The Securities and Exchange Commission is to revamp disclosure rules for the oil and gas industries.

The moves follow several requests for a revision of the rules, as huge changes have occurred in the sector over the past three decades since the first rules of disclosure were introduced by the SEC.

The Commission poses questions on:

• whether the Commission should revise the proved reserves definition, including the criteria used to assess and measure proved reserves;

• how new technologies impact the definition of proved reserves and how changes to the rules can be made to accommodate future technological innovation;

• whether the rules should permit other categories of resources to be disclosed; and,

• whether the rules should require third-party verification of the reserves estimates companies report in their filings.

John White, director of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance said that technological advancements over the last 30 years have changed the way in which companies detect and extract oil and gas resources.

'Management of oil and gas companies rely on these advancements to consider their investments in projects to detect and extract those resources,' he said. 'A number of analysts and investors also have expressed the view that our oil and gas disclosure requirements should be updated to provide better disclosure about companies’ reserves and how the company manages those reserves.'

Further reading:

SEC Mulls Energy Disclosure Rules Update

SEC Seeks Input on Updating Energy Data