revenue in the europe , cis & africa area decreased due to lower demand for exploration and development-related products and services as e & p budgets were reduced , particularly in sub-saharan africa . in latin america , revenue declined due to customer budget constraints across the area and , more specifically , in venezuela where operations were scaled back to align with collections . middle east & asia revenue decreased primarily due to reduced activity in asia-pacific countries , while robust activity in the middle east was more than offset by pricing concessions . since the start of this downturn , and as it deepened during 2016 , schlumberger has navigated the commercial landscape by balancing pricing concessions and market share and also by proactively removing significant costs through workforce reductions , internal efficiency improvements and strong supply chain management . as a result , schlumberger has delivered superior financial results by maintaining pretax operating margins well above 10 % and delivering sufficient free cash flow to cover a range of strategic capital investments , as well as our ongoing dividend commitments . 14 after nine quarters of unprecedented activity decline , the business environment stabilized in the third quarter of 2016 and revenue increased slightly in the fourth quarter , suggesting that the bottom of this cycle has been reached . schlumberger expects the growth in e & p investments in 2017 to be led initially by land operators in north america . e & p spending surveys currently indicate that 2017 e & p investments in north america will increase by approximately 30 % , which should lead to both higher activity and a recovery in service industry pricing . schlumberger expects the 2017 recovery in the international markets to proceed more slowly than in north america . this will likely lead to a third successive year of underinvestment , with a continued low rate of new project approvals and an accelerating production decline in the aging production base . these factors taken together are increasing the likelihood of a significant supply deficit in the medium term , which can only be avoided by a broad-based global increase in e & p spending , which is expected to start unfolding in the later parts of 2017 and leading into 2018. fourth quarter 2016 results replace_table_token_4_th ( 1 ) comprised principally of certain corporate expenses not allocated to the segments , stock-based compensation costs , amortization expense associated with certain intangible assets , certain centrally managed initiatives and other nonoperating items . ( 2 ) excludes interest income included in the segments ' income ( fourth quarter 2016 : $ 7 million ; third quarter 2016 : $ 7 million ) . ( 3 ) excludes interest expense included in the segments ' income ( fourth quarter 2016 : $ 13 million ; third quarter 2016 : $ 14 million ) . ( 4 ) charges and credits are described in detail in note 3 to the consolidated financial statements . fourth-quarter revenue of $ 7.1 billion increased 1 % sequentially . this increase was primarily driven by the production group , which grew 5 % due to increased hydraulic fracturing activity in the middle east and in north america land . fourth-quarter pretax operating margin was essentially flat sequentially at 11.4 % as margin improvements in the production and drilling groups were balanced by contractions in the cameron and reservoir characterization groups . reservoir characterization group fourth-quarter revenue of $ 1.7 billion increased 1 % sequentially due to the ramp-up in testing & process activity in kuwait and increased software license and maintenance sales . these effects were slightly offset by the seasonal decrease in wireline activity in norway and russia . p retax operating margin of 19 % decreased 49 basis points ( bps ) sequentially as the increased contribution from software and maintenance sales was more than offset by the decline in high-margin wireline activities . 15 drilling group fourth-quarter revenue of $ 2.0 billion was flat sequentially as the continued strong directional drilling activity in north america land was offset by lower drilling activity in the international areas . the improvement in north america revenue primarily came from increased uptake of drilling & measurements , bits & drilling tools technologies . the lower revenue in the international areas was primarily due to completed drilling & measurement projects , while the winter slowdown in russia and norway affected drilling & measurements and m-i swaco activity . pretax operating margin of 12 % expanded 81 bps sequentially despite revenue being flat . this was largely due to pricing improvements from greater uptake of drilling technologies on increasing activity on land in the us , which mainly affected drilling & measurements and bits & drilling tools . production group fourth-quarter revenue of $ 2.2 billion increased 5 % sequentially as a result of strong fracturing activity on unconventional resource developments on land in the middle east , mainly in saudi arabia , and in north america where the land rig count and fracturing stage count increased . revenue on land in the us increased both on volume and on a modest pricing recovery . pretax operating margin of 6 % increased 134 bps sequentially on increased activity , which drove efficiency and better operational execution in the middle east . the modest pricing recovery on land in the us also contributed to the margin expansion . cameron group fourth-quarter revenue of $ 1.3 billion was flat sequentially . among