PART I ITEM 1. BUSINESS General Business Strategy Development of New Technologies, Services and Products International Expansion of Services and Products Acquisitions Operations Core Laboratories N.V. is a Netherlands limited liability company. We were established in 1936 and are one of the world’s leading  providers of proprietary and patented reservoir description, production enhancement and reservoir management services to the oil and  gas industry. These services and products are directed toward enabling our clients to improve reservoir performance and increase oil and  gas recovery from their producing fields. We have over 70 offices in more than 50 countries and have approximately 5,000 employees. References to “Core Lab”, the “Company”, “we”, “our”, and similar phrases are used throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K  (this “Form 10-K”) and relate collectively to Core Laboratories N.V. and its consolidated affiliates. Our business strategy is to provide advanced technologies that improve reservoir performance by (i) continuing the development of  proprietary technologies through client-driven research and development, (ii) expanding the services and products offered through- out our global network of offices and (iii) acquiring complementary technologies that add key technologies or market presence and  enhance existing services and products. We conduct research and development to meet the needs of our clients who are continually seeking new services and technologies  to lower their costs of finding, developing and producing oil and gas. While the aggregate number of wells being drilled per year has  fluctuated relative to market conditions, oil and gas producers have, on a proportional basis, increased expenditures on technology  services to improve their understanding of the reservoir and increase production of oil and gas from their producing fields. We intend  to continue concentrating our efforts on services and technologies that improve reservoir performance and increase oil and gas  recovery. Another component of our business strategy is to broaden the spectrum of services and products offered to our clients on a global basis.  We intend to continue using our worldwide network of offices to offer many of our services and products that have been developed  internally or obtained through acquisitions. This allows us to enhance our revenue through efficient utilization of our worldwide network. We continually review potential acquisitions to add key services and technologies, enhance market presence or complement existing businesses. More information relating to our acquisitions is included in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K in Note 3 of the Notes to Consolidated  Financial Statements (“Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements”). We derive our revenue from services and product sales to clients primarily in the oil and gas industry. Our reservoir optimization services and technologies are interrelated and are organized into three complementary segments. Disclosure  relating to the operations and financial information of these business segments is included in Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated  Financial Statements. • Reservoir Description: Encompasses the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock, fluid and gas samples. We provide analytical  and field services to characterize properties of crude oil and petroleum products to the oil and gas industry. • Production Enhancement: Includes products and services relating to reservoir well completions, perforations, stimulations and  production. We provide integrated services to evaluate the effectiveness of well completions and to develop solutions aimed at  increasing the effectiveness of enhanced oil recovery projects. • Reservoir Management: Combines and integrates information from reservoir description and production enhancement services to  increase production and improve recovery of oil and gas from our clients’ reservoirs.