamesa Sand Mine.” Following the acquisition of the land of the Lamesa Sand Mine in December 2021, we completed the installation of mining and processing facilities and commenced operations in late December 2022. Our Lamesa Sand Mine is a surface sand mine and a production stage property located approximately 55 miles north of Midland, Texas and 13 miles northwest of Lamesa, Texas. Our Lamesa Sand Mine facility features a wash plant and a dry plant that process the mined sand into finished proppant products. The Lamesa Sand Mine produces 40/70 and 100 mesh sand. Additional onsite facilities include an office building, shipping office and shop that support the mining and processing activities, and onsite housing for up to 36 employees. Approximately 85 employees are located at the Lamesa Sand Mine to facilitate the processing and storage of the proppant products. The plant does not crush the material but cleans and classifies the sand. Once the product is appropriately processed and classified, it is stored in one of four storage silos until it is transported by truck to its destination.
Our Lamesa Sand Mine operates under six operating permits and complies with other state and federal regulations that do not require a specific permit. The Lamesa Sand Mine operates under a Permit by Rule (“PBR”) permit, which does not have an expiration date. Other permits for the mine include: Stormwater, Above Ground Storage Tank, Aggregate Production Operation, On-Site Sewage Facility, and a Public Water System application that is pending. There are no formal state or federal reclamation plans or permits required for the operation.
Monahans Sand Mine, Ector and Ward Counties, TX
We own and operate a sand mine and processing facility located in Ector and Ward Counties, Texas, strategically located in the Permian Basin that we refer to as our “Monahans Sand Mine.” The Monahans Sand Mine was originally built in 2017 and we acquired the mine in late July 2022. Our Monahans Sand Mine is a surface sand mine and production stage property located approximately 10 miles east of Monahans, Texas and approximately 30 miles west of the Midland-Odessa, Texas area. Our Monahans Sand Mine facility features a wash plant and a dry plant with two rotary dryers that clean and classify sand. The Monahans Sand Mine produces 40/70 and 100 mesh sand. Additional onsite facilities include an office building, various control rooms, a shop/warehouse and a quality laboratory that support the mining and processing activities. Approximately 80 employees are located at the Monahans Sand Mine to facilitate the processing and storage of the proppant products. The plant does not crush the material but cleans and classifies the sand. Once the product is appropriately processed and classified, it is stored in one of eight storage silos until it is transported by truck to its destination.
Our Monahans Sand Mine operates under four permits and complies with other state and federal regulations that do not require a specific permit. The Monahans Sand Mine’s current NSR permit is renewable in 2029. Other permits for the mine include: Stormwater, Above Ground Storage Tank and Aggregate Production Operation. There are no formal state or federal reclamation plans or permits required for the operation.
41
Monarch Sand Mine, Bexar County, TX
We own and operate a sand mine and processing facility located in San Antonio, Texas, strategically located in the Eagle Ford Shale that we refer to as our “Monarch Sand Mine.” We acquired the Monarch Sand Mine in December 2022. Our Monarch Sand Mine is a surface sand mine and production stage property located approximately 3 miles south of Loop 1604 in Bexar County, Texas. Our Monarch Sand Mine facility features a wet and dry plant that processes the mined sand into finished proppant products. The Monarch Sand Mine was originally built in 2018 and produces 40/70 and 100 mesh sand. Additional onsite facilities include an office/control room and extensive conveyor systems that support intra-plant product movement. Approximately 60 employees are located at the Monarch Sand Mine to facilitate the processing and storage of the proppant products. The plant does not crush the material but cleans and classifies the sand. Once the product is appropriately processed and classified, it is stored in one of five storage silos until it is transported by truck to its destination. Additionally, the Monarch Sand Mine has more than six acres of wet sand storage.
Our Monarch Sand Mine operates under five permits and complies with other state and federal regulations that do not require a specific permit. The Monarch Sand Mine operates under a PBR permit, which does not have an expiration date. Other permits for the mine include: Stormwater, Above Ground Storage Tank, Aggregate Production Operation and On-Site Sewage Facility. There are no formal state or federal reclamation plans or permits required for the operation.
River Ridge Sand Mine, Miller and Lafayette Counties, AR
We own and operate a sand mine and processing facility located in Miller and Lafayette Counties, Arkansas, strategically located in the Haynesville Shale basin that we refer to as our “River Ridge Sand Mine.” We acquired the River Ridge Sand Mine in February 2023. Our River Ridge Sand Mine is a dredging and processing operation located approximately 5 miles east southeast of Doddridge, Arkansas and 30 miles southeast of Texarkana, Arkansas. Our River Ridge Sand Mine facility features a wet and dry plant that processes the mined sand into finished proppant products. The River Ridge Sand Mine was originally built in 2019 and produces 30/70, 40/70, 40/140 and 100 mesh sand. Additional onsite facilities include an office complex that supports the mining and processing activities. Approximately 145 employees are located at the River Ridge Sand Mine to facilitate the processing and storage of the proppant products. The plant does not crush the material but cleans and classifies the sand. Once the product is appropriately processed and classified, it is stored in one of six storage silos until it is transported by truck to its destination.
Our River Ridge Sand Mine operates under three permits and complies with other state and federal regulations that do not require a specific permit. The River Ridge Sand Mine operates under a state of Arkansas Minor Source Air permit, which does not have an expiration date. Other permits for the mine include Stormwater and Above Ground Storage Tank. There are no formal state or federal reclamation plans or permits required for the operation.