the group 's businesses , onesubsea reported an 11 % sequential increase from strong project activity and execution , while surface systems posted strong sales in the middle east . these increases , however , were offset by a decline in revenue in drilling systems driven by a declining backlog and lower bookings . valves & measurement was also lower following the prior quarter 's strong international shipments . story_separator_special_tag 24 goodwill , intangible assets and long-lived assets schlumberger records the excess of purchase price over the fair value of the tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed as goodwill . the goodwill relating to each of schlumberger 's reporting units is tested for impairment annually as well as when an event , or change in circumstances , indicates an impairment may have occurred . under generally accepted accounting principles , schlumberger has the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of one of its reporting units is greater than its carrying amount . if , after assessing the totality of events or circumstances , schlumberger determines it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is greater than its carrying amount , there is no need to perform any further testing . however , if schlumberger concludes otherwise , then it is required to perform the first step of a two-step impairment test by calculating the fair value of the reporting unit and comparing the fair value with the carrying amount of the reporting unit . if the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying value , an impairment loss is recorded to the extent that the implied fair value of the goodwill of the reporting unit is less than its carrying value . schlumberger has the option to bypass the qualitative assessment for any reporting unit in any period and proceed directly to performing the first step of the two-step goodwill impairment test . for purposes of performing the impairment test for goodwill , schlumberger 's reporting units are its four groups : reservoir characterization , drilling , production and cameron . schlumberger elected to perform the qualitative assessment described above for purposes of its annual goodwill impairment test in 2016. based on this assessment , schlumberger concluded that it was more likely than not that the fair value of each of its reporting units was greater than its carrying amount . accordingly , no further testing was required . long-lived assets , including fixed assets , intangible assets and investments in spm projects , are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable . in reviewing for impairment , the carrying value of such assets is compared to the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected from the use of the assets and their eventual disposition . if such cash flows are not sufficient to support the asset 's recorded value , an impairment charge is recognized to reduce the carrying value of the long-lived asset to its estimated fair value . the determination of future cash flows as well as the estimated fair value of long-lived assets involves significant estimates on the part of management . if there is a material change in economic conditions or other circumstances influencing the estimate of future cash flows or fair value , schlumberger could be required to recognize impairment charges in the future . income taxes schlumberger conducts business in more than 100 tax jurisdictions , a number of which have tax laws that are not fully defined and are evolving . schlumberger 's tax filings are subject to regular audits by the tax authorities . these audits may result in assessments for additional taxes that are resolved with the authorities or , potentially , through the courts . schlumberger recognizes the impact of a tax position in its financial statements if that position is more likely than not of being sustained on audit , based on the technical merits of the position . tax liabilities are recorded based on estimates of additional taxes which will be due upon the conclusion of these audits . estimates of these tax liabilities are made based upon prior experience and are updated in light of changes in facts and circumstances . however , due to the uncertain and complex application of tax regulations , the ultimate resolution of audits may result in liabilities that could be materially different from these estimates . in such an event , schlumberger will record additional tax expense or tax benefit in the period in which such resolution occurs . percentage-of-completion revenue recognition schlumberger uses the percentage-of-completion method to account for certain long-term construction-type contracts , primarily in the cameron group . these contracts involve significant design and engineering efforts in order to satisfy custom designs for customer-specific applications . under the percentage-of-completion method , revenue is recognized as work progresses on each contract . progress is measured by the ratio of actual costs incurred to date on the project in relation to total estimated project costs . the estimate of total project costs has a significant impact on both the amount of revenue recognized as well as the related profit on a project . revenue and profits on contracts can also be significantly affected by change orders and claims . profits are recognized based on the estimated project profit multiplied by the percentage complete . due to the nature of these projects , adjustments to estimates of contract revenue and total contract costs are often required as work progresses . any expected losses on a project are recorded in full in the period in which they become probable . 25 approximately 6 % of schlumberger 's revenue in 2 016 was recognized under the percentage-of-completion method . pension and postretirement benefits schlumberger 's pension and postretirement benefit obligations are described in detail in note 18 to the consolidated financial statements . the obligations and related costs are calculated using actuarial concepts , which include critical assumptions related to the discount rate , expected rate of return on plan assets and medical cost trend rates . these assumptions are important elements of expense and or liability measurement and are updated on an annual basis

