Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

CONTRACTS RECEIVABLE AND RETAINAGE

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CONTRACTS RECEIVABLE AND RETAINAGE
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
CONTRACTS RECEIVABLE AND RETAINAGE

2. CONTRACTS RECEIVABLE AND RETAINAGE

The principal customers of the Company include major and large independent oil and gas companies and their contractors. Of our contracts receivable balance at December 31, 2012, $44.2 million, or 73.0%, is for three customers.

On July 13, 2012, we received notice from our customer, Bluewater Industries (“Bluewater”), requesting (i) a slowdown of work on ATP Oil & Gas (UK) Limited’s (“ATP UK’s”) Cheviot project ordered pursuant to a master service contract between Bluewater and the Company (the “Contract”), and (ii) an amendment to the scheduled payment terms under the Contract. On August 16, 2012, we entered into a binding agreement (the “Agreement”) with Bluewater, an engineering consulting firm engaged by ATP UK to oversee the fabrication of the Cheviot project, to amend and restate the Contract and suspend the project. Among other things, the Agreement outlines the revised payment terms for the contracts receivable balance (the “Balance”) and the limitations on Bluewater’s ability to request an extended suspension of work. Specifically, Bluewater must pay $200,000 on or before the last day of each calendar month through February 28, 2013, with the remaining outstanding Balance due on or before March 31, 2013. In addition, if Bluewater has fully paid the Balance on or prior to March 31, 2013, Bluewater has the option to extend the suspension of work on the Cheviot project to June 30, 2013, after which Bluewater will have no further rights to request a suspension of work. If Bluewater fails to make timely payments pursuant to the revised payment plan, we have the right to terminate the Contract, and we will continue to retain title to any project deliverables. We also entered into a security agreement with Bluewater pursuant to which Bluewater granted us a security interest in certain of its equipment currently located on our facilities. As of March 13, 2013, all installments under the Agreement had been paid.

 

On August 17, 2012, ATP Oil & Gas, Inc. (“ATP”), the parent company of ATP UK, filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Although ATP is not our customer and ATP UK is not a party to the bankruptcy, we believe ATP has historically financed the operations of its subsidiaries, including ATP UK. On January 22, 2013, ATP filed an emergency motion to sell all or substantially all of its deepwater assets, including 100% of its equity ownership in ATP UK. The motion has since been approved by the court and ATP is currently seeking qualified bidders to purchase these assets. The sale hearing is expected to take place between March 26, 2013 and April 16, 2013. We do not know whether or not ATP will be successful in its efforts to sell these assets or whether a purchaser of ATP UK would fund the Cheviot project. However, in the absence of a sale of ATP UK to a purchaser desiring to complete the Cheviot project or utilize the structure in another location, it does not appear that Bluewater will be able to pay the remaining Balance on March 31, 2013. In the event of Bluewater is unable to continue to meet its obligations under the Agreement, we may attempt to recover or partially recover the unpaid Balance through the disposition of project deliverables and the enforcement of our security interest.

As of December 31, 2012, $56.8 million has been billed on the Cheviot project and the outstanding Balance was approximately $31.3 million. We recorded a $14.5 million reserve on the Balance as of December 31, 2012 and believe the outstanding Balance, less the $14.5 million reserve, is collectible through the disposition of project deliverables and the enforcement of our security interest in the event of a default by Bluewater. We estimated the reserve recorded from selling the underlying assets individually to a willing market participant, including normal ownership risks assumed by the purchaser, and from selling certain components at scrap value. The ultimate portion of the Balance that may be recovered is dependent upon various factors, which may change in the future. These changes may lead to a revision in the amount reserved against the Balance and the amount ultimately recovered.

On January 14, 2011, we entered into an agreement with one of our customers regarding the collection of an $11.0 million retainage balance on a completed contract. As consideration to extend payment, we agreed to receive $12.5 million, payable in twenty equal monthly installments beginning on June 30, 2011. Scheduled payments have been received through December 31, 2012. The balance outstanding as of December 31, 2012 was $625,000 which was paid in full on January 30, 2013.