From Herald News Services
Published: Friday, June 27, 2008
TheU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed new rules to governhow oil and natural gas companies report reserves to investors.
"Thecurrent oil and gas disclosure rules often interfere with an investor'sanalysis because they are tied to outdated technologies," commissionchairman Christopher Cox said today.
The new rules permitcompanies to disclose "probable and possible" reserves to investors,and include resources such as oilsands that were previously classifiedas mining reserves.
ExxonMobilCorp., the world's biggest oil company, is among those urging the SECto update reporting rules as reserve levels fall amid risingconsumption. The rules were last revised in 1982, when global oilconsumption was two-thirds what it is now and crude was trading at $28 a barrel.
U.S. oil futures rose to a record $140.39 a barrel today on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
© The Calgary Herald 2008