The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has "modernized" its oil and gas company reporting requirements ostensibly "to help investors evaluate the value of their investments in these companies".

“In the more than a quarter century since the SEC last reviewed its rules in this area, there have been significant changes in technology that have increasingly limited the usefulness of current disclosures to the market and investors,” said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox.

“These updates to the SEC rules will help ensure more meaningful and comprehensive disclosure of information that, even though it does not appear on a company’s balance sheet, is of significance to investors in making informed investment decisions.”

The new disclosure requirements approved by the Commission include provisions that permit the use of new technologies to determine proved reserves if "demonstrated empirically to lead to reliable conclusions about reserves".

New requirements will allow companies to disclose their probable and possible reserves to investors. Currently, the Commission’s rules limit disclosure to only proved reserves.

Although details are not out, the new disclosure requirements will allign with those already in place for the United Kingdom, with reporting on the independence and qualifications of auditors. An average one-year price must now be used when reporting values.