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The Daily Insight

How do you evaluate oil and gas reserves?

Author

Sophia Hammond

Updated on March 06, 2026

How do you evaluate oil and gas reserves?

For financial reporting purposes, the primary method for valuing reserves is the income approach via the discounted cash flow method, whereas unevaluated acreage is typically valued using the market approach via the comparable transaction method.

What is evaluation in oil and gas?

A reserves evaluation is the process of forecasting estimated petroleum volumes, often called future production profiles, anticipated to be commercially, economically and technically recoverable from producing and planned wells in known oil and gas accumulations.

How do you prove oil reserves?

Proven reserves are established using geological and engineering data gathered through seismic testing and exploratory drilling. In oil and gas extraction, once the physical shape of a formation is understood, the reservoir is estimated by fluid contacts.

What is 1P 2P 3P reserves?

“1P reserves” = proven reserves (both proved developed reserves + proved undeveloped reserves). “2P reserves” = 1P (proven reserves) + probable reserves, hence “proved AND probable.” “3P reserves” = the sum of 2P (proven reserves + probable reserves) + possible reserves, all 3Ps “proven AND probable AND possible.”

How do you value an oil and gas company?

The most common and widely accepted method to value an oil and gas company is a Net Asset Value Analysis, and nearly every valuation estimate for oil and gas assets will include a NAV analysis.

How is NAV calculated in oil and gas?

In the context of a mutual fund, NAV is also equal to the price per share. To find a mutual fund’s NAV, take assets less liabilities and divide by the total number of shares.

What is well evaluation?

Rock and fluid properties will determine how much oil and natural gas can be recovered from a reservoir. After an exploratory well has been drilled, it is evaluated to determine if there is enough oil and natural gas in the reservoir to make it economically feasible to initiate recovery operations.

What is formation log?

The formation density log measures the bulk density of the formation. Its main use is to derive a value for the total porosity of the formation. It s also useful in the detection of gas-bearing formations and in the recognition of evaporites. The formation density tools are induced radiation tools.

What is a measured reserve?

Measured reserves (sometimes called proven reserves) These are minerals that have been identified and examined through sampling to quantify the amount of minerals available to a high level of accuracy and confidence. They are also economically, legally and technologically viable for extraction.

What are the three types of oil reserves?

There are 3 main reserve categories under the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) definition: proved; probable and possible reserves.

What does 2C gas reserves mean?

contingent resources
2C reserves Defined by the internationally-recognised Petroleum Resources Management System as the best estimate of contingent resources. those quantities of petroleum which are estimated, on a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations.

What is 2C in oil and gas?

2C denotes the best estimate of contingent resources.