UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 28, 2009

SUPERIOR ENERGY SERVICES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware (State or other jurisdiction)		001-34037 (Commission File Number)		75-2379388 (IRS Employer Identification No.)

601 Poydras St., Suite 2400, New Orleans, Louisiana (Address of principal executive offices)		70130 (Zip Code)

(504) 587-7374
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligations of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

o		Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

o		Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

o		Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

o		Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

 

Item 2.02		Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

     On October 28, 2009, Superior Energy Services, Inc. issued a press release announcing its earnings for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009. A copy of the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference. In accordance with General Instruction B.2. of Form 8-K, the information presented in this Item 2.02 shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.

Item 9.01		Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d)

Exhibits.

Exhibit
Number		Description
99.1		Press release issued by Superior Energy Services, Inc., dated October 28, 2009.

SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Dated: October 29, 2009

EXHIBIT 99.1

601 Poydras St., Suite 2400
New Orleans, LA 70130
NYSE: SPN
(504) 587-7374
Fax: (504) 362-1818

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Terence Hall, CEO; Robert Taylor, CFO;
Greg Rosenstein, VP of Investor Relations, (504) 587-7374

Superior Energy Services, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results
Core Earnings of $0.36 Per Diluted Share Before Non-Cash Charges

New Orleans, LA — October 28, 2009 — Superior Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE: SPN) today announced net income of $24.4 million, or $0.31 per diluted share on revenue of $386.5 million for the third quarter of 2009. Net income for the third quarter of 2008 was $97.3 million, or $1.19 per diluted share on revenue of $490.3 million.

Excluding non-cash, pre-tax charges of $6.2 million related to its equity-method investments, the Company had adjusted net income of $28.4 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2009, compared with adjusted net income of $85.0 million, or $1.04 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2008. The third quarter 2009 charges to the Company’s equity-method investments include unrealized losses from hedging contracts and other non-cash items.

Operational factors impacting the third quarter include the following:

•		Total revenue decreased 21% as compared with the third quarter of 2008 (“year-over-year”) and increased 7% as compared with the second quarter of 2009 (“sequential”). The sequential change was primarily due to increased demand for production-related services and rental tools in international markets, and increased demand for well intervention services and liftboats in the Gulf of Mexico.
•		Well Intervention Segment revenue of $254.3 million decreased 20% year-over-year and increased 10% sequentially. Rental Tools Segment revenue was $100.8 million, a 26% decrease year-over-year and a 2% decrease sequentially. Marine Segment revenue of $31.3 million decreased 8% year-over-year and increased 14% sequentially.
•		Gulf of Mexico revenue was approximately $222.9 million, or 3% higher sequentially; domestic land revenue was approximately $71.4 million, a sequential decline of 4%; and international revenue was approximately $92.1 million, a sequential increase of 30%.

Terence Hall, Chairman and CEO of Superior, stated, “International demand for rental tools and production-related services coupled with increased demand for well intervention services and liftboats in the Gulf of Mexico more than offset activity declines in our domestic rental tools businesses. In our Well Intervention Segment, we benefitted from additional international activity in West Africa and Europe. In our Marine Segment, liftboat activity was higher due to

increased utilization across most vessel classes and a full quarter of contribution from our two 265-foot class liftboats. Looking ahead, we expect the bottoming process in domestic land markets to continue. In addition, we anticipate seasonal factors will further reduce activity levels during the winter months in all major geographic markets.”

Well Intervention Segment

Third quarter revenue for the Well Intervention Segment was $254.3 million, a 20% decrease year-over-year and a 10% increase sequentially. Income from operations was $31.6 million, or 12% of segment revenue as compared with $90.3 million, or 28% of segment revenue, in the third quarter of 2008, and $27.6 million (excluding $92.7 million in special charges), or 12% of segment revenue, in the second quarter of 2009.

This segment experienced sequential increases in production-related service activity in all three major geographic regions. In the domestic land market, the biggest activity increases were in hydraulic workover and snubbing services. In the Gulf of Mexico, activity increased sequentially for the Company’s plug and abandonment services and all of the segment’s production-related services, with the largest increases coming from cased hole wireline, coiled tubing, hydraulic workover and snubbing services, and engineering and project management. International revenue in this segment increased due to well control work and sales of well control equipment in Nigeria, increased cased hole wireline and snubbing demand in Continental Europe, and work on the Company’s projects off the Angola coast.

