National Oilwell Varco 2003 Annual Report Download - page 6

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5
Engineering
National Oilwell maintains a staff of engineers and technicians to:
- design and test new products, components and systems for use in drilling and pumping
applications;
- enhance the capabilities of existing products; and
- assist our sales organization and customers with special projects.
Our product engineering efforts focus on developing technology to improve the economics and
safety of drilling and production processes, and to emphasize technology and complete drilling
solutions.
Patents and Trademarks
National Oilwell owns or has a license to use a number of patents covering a variety of products.
Although in the aggregate these patents are of importance, we do not consider any single patent to
be of a critical or essential nature. In general, our business has historically relied upon
technological capabilities, quality products and application of expertise rather than patented
technology.
Employees
As of December 31, 2003, we had a total of 7,500 employees, 4,700 of whom were salaried and
2,800 of whom were paid on an hourly basis. Of this workforce, 1,350 employees are employed
in Canada, 775 in Norway, 450 in the United Kingdom and 925 in other locations outside the
United States. We also had approximately 1,200 employees in our joint venture operation in
Lanzhou, China.
Available Information Regarding our SEC Filings
Our corporate offices are located at 10000 Richmond Avenue, Houston, Texas 77042-4200. Our
phone number at that location is (713) 346-7500 and our Internet address is www.natoil.com.
Information we make public about our company, including all SEC required filings, is available
to you, free of charge, at our Internet address. Our Code of Ethics is also posted on our website.
RISK FACTORS
You should carefully consider the risks described below, in addition to other information
contained or incorporated by reference herein. Realization of any of the following risks could
have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of
operations.
Demand for Our Products is Dependent Upon the Price of Oil and Gas and the Willingness to
Explore and Produce Oil and Gas.
National Oilwell is dependent upon the oil and gas industry and its willingness to explore
for and produce oil and gas. The industry's willingness to explore and produce depends upon the
prevailing view of future product prices. Many factors affect the supply and demand for oil and