Last week, the SEC announced its intention to overhaul the existing disclosures required of oil and gas companies. They've been locked into a disclosure format over 25 years old, one that states reserves on a stringent, consistently-calculated basis. While that "stringent, consistently-calculated basis" provided a good platform for comparisons, it didn't take into account the improvements occurring in oil drilling and gathering technology since the 1970's.
Whatever form the new disclosure takes, it's likely oil and gas companies will show improvements in the amount of their reserves versus the levels they're showing now.

That's kind of ironic: when the disclosures were first mandated, the world was expecting oil reserves to steadily drop. Now, 25 years later, the companies will likely show increases. Hey, technology marches on.

The press release didn't mention timing of the proposed rules or how long investors will have for commenting on them. It will be interesting to see how "principles-based" the rules may be. It's also interesting that the Commission didn't bother to try and get the FASB (or the IASB) to take up this project. They simply issued their Concept Release last year and ran with it. It might have been a good joint project for the two of them - but it would probably never be completed by the end of the current SEC's administration.