SEC Company Response from HALLIBURTON CO (HAL) (CIK 0000045012) (HAL) — Nov 15, 2007
HALLIBURTON CO (HAL) (CIK 0000045012)
Date: Nov. 15, 2007 · CIK: 0000045012 · Accession: 0000045012-07-000325
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
Referenced dates: October 31, 2007, October 31, 2007
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CORRESP
1
filename1.htm
halresponsetocommntltr10-k.htm
November
15, 2007
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Division
of Corporation Finance
United
States Securities and Exchange Commission
FROM:
Halliburton
Company
RE:
Halliburton
Company
Form
10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2006
Forms
10-Q for the Fiscal Quarters Ended March 31, 2007, June 30, 2007
and
September
30, 2007
File
No. 1-3492
Response
to SEC Staff Comments dated October 31,
2007
We
are
responding to comments received from the staff of the Division of Corporation
Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) by
letter dated October 31, 2007 regarding our filings referenced
above. Where applicable, our responses refer to our Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006 (the “2006 Form
10-K”) or our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended
June 30, 2007 (the “June 30, 2007 Form 10-Q”). For
your convenience, our responses are prefaced by the staff’s corresponding
comment in italicized text.
We
respectfully submit that, as our responses below indicate, we do not believe
that amendments to the 2006 Form 10-K or the June 30, 2007 Form 10-Q are
necessary or should be required in connection with the staff’s
comments. We will consider adjusting disclosures in future filings as
noted in this response letter when appropriate.
In
this
respect we note that, as a result of transactions in November 2006 and April
2007,1 our previously wholly owned
subsidiary KBR, Inc. (“KBR”) was reclassified to discontinued operations
in the condensed consolidated financial statements in our June 30, 2007 Form
10-Q and has been and will be reflected as such in all subsequent
filings. For accounting purposes, we ceased including KBR’s
operations in our results effective March 31, 2007. Subsequent to the
KBR separation, in the third quarter of 2007, we also realigned our remaining
products and services to be better aligned with the process of exploring for
and
producing from oil and natural gas wells. The resulting internal
reorganization led to a change in our reportable operating segments in that
period.
If
an
amendment to the 2006 Form 10-K were filed, we believe GAAP calls for the
restatement of the Halliburton financial statements for all periods presented
therein to address the reclassification of KBR as discontinued operations and
our new reportable segments, which would substantially change the presentation
and financial statements in such an amended Form 10-K compared to the 2006
Form
10-K filed on February 28, 2007 that the staff has reviewed. We
understand that the SEC staff unofficially may have a different point of
view. Regardless, given the significant changes in our business
profile during 2007 and the fact that the first, second and a majority of the
staff’s third comments below relate to a business that has been discontinued, we
believe amending the 2006 Form 10-K for these items would not be helpful to
our
current investors or other users of our financial statements.
Form
10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2006
General
1.
Please
file all material contracts as exhibits, including the LogCAP III
contract.
Response: We
believe we have filed as exhibits all contracts required to be filed under
Item
601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K. That item requires registrants to file
as exhibits every contract not made in the ordinary course of business which
is
material to the registrant. Item 601(b)(10)(ii) instructs that, if
the contract is such as ordinarily accompanies the kind of business conducted
by
the registrant and its subsidiaries, it will be deemed to have been made in
the
ordinary course and need not be filed unless it falls within one of four
categories:
(1) contracts
with directors, officers, promoters, etc.;
(2) a
contract upon which the registrant’s business is substantially
dependent;
(3)
a
contract for the acquisition or sale of any property, plant or equipment
for consideration exceeding 15% of the fixed assets of the registrant
on a
consolidated basis; or
(4) a
material lease.
The
LogCAP III contract was entered into in the ordinary course of business, and
we
believe it does not fall within one of the four categories of Item
601(b)(10)(ii) that would require an “ordinary course of business” contract to
be filed.
We
have
filed or incorporated by reference in the 2006 Form 10-K thirty-one (31)
documents that we believe are responsive to Item 601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K,
including material contracts not made in the ordinary course of business and
contracts or arrangements with executive officers and directors. We
believe we have complied with Item 601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K.
2.
Please
disclose in necessary detail the information that Item 101(c)(1)(ix)
of
Regulation S-K requires. In this regard, we note the statement
in Note 1 at page 77 that “[s]imilar to many cost-reimbursable contracts,
these government contracts are typically subject to audit and adjustment
by our customer.”
Response: Item
101(c)(1)(ix) of Regulation S-K requires a “description of any material portion
of the business that may be subject to renegotiation of profits or termination
of contracts or subcontracts at the election of the Government.”
While
we
do not repeat all the discussions regarding these government contracts in the
“Business” section, we have substantial disclosure regarding termination,
forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines, and suspensions or
debarment from doing business with the government in:
•
“Business
Environment and Results of Operations – KBR – Government and
Infrastructure segment” on pages 32-33 where we
discuss:
§
Specific
major contract awards
§
Duration
of the contracts
§
Expected
work completion dates
•
“Critical
Accounting Estimates – Accounting for Government Contracts” on pages 45-46
and Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, “Revenue Recognition
– Accounting for Government Contracts” on page 77 where we discuss that
our U.S. Government contracts had an award fee revenue element which
is a
variable profit percentage and subject to the government’s
discretion.
