{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"An Ounce of Prevention","title":"Overstated, Overlooked, Overpaid: The Hidden Risk in Oil & Gas Deals","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1352,"description":"In oil and gas transactions, reserve reports and engineering assumptions can directly impact valuation, financing, and investment decisions—but not every estimate tells the full story. In this episode of An Ounce of Prevention, host Rachel Reese sits down with Thad Toups, President of Haas & Cobb and a licensed professional engineer, to discuss the role third-party engineering firms play in evaluating reserves, forecasting production, and helping buyers, sellers, lenders, and investors understand risk.Thad explains how Haas & Cobb approaches reserve analysis across both conventional and unconventional assets, including the growing challenges of forecasting mature shale wells. He breaks down why “best fit” decline curves can overstate reserves, how well interference changes production behavior over time, and why buyers relying on overly optimistic forecasts can significantly overpay for assets. The conversation also explores confidence intervals in reserve reporting, the difference between proved reserves and P50 estimates, and how reserve assumptions change depending on whether the audience is a buyer, lender, or public company auditor.Rachel and Thad also discuss several emerging trends in the industry, including renewed interest in water flooding and conventional recovery techniques, increasing scrutiny from the PCAOB on reserve reporting assumptions, and growing disputes related to water disposal and seismicity in the Permian Basin. In addition, Thad shares insight into the rapid development of Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale play and why international opportunities are drawing more attention as high-quality domestic inventory becomes increasingly concentrated among large public operators.Before the discussion, Rachel delivers a case law update on Clarke v. Yu, a California dispute involving an alleged oral joint venture agreement related to a proposed biomedical technology company. The court held that because the proposed venture could not reasonably be...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/_TuV1pPNfgYEaQ3OcQjxDkpoKRStPiaXLQkCxOD5ySw/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kZGEz/MjQ5NDI1Nzg5NGU2/MDUzZDNhNmEzZWE4/YjllMS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}