Rental Tools Segment

Quarterly revenue for the Rental Tools Segment was $100.8 million, a 26% decrease year-over-year and a 2% decrease sequentially. Income from operations was $17.9 million, or 18% of segment revenue, as compared with $43.6 million, or 32% of segment revenue in the third quarter of 2008, and $20.1 million, or 20% of segment revenue in the second quarter of 2009. Activity declined in the domestic land market for stabilization equipment. Gulf of Mexico rentals decreased primarily due to fewer rentals of drill pipe in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico as a result of transition downtime for several ongoing projects. These declines were partially offset by a 17% increase in international revenue primarily due to increased rentals of drill pipe in Brazil and Colombia, and sales of accommodation units in the Middle East.

Marine Segment

Marine Segment revenue was $31.3 million, an 8% decrease year-over-year and a 14% increase sequentially. Income from operations was $5.1 million, or 16% of segment revenue, down from $6.5 million, or 19% of segment revenue in the third quarter of 2008, and up from $4.9 million, or 18% of segment revenue in the second quarter of 2009. Average daily revenue in the third quarter was approximately $340,000, inclusive of subsistence revenue, as compared with approximately $368,000 per day in the third quarter of 2008 and approximately $302,000 in the second quarter of 2009. Average fleet utilization was 62% as compared with 81% in the third quarter of 2008 and 53% in the second quarter of 2009. Utilization was higher across most liftboat classes. The results include a full quarter of contribution from the two 265-foot class liftboats, which were added to the fleet during the second quarter of 2009.

Liftboat Average Dayrates and Utilization by Class Size
Three Months Ended September 30, 2009
($ actual)

						Average
Class		Liftboats				Dayrate				Utilization
145'-155'			10			$	6,385				35.5	%
160'-175'			8				8,555				61.7	%
200'			5				11,329				84.1	%
230'-245'			3				27,330				92.4	%
250'			2				30,691				83.7	%
265'			2				41,247				78.3	%

Equity-Method Investments

The Company’s third quarter 2009 loss in its equity-method investments includes the aforementioned unrealized losses from hedging contracts of $1.5 million and other non-cash charges of $4.7 million. Excluding these items, earnings from equity-method investments were $2.0 million.

Conference Call Information

The Company will host a conference call at 10:30 a.m. Central Time on Thursday, October 29, 2009. The call can be accessed from Superior’s website at www.superiorenergy.com, or by telephone at 480-629-9645. For those who cannot listen to the live call, a telephonic replay will be available through Thursday, November 5, 2009 and may be accessed by calling 303-590-3030 and using the pass code 4169098#. An archive of the webcast will be available after the call for a period of 60 days on http://www.superiorenergy.com.

Superior Energy Services, Inc. serves the drilling and production-related needs of oil and gas companies worldwide through its brand name rental tools and its integrated well intervention services and tools, supported by an engineering staff who plan and design solutions for customers. Offshore projects are delivered by the Company’s fleet of modern marine assets.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Accuracy of the forward-looking statements depends on assumptions about events that change over time and is thus susceptible to periodic change based on actual experience and new developments. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are volatility of the oil and gas industry, including the level of exploration, production and development activity; risks associated with the uncertainty of macroeconomic and business conditions worldwide, as well as the global credit markets; risks associated with the Company’s rapid growth; changes in competitive factors and other material risk factors that are described in the Company’s Annual Report on

Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as updated by our subsequent filings with the SEC. Actual events, circumstances, effects and results may be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Consequently, the forward-looking statements contained herein should not be regarded as representations by Superior or any other person that the projected outcomes can or will be achieved. The Company cautions readers that it assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements in this press release and does not intend to update the forward-looking statements more frequently than quarterly.

