BUILDING BETTER ACCESS TO OIL AND GAS RESERVES DATA

Over the years, there has been a lot of concern in petroleum geology and engineering circles about the way in which the US Securities and Exchange Commission requires publicly listed oil and natural gas companies to disclose their oil and natural gas reserves, which they must do to ensure that stockholders can compare and estimate the value of the companies' holdings. The principal criticism is that the SEC's rule, which is nearly 30 years old, has not kept pace with industry practice and advances. Technological breakthroughs, changes in oil and natural gas markets, and the growing importance of nontraditional resources all point to the need for change. Here, Anderson talks about bringing scientific knowledge, and geoscience and engineering technical expertise into the regulatory process to help the SEC craft a better rule.