•
“Forward
Looking Information and Risk Factors – Customers and Business –
Governmental and Capital Spending” on pages 61-62, where we discuss the
risk of a decline in governmental spending and outsourcing for military
and logistical support.
•
“Forward
Looking Information and Risk Factors – United States Government Contract
Work” on pages 52-55 and the entirety of Note 12 to the consolidated
financial statements on pages 96-99, which address in substantial
detail
the requirements of Item 101(c)(1)(ix) of Regulation
S-K.
For
example, both on page 52 and in Note 12 to the consolidated financial
statements, we disclose the following with regard to United States government
contact work:
Given
the
demands of working in Iraq and elsewhere for the United States government,
we
expect that from time to time we will have disagreements or experience
performance issues with the various government customers for which we
work. If performance issues arise under any of our government
contracts, the government retains the right to pursue remedies which could
include threatened termination or termination, under any affected
contract. If any contract were so terminated, we may not receive
award fees under the affected contract, and our ability to secure future
contracts could be adversely affected, although we would receive payment for
amounts owed for our allowable costs under cost-reimbursable
contracts. Other remedies that could be sought by our government
customers for any improper activities or performance issues include sanctions
such as forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines, and suspensions
or
debarment from doing business with the government. Further, the
negative publicity that could arise from disagreements with our customers or
sanctions as a result thereof could have an adverse effect on our reputation
in
the industry, reduce our ability to compete for new contracts, and may also
have
a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of
operations, and cash flow.
In
addition, beginning on page 52 and also in Note 12 to the consolidated financial
statements, we disclose the following with regard to DCAA audit issues under
United States government contact work:
Our
operations under United States government contracts are regularly reviewed
and
audited by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) and other governmental
agencies. The DCAA serves in an advisory role to our
customer. When issues are found during the governmental agency audit
process, these issues are typically discussed and reviewed with
us. The DCAA then issues an audit report with its recommendations to
our customer’s contracting officer. In the case of management systems
and other contract administrative issues, the contracting officer is generally
with the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA). We then work with
our customer to resolve the issues noted in the audit report. If our
customer or a government auditor finds that we improperly charged any costs
to a
contract, these costs are not reimbursable, or, if already reimbursed, the
costs
must be refunded to the customer.
We
also
disclose in Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements (with substantially
similar language under “Forward Looking Information and Risk Factors -- United
States Government Contract Work” beginning on page 52) that:
The
DCAA
is continuously performing audits of costs incurred for the foregoing and other
services provided by us under our government contracts. During these
audits, there have been questions raised by the DCAA about the reasonableness
or
allowability of certain costs or the quality or quantity of supporting
documentation. The DCAA might recommend withholding some portion of
the questioned costs while the issues are being resolved with our
customer. Because of the intense scrutiny involving our government
contracts operations, issues raised by the DCAA may be more difficult to
resolve. We do not believe any potential withholding will have a
significant or sustained impact on our liquidity.
In
addition, although we have not repeated the language in this response letter,
we
have additional detailed disclosure under either “Forward Looking Information
and Risk Factors -- United States Government Contract Work” beginning on page 52
of the 2006 Form 10-K or in Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements,
or
in both places, regarding specific services provided under the LogCAP III
contract (including security services, laundry services, containers, dining
services and other matters) and any issues with the government customer with
respect to billing, payment, cost reimbursement or documentation.
Given
the
extent of the disclosure in other sections of the 2006 Form 10-K addressing
the
descriptions referenced in Item 101(c)(1)(ix) of Regulation S-K, we respectfully
submit that amendment of the 2006 Form 10-K should not be required simply to
repeat the information in the “Business” section of the 2006 Form
10-K.
Consolidated
Financial Statements
Note
13, Other Commitments and Contingencies, page 99
1.
We
note your discussion of numerous legal and other contingencies here
and
within other footnotes to your financial statements. For
certain matters, you indicate that, as of December 31, 2006, you
have not
accrued any amounts regarding the matters, or that amounts accrued
are not
material. For these matters, your disclosure does not indicate
the estimated additional loss, or range of loss, that is reasonably
possible. A statement that a contingency is not expected to be
material does not satisfy the requirements of SFAS 5 if it is at
least a
reasonable possibility that a loss exceeding amounts already recognized
may have been incurred and the amount of that additional loss would
be
material. In that case, you must either disclose the estimated
additional loss, or range of loss, that is reasonably possible, or
state
that such an estimate cannot be
made.
Response: We
have reviewed our disclosures for legal and other contingent matters in the
notes to our financial statements in light of your comment. It should
be noted that the decision to disclose a number of issues in the notes to the
consolidated financial statements was not driven by the requirements of SFAS
5. Instead, we disclosed these matters as a result or in anticipation
of the significant amount of media and/or other governmental agency attention
given to the issues. In some cases, we originally disclosed the
matter following prior SEC comments resulting from media articles. We
believe that most of these matters were not material from a SFAS 5 standpoint,
and we believed it remote that a material loss would be incurred with respect
to
these matters. Specifically, the following matters fall under this
category:
•
Note
12
–
DCAA
Audit Issues
–
Investigations
–
DCMA
System Reviews
–
The