Improving the Relevance and Reliability of Oil and Gas Reserves Disclosures
December 2006 By Bala G. Dharan
Having useful and reliable information on oil and gas reserves is enormously important to the US policy makers, managers of the companies, investors, and the public. Over 150 publicly owned U.S. oil and gas producers file reserves data in their 10-K, and their reported total reserves of oil and gas is valued at over $3 trillion. Financial analysts covering the industry generally find that for energy companies, over 70 percent of the total market value is determined by the amount of proved reserves the company has.