net debt ” represents gross debt less cash , short-term investments and fixed income investments , held to maturity . management believes that net debt provides useful information regarding the level of schlumberger 's indebtedness by reflecting cash and investments that could be used to repay d ebt . net debt is a non-gaap financial measure that should be considered in addition to , not as a substitute for , or superior to , total debt . ( 2 ) includes depreciation of property , plant and equipment and amortization of intangible assets , multiclient seismic data costs and spm investments . ( 3 ) includes severance payments of approximately $ 850 million during 2016 and $ 810 million during 2015 . ( 4 ) “ free cash flow ” represents cash flow from operations less capital expenditures , spm investments and multiclient seismic data costs capitalized . management believes that free cash flow is an important liquidity measure for the company and that it is useful to investors and management as a measure of the ability of our business to generate cash . once business needs and obligations are met , this cash can be used to reinvest in the company for future growth or to return to shareholders through dividend payments or share repurchases . free cash flow does not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures . free cash flow is a non-gaap financial measure that should be considered in addition to , not as substitute for , or superior to , cash flow from operations . ( 5 ) refer to note 20 to the consolidated financial statements for details . key liquidity events during 2016 , 2015 and 2014 included : cash flow from operations was $ 6.3 billion in 2016 , $ 8.8 billion in 2015 and $ 11.2 billion in 2014. the decrease in operating cash flows in each of the last two years is largely attributable to lower earnings before non-cash charges and credits and depreciation and amortization expense . schlumberger paid $ 2.8 billion of cash in connection with the april 1 , 2016 acquisition of cameron .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```net debt ” represents gross debt less cash , short-term investments and fixed income investments , held to maturity . management believes that net debt provides useful information regarding the level of schlumberger 's indebtedness by reflecting cash and investments that could be used to repay d ebt . net debt is a non-gaap financial measure that should be considered in addition to , not as a substitute for , or superior to , total debt . ( 2 ) includes depreciation of property , plant and equipment and amortization of intangible assets , multiclient seismic data costs and spm investments . ( 3 ) includes severance payments of approximately $ 850 million during 2016 and $ 810 million during 2015 . ( 4 ) “ free cash flow ” represents cash flow from operations less capital expenditures , spm investments and multiclient seismic data costs capitalized . management believes that free cash flow is an important liquidity measure for the company and that it is useful to investors and management as a measure of the ability of our business to generate cash . once business needs and obligations are met , this cash can be used to reinvest in the company for future growth or to return to shareholders through dividend payments or share repurchases . free cash flow does not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures . free cash flow is a non-gaap financial measure that should be considered in addition to , not as substitute for , or superior to , cash flow from operations . ( 5 ) refer to note 20 to the consolidated financial statements for details . key liquidity events during 2016 , 2015 and 2014 included : cash flow from operations was $ 6.3 billion in 2016 , $ 8.8 billion in 2015 and $ 11.2 billion in 2014. the decrease in operating cash flows in each of the last two years is largely attributable to lower earnings before non-cash charges and credits and depreciation and amortization expense . schlumberger paid $ 2.8 billion of cash in connection with the april 1 , 2016 acquisition of cameron .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : revenue in the europe , cis & africa area decreased due to lower demand for exploration and development-related products and services as e & p budgets were reduced , particularly in sub-saharan africa . in latin america , revenue declined due to customer budget constraints across the area and , more specifically , in venezuela where operations were scaled back to align with collections . middle east & asia revenue decreased primarily due to reduced activity in asia-pacific countries , while robust activity in the middle east was more than offset by pricing concessions . since the start of this downturn , and as it deepened during 2016 , schlumberger has navigated the commercial landscape by balancing pricing concessions and market share and also by proactively removing significant costs through workforce reductions , internal efficiency improvements and strong supply chain management . as a result , schlumberger has delivered superior financial results by maintaining pretax operating margins well above 10 % and delivering sufficient free cash flow to cover a range of strategic capital investments , as well as our ongoing dividend commitments . 