Plains Petroleum Company and Subsidiaries - Page 12




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          report typically states the discounted net present value of the             
          specified reserves.  The discounted net present value is                    
          dependent upon three factors:  (1) An estimate of the proved,               
          developed, and producing reserves, (2) an estimate of the                   
          anticipated future net revenue using price forecasts provided by            
          the oil and gas company, and (3) a range of discount rates used             
          to determine the net present value of the future net revenues               
          expected to be received upon the recovery and sale of the                   
          reserves.  Petitioner's standard practice was to rely on the                
          seller's reserve report if it was prepared by a reputable outside           
          engineer.11  Petitioner's standard practice also included                   
          engaging the seller's reserve engineer to update or "roll                   
          forward"12 his earlier projections using petitioner's oil and gas           
          price forecasts.13  Petitioner would then perform an in-house               
          review of the updated reserve report in connection with its                 
          evaluation of the prospective acquisition.  Petitioner adopted              


          11   The "major" oil and gas companies typically do not rely on             
          outside engineers.  Thus, in acquisitions involving reserves                
          owned by major oil and gas companies, it is common for a buyer to           
          rely on the seller's in-house reserve report.                               
          12   A reserve report is "rolled forward" or updated by revising            
          the previous projections to take into account the intervening               
          production and the buyer's oil and gas price forecast.                      
          13   Petitioner also used rollforwards in connection with the               
          evaluation of its own reserves.  Petitioner typically evaluated             
          its reserves midyear and then rolled its projections forward at             
          the end of the year.                                                        





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