Public companies will begin reporting their oil and gas reserves each year, beginning early in 2004, under new National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities, which has been approved by the Alberta Securities Commission.

At the same time as they release their annual financial statements, public companies will report estimates of their oil and gas reserves and related cash flow prepared by an independent reserves evaluator, comparisons to prior-year estimates and other information about their oil and gas activities.

The oil and gas report must be consistent with industry-developed terminology and procedures and be reviewed and approved by company directors says the ASC.

“These new disclosure standards are an important step forward, both for the oil and gas industry and for investors,” says Stephen Sibold, ASC Chair. “The new standards are designed to give investors reliable, consistent and useful information, to build and sustain confidence in our capital markets that a thriving oil and gas sector depends upon.”

NI 51-101 was developed by the ASC on behalf of the 13 provincial and territorial securities commissions, which together form the Canadian Securities Administrators. Other CSA members will consider adopting the rule over the next few months.

The new disclosure standards are the product of extensive public and industry consultation. The new rule responds to, and is largely consistent with, the recommendations of the ASC’s Oil and Gas Taskforce.

It also addresses issues identified in public comments, for example by offering scope for the largest producing companies to continue to rely on in-house evaluation expertise, and for companies active in U.S. capital markets to apply U.S.-style oil and gas disclosure practices.

NI 51-101 can be found on the ASC website at www.albertasecurities.com.