14 after nine quarters of unprecedented activity decline , the business environment stabilized in the third quarter of 2016 and revenue increased slightly in the fourth quarter , suggesting that the bottom of this cycle has been reached . schlumberger expects the growth in e & p investments in 2017 to be led initially by land operators in north america . e & p spending surveys currently indicate that 2017 e & p investments in north america will increase by approximately 30 % , which should lead to both higher activity and a recovery in service industry pricing . schlumberger expects the 2017 recovery in the international markets to proceed more slowly than in north america . this will likely lead to a third successive year of underinvestment , with a continued low rate of new project approvals and an accelerating production decline in the aging production base . these factors taken together are increasing the likelihood of a significant supply deficit in the medium term , which can only be avoided by a broad-based global increase in e & p spending , which is expected to start unfolding in the later parts of 2017 and leading into 2018. fourth quarter 2016 results replace_table_token_4_th ( 1 ) comprised principally of certain corporate expenses not allocated to the segments , stock-based compensation costs , amortization expense associated with certain intangible assets , certain centrally managed initiatives and other nonoperating items . ( 2 ) excludes interest income included in the segments ' income ( fourth quarter 2016 : $ 7 million ; third quarter 2016 : $ 7 million ) . ( 3 ) excludes interest expense included in the segments ' income ( fourth quarter 2016 : $ 13 million ; third quarter 2016 : $ 14 million ) . ( 4 ) charges and credits are described in detail in note 3 to the consolidated financial statements . fourth-quarter revenue of $ 7.1 billion increased 1 % sequentially . this increase was primarily driven by the production group , which grew 5 % due to increased hydraulic fracturing activity in the middle east and in north america land . fourth-quarter pretax operating margin was essentially flat sequentially at 11.4 % as margin improvements in the production and drilling groups were balanced by contractions in the cameron and reservoir characterization groups . reservoir characterization group fourth-quarter revenue of $ 1.7 billion increased 1 % sequentially due to the ramp-up in testing & process activity in kuwait and increased software license and maintenance sales . these effects were slightly offset by the seasonal decrease in wireline activity in norway and russia . p retax operating margin of 19 % decreased 49 basis points ( bps ) sequentially as the increased contribution from software and maintenance sales was more than offset by the decline in high-margin wireline activities . 15 drilling group fourth-quarter revenue of $ 2.0 billion was flat sequentially as the continued strong directional drilling activity in north america land was offset by lower drilling activity in the international areas . the improvement in north america revenue primarily came from increased uptake of drilling & measurements , bits & drilling tools technologies . the lower revenue in the international areas was primarily due to completed drilling & measurement projects , while the winter slowdown in russia and norway affected drilling & measurements and m-i swaco activity . pretax operating margin of 12 % expanded 81 bps sequentially despite revenue being flat . this was largely due to pricing improvements from greater uptake of drilling technologies on increasing activity on land in the us , which mainly affected drilling & measurements and bits & drilling tools . production group fourth-quarter revenue of $ 2.2 billion increased 5 % sequentially as a result of strong fracturing activity on unconventional resource developments on land in the middle east , mainly in saudi arabia , and in north america where the land rig count and fracturing stage count increased . revenue on land in the us increased both on volume and on a modest pricing recovery . pretax operating margin of 6 % increased 134 bps sequentially on increased activity , which drove efficiency and better operational execution in the middle east . the modest pricing recovery on land in the us also contributed to the margin expansion . cameron group fourth-quarter revenue of $ 1.3 billion was flat sequentially . among the group 's businesses , onesubsea reported an 11 % sequential increase from strong project activity and execution , while surface systems posted strong sales in the middle east . these increases , however , were offset by a decline in revenue in drilling systems driven by a declining backlog and lower bookings . valves & measurement was also lower following the prior quarter 's strong international shipments . story_separator_special_tag 24 goodwill , intangible assets and long-lived assets schlumberger records the excess of purchase price over the fair value of the tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed as goodwill . the goodwill relating to each of schlumberger 's reporting units is tested for