Disclosure of provisions for decommissioning costs in annual reports of oil and gas companies: A content analysis and stakeholder views

Abstract

This study examines the extent of compliance with accounting disclosure requirements relating to provisions for decommissioning costs by oil and gas companies. We also investigate the views of stakeholders on the reporting practices of these companies. Using a content analysis approach, our findings reveal that compliance is substantially high, but companies tend to take a tick-box approach providing only minimum disclosure requirements. In semi-structured interviews, we find that disclosure decisions were driven by concerns about the credibility of information due to complexities in the accounting processes, regulatory requirements, lack of information demand and proprietary costs. These findings have policy implications.

Narrative Reporting: State of the Art and Future Challenges

“…consumers, employees, managers, regulators, standard setters, industry bodies, professional associations, auditors, accounting firms, consultants, NGOs, academics) on CSR/sustainability reporting. 19 A common theme that emerges is the discrepancy between the information that the stakeholders expect on the one hand and the contents of the disclosure standards and actual disclosures made by the companies on the other hand (Abdo et al, 2018;Bradford et al, 2017;Diouf & Boiral, 2017;Haque et al, 2016;O'Dwyer et al, 2005). Specific stakeholders' concerns identified by the literature in this context include:…”

“…. companies' tendency to take a tick-box approach providing only minimum disclosure requirements and concerns about the credibility of the information provided (Abdo et al, 2018);…”

“…Abdo et al (2018),Bradford et al (2017), Diouf and Boiral (2017), Haque et al (2016), O'Dwyer et al (2005), Searcy and Buslovich (2014), and…”

Sustaining wealth: Simulating a sovereign wealth fund for the UK's oil and gas resources, past and future

“…In practice, some portion of returns might be earmarked. For example,Abdo et al (2018) discuss liabilities arising from decommissioning costs of oil and gas related infrastructure in the North Sea. For example, a report by OGA (2019b) estimates these costs to be around £49 billion.…”

Intrinsic Value Dari Pelaporan Keanekaragaman Hayati

“…Ia fokus pada aktivitas yang telah atau saat ini sedang dilakukan, termasuk indikator pengukuran untuk me ngevaluasi kinerja organisasi. Pengungkapan informasi ini berguna bagi stakeholders untuk menilai bagaimana tindakan, rencana, proyek, dan kebijakan spesifik organisasi terkait de ngan tujuan yang telah ditetapkan, menilai metode yang digunakan oleh organisasi saat mencapai tujuan, dan menilai apakah aktivitas yang dijalankan bermanfaat atau tidak membahayakan kehati (Abdo, Mangena, Needham, & Hunt, 2018;Arnold, Benford, Canada, & Sutton, 2015;Hope, Thomas, & Vyas, 2017). Evaluasi fokus pada relevansi dan ketepatan waktu penyajian informasi.…”