IEA calls for new rules on oil reserves disclosure

The International Energy Agency's chief economist Fatih Birol called for new regulations on the corporate reporting of oil reserves.
"We want to ask everyone to make reserves data more transparent," Birol said.

Talking at an international workshop in Berlin on oil and gas depletion, he said the IEA forecast proven reserves are enough to meet demand for the next 25 years but that there is considerable uncertainty over the remaining probable and possible reserves.
"We need new rules and policies on disclosure," Birol said.

Birol's comments come in the wake of a series of downgrades by Royal Dutch/Shell Group of its proven oil and gas reserves. The reserves scandal brought Shell under formal investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the UK's Financial Services Authority. It also caused the forcing out of its chairman, Philip Watts, and two key deputies, and a raft of lawsuits in the US
Moreover, it exposed disagreement between the SEC and certain oil companies onhow to measure reserves. The companies complain the SEC relies on outdated practices and technology, stemming from the late 1970s.