impairment annually as well as when an event , or change in circumstances , indicates an impairment may have occurred . under generally accepted accounting principles , schlumberger has the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of one of its reporting units is greater than its carrying amount . if , after assessing the totality of events or circumstances , schlumberger determines it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is greater than its carrying amount , there is no need to perform any further testing . however , if schlumberger concludes otherwise , then it is required to perform the first step of a two-step impairment test by calculating the fair value of the reporting unit and comparing the fair value with the carrying amount of the reporting unit . if the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying value , an impairment loss is recorded to the extent that the implied fair value of the goodwill of the reporting unit is less than its carrying value . schlumberger has the option to bypass the qualitative assessment for any reporting unit in any period and proceed directly to performing the first step of the two-step goodwill impairment test . for purposes of performing the impairment test for goodwill , schlumberger 's reporting units are its four groups : reservoir characterization , drilling , production and cameron . schlumberger elected to perform the qualitative assessment described above for purposes of its annual goodwill impairment test in 2016. based on this assessment , schlumberger concluded that it was more likely than not that the fair value of each of its reporting units was greater than its carrying amount . accordingly , no further testing was required . long-lived assets , including fixed assets , intangible assets and investments in spm projects , are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable . in reviewing for impairment , the carrying value of such assets is compared to the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected from the use of the assets and their eventual disposition . if such cash flows are not sufficient to support the asset 's recorded value , an impairment charge is recognized to reduce the carrying value of the long-lived asset to its estimated fair value . the determination of future cash flows as well as the estimated fair value of long-lived assets involves significant estimates on the part of management . if there is a material change in economic conditions or other circumstances influencing the estimate of future cash flows or fair value , schlumberger could be required to recognize impairment charges in the future . income taxes schlumberger conducts business in more than 100 tax jurisdictions , a number of which have tax laws that are not fully defined and are evolving . schlumberger 's tax filings are subject to regular audits by the tax authorities . these audits may result in assessments for additional taxes that are resolved with the authorities or , potentially , through the courts . schlumberger recognizes the impact of a tax position in its financial statements if that position is more likely than not of being sustained on audit , based on the technical merits of the position . tax liabilities are recorded based on estimates of additional taxes which will be due upon the conclusion of these audits . estimates of these tax liabilities are made based upon prior experience and are updated in light of changes in facts and circumstances . however , due to the uncertain and complex application of tax regulations , the ultimate resolution of audits may result in liabilities that could be materially different from these estimates . in such an event , schlumberger will record additional tax expense or tax benefit in the period in which such resolution occurs . percentage-of-completion revenue recognition schlumberger uses the percentage-of-completion method to account for certain long-term construction-type contracts , primarily in the cameron group . these contracts involve significant design and engineering efforts in order to satisfy custom designs for customer-specific applications . under the percentage-of-completion method , revenue is recognized as work progresses on each contract . progress is measured by the ratio of actual costs incurred to date on the project in relation to total estimated project costs . the estimate of total project costs has a significant impact on both the amount of revenue recognized as well as the related profit on a project . revenue and profits on contracts can also be significantly affected by change orders and claims . profits are recognized based on the estimated project profit multiplied by the percentage complete . due to the nature of these projects , adjustments to estimates of contract revenue and total contract costs are often required as work progresses . any expected losses on a project are recorded in full in the period in which they become probable . 25 approximately 6 % of schlumberger 's revenue in 2 016 was recognized under the percentage-of-completion method . pension and postretirement benefits schlumberger 's pension and postretirement benefit obligations are described in detail in note 18 to the consolidated financial statements . the obligations and related costs are calculated using actuarial concepts , which include critical assumptions related to the discount rate , expected rate of return on plan assets and medical cost trend rates . these assumptions are important elements of expense and or liability measurement and are updated on an annual basis

