Oil and Gas Reserve Guideline

Who Defines Reserves?6
Security and Exchange Commission (SEC)6
Financial Accounting and Standards Board (FASB)6
Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)7
World Petroleum Congress (WPC)7
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)8
Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE)8
International Energy Agency (IEA)8
International Accounting and Standards Board (IASB)8
United Nations (UN)9
Energy Information Agency (EIA)9
Alberta Securities Exchange9
China9
Major SEC rule changes of 2009 11
SPE Reserve Classification 13
Resources 16
SPE 16
SEC 18
China 19
Reserves 21
SEC 21
SPE 22
PRC 23
General 23
Minerals Other than Oil and Gas 25
Unconventional Resources 26
Problems with Reserve Classification 32
Proved Reserves 34
Proved Developed 40
Proved Undeveloped 43
SEC 43
SPE/WPC 54
China 55
Undeveloped Reserves Narrative Disclosure 56
Volumes in Un-Penetrated Fault Blocks 59
Basic Proved Reserves 62
Elements of Proved Reserves 63
Quantities of Hydrocarbons 63
Reasonable Certainty 68
Economically Recoverable 71
Existing Economic and Operating Conditions 72
Miscellaneous Issues 79
Volumetric Method of Reserve Estimation 91
General 91
Reservoir Volume 93
Mapping 95
Reservoir Fluids 97
Porosity 98
Water Saturation100
Pressure Base102
Formation Volume Factor103
Cutoffs103
Reservoir Limits105
Reservoir Area107
Recovery Factor107
Data Requirements 110
Comment Letters 113
Reserve Estimates 115
General 115
Data 116
Reserve Evaluator 116
Deterministic 117
Probabilistic 118
Performance Methods 119
Improved Recovery128
Probable Reserves131
Examples of Probable Reserve132
Probable Reserves133
China134
Probable Reserves135
Possible Reserves136
Examples of Possible Reserves137
China138
SEC Reporting Requirements140
General140
Geographic Area141
Disclosure Rules141
Materiality147
SEC Reserve Reviews149
Reserve Write-downs151
Reserve Estimators and Auditors153
General153
SEC154
SPE155
International Reserve Definitions157
Australia157
Former Soviet Union (FSU)157
Norway158
United Kingdom159
Canada160
Mexico161
Middle East162
Trinidad and Tobago162
Venezuela162
Reserve Reports vs. Audits163
Reserve Reports163
Audit Reports164
Reserve Risk Assessment167
Reserve Risk167
Economic Risk169
SPEE170
Sarbanes-Oxley172
Effect on Private Companies173
Restrictions on Corporate Activities174
Corporate Transparency175
Penalties182
Auditor Independence183
Appendix A185
SPE Petroleum Reserves Definitions185
Appendix B192
Sample Letter Sent to Oil and Gas Producers192
Appendix C196
AAPG Petroleum Resources Classification System and Definitions196
Appendix D202
SEC Reserve Checklist202
Appendix E209
Data Requirements for Reserve Estimates209
Appendix F212
Scope 212
Terms and definitions 212
Exploration and development phases 213
Reserves Economic Criteria 215
Resources /Reserves Classification 215
Appendix G222
Reserve Comparison Table222