Halliburton 2011 Annual Report Download - page 37

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22
Our ability to operate and our growth potential could be materially and adversely affected if we
cannot employ and retain technical personnel at a competitive cost.
Many of the services that we provide and the products that we sell are complex and highly
engineered and often must perform or be performed in harsh conditions. We believe that our success
depends upon our ability to employ and retain technical personnel with the ability to design, utilize, and
enhance these services and products. In addition, our ability to expand our operations depends in part on
our ability to increase our skilled labor force. 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 cost structure could increase, our margins could
decrease, and any growth potential could be impaired.
Our business could be materially and adversely affected by severe or unseasonable weather
where we have operations.
Our business could be materially and adversely affected by severe weather, particularly in the Gulf
of Mexico, Russia, and the North Sea where we have operations. Some experts believe global climate
change could increase the frequency and severity of these extreme weather conditions. Repercussions of
severe weather conditions may include:
- evacuation of personnel and curtailment of services;
- weather-related damage to offshore drilling rigs resulting in suspension of operations;
- weather-related damage to our facilities and project work sites;
- inability to deliver materials to jobsites in accordance with contract schedules; and
- loss of productivity.
Because demand for natural gas in the United States drives a significant amount of our business,
warmer than normal winters in the United States are detrimental to the demand for our services to natural
gas producers.
Item 1(b). Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.