Commitments and Contingencies |
9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2022 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Commitments
We entered into certain commitments for fixed assets, consumables and services incidental to the ordinary conduct of our business, generally for quantities required for our operations and at competitive market prices. These commitments are designed to assure sources of supply and are not expected to be in excess of normal requirements. At September 30, 2022, the total remaining lease commitments for all of our short-term leases and lodging commitments was approximately $1.9 million. In August 2022, we entered into a contractual arrangement with our equipment manufacturer to purchase and convert additional Tier IV DGB equipment, with total cost of approximately $43.0 million. The Company also entered into the Electric Fleet Leases to lease electric hydraulic fracturing pumps with capacity of 60,000 HHP per fleet, which contains options to extend the lease or purchase the equipment at the end of the lease. The lease payments are expected to commence when the Company takes possession of the electric hydraulic fracturing pumps during the second half of 2023. The total estimated contractual commitment in connection with the Electric Fleet Lease arrangement is approximately $49.3 million, which includes the cost associated with the option to purchase the equipment at the end of the lease.
The Company enters into purchase agreements with its sand suppliers (the "Sand Suppliers") to secure supply of sand as part of its normal course of business. The agreements with the Sand Suppliers require that the Company purchase a minimum volume of sand, based primarily on a certain percentage of our sand requirements from our customers or in certain situations based on predetermined fixed minimum volumes, otherwise certain penalties ("shortfall fees") may be charged. The shortfall fee represents liquidated damages and is either a fixed percentage of the purchase price for the minimum volumes or a fixed price per ton of unpurchased volumes. Our agreements with the Sand Suppliers expire at different times prior to December 31, 2025. Our sand agreement with one of our Sand Suppliers has a one year take or pay commitment of $23.0 million that will expire on June 12, 2023. During the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, no shortfall fee was recorded. However, one of our Sand Suppliers previously filed a suit against us that includes claims related to alleged shortfall fees. On September 21, 2022, the Company agreed to a settlement of the claims in the suit with this Sand Supplier and paid the settlement amount on September 30, 2022. The suit was dismissed in connection with the settlement.
As of September 30, 2022, the Company had issued letters of credit of approximately $5.0 million under the revolving credit facility in connection with the Company’s casualty insurance policy.
Contingent Liabilities
Legal Matters
In September 2019, a complaint, captioned Richard Logan, Individually and On Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiff, v. ProPetro Holding Corp., et al., (the "Logan Lawsuit"), was filed against the Company and certain of its then current and former officers and directors in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
In July 2020, a third amended class action complaint was filed in the Logan Lawsuit by Lead Plaintiffs Nykredit Portefølje Administration A/S, Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System, Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System, Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System, and Oklahoma City Employee Retirement System, and additional named plaintiff Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit. Plaintiffs sued individually and on behalf of a putative class of shareholders who purchased the Company’s common stock between March 17, 2017 and March 13, 2020 or purchased the Company's common stock pursuant to the Company's initial public offering in March 2017. Plaintiffs alleged violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule l0b-5 promulgated thereunder, and Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 against the Company, certain former officers and current and former directors, alleging that the defendants made allegedly inaccurate or misleading statements or omissions about the Company's business, operations and prospects. On September 13, 2021, the Court partially granted and partially denied motions to dismiss filed by the Company and the individual defendants.
On August 11, 2022, the Company agreed to a proposed settlement of the claims in the Logan Lawsuit, which the court has preliminarily approved. Under the proposed settlement agreement, the Company's insurers have paid a cash sum into a settlement fund to be distributed to members of the putative class.
In May 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas consolidated two shareholder derivative lawsuits previously filed against the Company and certain of its current and former officers and directors into a single lawsuit captioned In re ProPetro Holding Corp. Derivative Litigation (the "Shareholder Derivative Lawsuit"). In August 2020, the plaintiffs in the Shareholder Derivative Lawsuit filed a consolidated complaint alleging (i) breaches of fiduciary duties, (ii) unjust enrichment and (iii) contribution. The plaintiffs did not quantify any alleged damages in their complaint but, in addition to attorneys’ fees and costs, they sought various forms of relief, including (i) damages sustained by the Company as a result of the alleged misconduct, (ii) punitive damages and (iii) equitable relief in the form of improvements to the Company’s governance and controls. On September 15, 2021, the Court granted the Company's motion to dismiss the complaint in its entirety, without prejudice.
On November 19, 2021, the Company received a demand letter from a law firm representing one of the purported shareholders that previously filed the dismissed Shareholder Derivative Lawsuit. The demand letter alleged facts and claims substantially similar to the Shareholder Derivative Lawsuit. The Company's board of directors (the "Board") constituted a committee to evaluate the demand letter and recommend a course of action to the Board, and the committee retained counsel to assist with its review. The committee concluded its investigation and recommended that the Board reject the demand letter. In October 2022, the Board accepted the committee's recommendation and rejected the demand letter.
The Company incurred legal settlements totaling $34.1 million during the three months ended September 30, 2022, consisting of the Logan Lawsuit and other settlements. The Logan Lawsuit settlement of $30.0 million was fully covered by insurance and was subsequently paid by the insurance company in October 2022. As of September 30, 2022 we recorded a receivable for the insurance recovery in connection with the Logan Lawsuit within other current assets and a liability due to plaintiffs in accrued and other current liabilities in our condensed consolidated balance sheet.
Environmental and Equipment Insurance
The Company is subject to various federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations that establish standards and requirements for protection of the environment. The Company cannot predict the future impact of such standards and requirements, which are subject to change and can have retroactive effectiveness. The Company continues to monitor the status of these laws and regulations. Currently, the Company has not been fined, cited or notified of any environmental violations that would have a material adverse effect upon its financial position, liquidity or capital resources. However, management does recognize that by the very nature of the Company's business, material costs could be incurred in the near term to maintain compliance. The amount of such future expenditures is not determinable due to several factors, including the unknown magnitude of possible regulation or liabilities, the unknown timing and extent of the corrective actions which may be required, the determination of the Company's liability in proportion to other responsible parties and the extent to which such expenditures are recoverable from insurance or indemnification.
The Company is self-insured up to $10 million per occurrence for certain losses arising from or attributable to fire and/or explosion at the wellsites. No accrual was recorded in our financial statements in connection with this self-insurance strategy.
Regulatory Audits
In 2020, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (the "Comptroller") commenced a routine audit of the Company's motor vehicle and other related fuel taxes for the periods of July 2015 through December 2020. As of September 30, 2022, the audit is still ongoing and the final outcome cannot be reasonably estimated.
In January 2022, we entered into a settlement agreement with the Comptroller for a $10.7 million tax refund, net of consulting fees, in connection with certain limited sales, excise and use tax for the audit period July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2018. The net refund to the Company of $10.7 million was recorded as part of other income in our statement of operations during the nine months ended September 30, 2022. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we recorded a net refund of approximately $2.1 million.
In May 2022, the Company received a notification from the Comptroller that it will commence a routine audit of the Company's gross receipt taxes, which will routinely cover up to a four-year period. As of September 30, 2022, the audit is yet to commence, and as such, the final outcome cannot be reasonably estimated.
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