Hat Creek Sand Mine, Bossier and Caddo Parishes, LA
We own and operate a sand mine and processing facility located in Bossier and Caddo Parishes, Louisiana, strategically located in the Haynesville Shale basin that we refer to as our “Hat Creek Sand Mine.” We acquired the Hat Creek Sand Mine in February 2023. Our Hat Creek Sand Mine is a dredging and processing operation located approximately 5 miles north of Shreveport, Louisiana. Our Hat Creek Sand Mine facility features a wet and dry plant that processes the mined sand into finished proppant products. The Hat Creek Sand Mine was originally built in 2017 and produces 40/140 mesh sand. Additional onsite facilities include an office complex that supports the mining and processing activities. Approximately 75 employees are located at the Hat Creek Sand Mine to facilitate the processing and storage of the proppant products. The plant does not crush the material but cleans and classifies the sand. Once the product is appropriately processed and classified, it is stored in one of five storage silos until it is transported by truck to its destination.
Our Hat Creek Sand Mine operates under two permits and complies with other state and federal regulations that do not require a specific permit. The Hat Creek Sand Mine operates under a state of Louisiana Minor Source Air permit that expires in 2027 and also has a Stormwater permit. There are no formal state or federal reclamation plans or permits required for the operation.
Sunny Point Sand Mine, Bossier and Caddo Parishes, LA
We own and operate a sand mine and processing facility located in Bossier and Caddo Parishes, Louisiana, strategically located in the Haynesville Shale basin that we refer to as our “Sunny Point Sand Mine.” We acquired the Sunny Point Sand Mine in February 2023. Our Sunny Point Sand Mine is a dredging and processing operation located approximately 6 miles southeast of Shreveport, LA. Our Sunny Point Sand Mine facility features a wet and dry plant that processes the mined sand into finished proppant products. The Sunny Point Sand Mine was built in 2022 and produces 40/200 mesh sand. Additional onsite facilities include an office complex that supports the mining and processing activities. Approximately 80 employees are located at the Sunny Point Sand Mine to facilitate the processing and storage of the proppant products. The plant does not crush the material but cleans and classifies the sand. Once the product is appropriately processed and classified, it is stored in one of four storage silos until it is transported by truck to its destination.
42
Our Sunny Point Sand Mine operates under two permits and complies with other state and federal regulations that do not require a specific permit. The Sunny Point Sand Mine operates under a state of Louisiana Minor Source Air permit that expires in 2032 and also has a Stormwater permit. There are no formal state or federal reclamation plans or permits required for the operation.
Merryville Sand Mine, Beauregard Parish, LA
We own and operate a sand mine and processing facility located in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, strategically located in the Haynesville Shale basin that we refer to as our “Merryville Sand Mine.” We acquired the Merryville Sand Mine in February 2023. Our Merryville Sand Mine is a dredging and processing operation located approximately 10 miles west of DeRidder, LA. Our Merryville Sand Mine facility features a dry plant that processes the mined sand into finished proppant products. The Merryville Sand Mine was built in 2022 and produces 30/100 mesh sand. Additional onsite facilities include an office complex that supports the mining and processing activities. Approximately 55 employees are located at the Merryville Sand Mine to facilitate the processing and storage of the proppant products. The plant does not crush the material but cleans and classifies the sand. Once the product is appropriately processed and classified, it is stored in one of three storage silos until it is transported by truck to its destination.
Our Merryville Sand Mine operates under two permits and complies with other state and federal regulations that do not require a specific permit. The Merryville Sand Mine operates under a state of Louisiana Minor Source Air permit that expires in 2032 and also has a Stormwater permit. There are no formal state or federal reclamation plans or permits required for the operation.
Summary of Resources and Reserves
Information concerning our mining properties and mineral reserves has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K (“Reg. S-K 1300”). The terms “mineral resources,” “mineral reserve,” “proven mineral reserve,” and “probable mineral reserve,” whether singular or plural, are defined and used in accordance with Reg. S-K 1300. Under Reg. S-K 1300, mineral resources may not be classified as “mineral reserves” unless the determination has been made by a qualified person that the mineral resources can be the basis of an economically viable project. We believe we have a high-quality mineral reserve base.
Set forth in the tables below are our estimates (in thousands of tons) of our proven and probable mineral reserves as of December 31, 2022.
|
|
Estimated Recoverable Mineral Reserves at December 31, 2022 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
By Classification |
|
|
By Tenure |
|
|||||||||||
|
|
Total |
|
|
Proven |
|
|
Probable |
|
|
Owned |
|
|
Leased |
|
|||||
40/200-Mesh Frac Sand: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
Permian Basin |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
Kermit(a) |
|
|
46,373 |
|
|
|
39,189 |
|
|
|
7,184 |
|
|
|
26,798 |
|
|
|
19,575 |
|
Lamesa(b) |
|
|
56,108 |
|
|
|
56,108 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
56,108 |
|
|
|
- |
|
Monahans(c) |
|
|
98,608 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
98,608 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
98,608 |
|
Subtotal |
|
|
201,089 |
|
|
|
95,297 |
|
|
|
105,792 |
|
|
|
82,906 |
|
|
|
118,183 |
|
Eagle Ford Shale |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
Monarch(d) |
|
|
42,324 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
42,324 |
|