SUPERIOR ENERGY SERVICES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Operations
Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2009 and 2008
(in thousands, except earnings per share amounts)
(unaudited)

		Three Months Ended								Nine Months Ended
		September 30,								September 30,
		2009				2008				2009				2008
						As Adjusted								As Adjusted
						(Note 1)								(Note 1)
Oilfield service and rental revenues		$	386,455			$	490,282			$	1,184,725			$	1,334,256
Oil and gas revenues			—				—				—				55,072
Total revenues			386,455				490,282				1,184,725				1,389,328
Cost of oilfield services and rentals			215,674				236,610				635,407				649,839
Cost of oil and gas sales			—				—				—				12,986
Total cost of services, rentals and sales (exclusive of items shown separately below)			215,674				236,610				635,407				662,825
Depreciation, depletion, amortization and accretion			52,720				44,842				153,566				128,675
General and administrative expenses			63,425				68,379				188,694				204,411
Reduction in value of intangible assets			—				—				92,683				—
Gain on sale of businesses			—				—				—				40,946
Income from operations			54,636				140,451				114,375				434,363
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net			(12,320	)			(11,659	)			(37,328	)			(34,865	)
Earnings (losses) from equity-method investments, net			(4,161	)			23,167				(21,331	)			19,359
Reduction in value of equity-method investment			—				—				(36,486	)			—
Income before income taxes			38,155				151,959				19,230				418,857
Income taxes			13,736				54,665				6,923				150,667
Net income		$	24,419			$	97,294			$	12,307			$	268,190
Basic earnings per share		$	0.31			$	1.21			$	0.16			$	3.32
Diluted earnings per share		$	0.31			$	1.19			$	0.16			$	3.27
Weighted average common shares used in computing earnings per share:
Basic			78,188				80,538				78,126				80,691
Diluted			78,812				81,845				78,684				82,041

Note 1

On January 1, 2009, we adopted the provisions of a new accounting standard which changed the accounting for the Company’s 1.5% senior exchangeable notes. The comparative Statements of Operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2008 have been adjusted to comply with this standard on a retrospective basis.

SUPERIOR ENERGY SERVICES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 AND DECEMBER 31, 2008
(in thousands)

		9/30/2009				12/31/2008
		(Unaudited)				As Adjusted
						(Note 1)
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents		$	34,282			$	44,853
Accounts receivable, net			354,902				360,357
Income taxes receivable			8,506				—
Prepaid expenses			27,511				18,041
Other current assets			379,106				223,598
Total current assets			804,307				646,849
Property, plant and equipment, net			1,208,819				1,114,941
Goodwill			481,021				477,860
Equity-method investments			55,678				122,308
Intangible and other long-term assets, net			37,139				128,187
Total assets		$	2,586,964			$	2,490,145
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable		$	69,847			$	87,207
Accrued expenses			143,756				152,536
Income taxes payable			—				20,861
Deferred income taxes			66,478				36,830
Current maturities of long-term debt			810				810
Total current liabilities			280,891				298,244
Deferred income taxes			241,899				246,824
Long-term debt, net			724,560				654,199
Other long-term liabilities			48,967				36,605
Total stockholders’ equity			1,290,647				1,254,273
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity		$	2,586,964			$	2,490,145

Note 1

On January 1, 2009, we adopted the provisions of a new accounting standard which changed the accounting for the Company’s 1.5% senior exchangeable notes. The comparative Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2008 has been adjusted to comply with this standard on a retrospective basis.

Superior Energy Services, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Segment Highlights
Three months ended September 30, 2009, June 30, 2009 and September 30, 2008 (Unaudited)
(unaudited)
(in thousands)

		Three months ended,
Revenue		September 30, 2009				June 30, 2009				September 30, 2008
Well Intervention		$	254,335			$	231,121			$	319,798
Rental Tools			100,832				102,533				136,600
Marine			31,288				27,507				33,884
Total Revenues		$	386,455			$	361,161			$	490,282

Gross Profit (1)		September 30, 2009				June 30, 2009				September 30, 2008
Well Intervention		$	94,098			$	83,607			$	150,895
Rental Tools			64,621				69,231				90,178
Marine			12,062				11,055				12,599
Total Gross Profit		$	170,781			$	163,893			$	253,672

Income from Operations		September 30, 2009				June 30, 2009				September 30, 2008
Well Intervention (2)		$	31,563			$	(65,094	)		$	90,349
Rental Tools			17,940				20,123				43,628
Marine			5,133				4,920				6,474
Total Income (Loss) from Operations		$	54,636			$	(40,051	)		$	140,451