introductionwho defines reserves  security and exchange commission (sec)  financial accounting and standards board (fasb)  society of petroleum engineers (spe)  world petroleum congress (wpc)  american association of petroleum geologists (aapg)  society of petroleum evaluation engineers (spee)  international energy agency (iea)  international accounting and standards board (iasb)  united nations (un)  energy information agency (eia)  alberta securities exchange  chinamajor sec rule changes of 2009spe reserve classification  spe  petroleum resources management systemresources  spe  sec  chinareserves  sec  spe  prc  generalminerals other than oil and gasunconventional resourcesproblems with reserve classificationproved reservesproved developedproved undeveloped  sec  spe/wpc  chinaundeveloped reserves narrative disclosurevolumes in un-perated fault blocksbasic proved reserveselements of proved reserves  quantities of hydrocarbons  reasonable certainty  economically recoverable  existing economic and operating conditions  miscellaneous issuesvolumetric method of reserve estimation  general  reservoir volume  mapping  reservoir fluids  porosity  water saturation  pressure base  formation volume factor  cutoffs  reservoir limits  reservoir area  recovery factor  data requirementscomment lettersreserve estimates  general  data  reserve evaluator  deterministic  probabilistic  performance methodsimproved recoveryprobable reserves  examples of probable reserve  chinaprobable reserves  examples of possible reserves  chinasec reporting requirements  general  geographic area  disclosure rules  materialitysec reserve reviewsreserve write-downsreserve estimators and auditors  general  sec  speinternational reserve definitions  australia  former soviet union (fsu)  norway  united kingdom  canada  mexico  middle east  trinidad and tobago  venezuelareserve reports vs. audits  reserve reports  audit reportsreserve risk assessment  reserve risk  economic risk  speesarbanes-oxley  effect on private companies  restrictions on corporate activities  corporate transparency  penalties  auditor independenceappendix a  spe petroleum reserves definitionsappendix b  sample letter sent to oil and gas producersappendix c  aapg petroleum resources classification system and definitionsappendix d  sec reserve checklistappendix e  data requirements for reserve estimatesappendix f  scope  terms and definitions  exploration and development phases  reserves economic criteria  resources /reserves classificationappendix g  reserve comparison table