Are all contingent resources equal? A short history of outcomes in contingent resources bookings
Katarina Van Der Haar A *A RISC, 1138 Hay Street, West Perth, WA 6005, Australia.
The APPEA Journal 63 S109-S112 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22156
Accepted: 7 March 2023 Published: 11 May 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.
Abstract
Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS) definitions tell us that contingent resources are quantities of petroleum estimated to be potentially recoverable from known accumulations but are not yet considered mature enough for commercial development due to one or more contingencies. The following sub-classes of contingent resources exist based on the number and nature of the contingencies: Development Pending; Development on Hold; Development Unclarified; and Development Not Viable. Are all contingent resources equal? Or do the sub-classes portray a vast range in the ‘maturity’ of contingent resources – from resources that are on the verge of being declared reserves, to discoveries that have little or no chance of ever being developed commercially? The choice of sub-class has an impact on a company’s current and future balance sheet. It is therefore important for those reporting reserves/resources to be realistic about the differentiation between reserves and contingent resources, be realistic about the sub-class in which a contingent resource belongs and be clear about the reasons for the categorisation. In this paper, we will look at a cross section of publicly available reserves and resource assessments from Australia and see what happened to them. Was the allocation of reserves and resources category appropriate? In the case of contingent resources, was the allocation of the sub-class appropriate and if not, why not?
Keywords: auditors, chance of commerciality, chance of development, contingent resources, investors, Petroleum Resources Management System, reserves, reserves evaluation, resources, resources evaluation.
Katarina Van Der Haar is a Petroleum Engineering Consultant at RISC in Perth, Australia. In her work she provides technical analysis and advice for reserves certification, asset & portfolio evaluations and independent technical specialist reports. Her interest in the oil and gas industry was sparked while working on drilling rigs as a roughneck in Australia. She previously worked for Santos focusing on underbalanced drilling performance and on production prediction and reserves estimation in multi-layer tight gas reservoirs. At Chevron, she worked on the Gorgon Gas Supply portfolio development integrating petroleum engineering with subsea facilities engineering, scheduling and economics. She holds a Bachelor of Petroleum Engineering with First Class Honours, a Bachelor of Science (Geology & Geophysics) from the University of Adelaide and a Bachelor of International Studies (Arabic & International Relations) with distinction from Deakin University. She is on the Board of SPE WA and of the Energy Club WA. |
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