American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2016 - 115

champion Denver Broncos, followed by
a networking happy hour that starts at
4:45 in the expo hall.
Final Day
According to Sandberg, the first session
on the convention's final day, Thursday,
Aug. 25, starts at 8:30 a.m. and deals
with challenges within the DJ Basin, its
evolution, and merger and acquisition
activities. Presenters include Noble Energy
Chairman, President and CEO Dave
Stover; Whiting Petroleum Corp. Chairman, President and CEO Jim Volker; and
EcoVapor Recovery Systems CEO and
co-founder Peter Mueller.
The next presentation, an academic
technical round table scheduled to begin
at 10 a.m., deals with partnerships, innovative technologies and studies, and features Doug Arent, director of the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory's Joint Institute for the Strategic Energy Analysis;
CSU professor of mechanical engineering
and founder of the university's Engines
and Energy Conversion Laboratory Bryan
Willson; and Dean Ramona Graves, en-

gineering professor at the Colorado School
of Mines College of Earth Resource Sciences. GE Global Research Oil and Gas
Technology Center General Manager C.
Michael Ming will moderate.
Sandberg notes that the convention's
final event is dubbed the Business Power
Lunch, which begins at 12:15 p.m. and
features Anadarko President and CEO
Al Walker, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Institute for 21st Century Energy President
and CEO Karen Harbert.
"Typically, our last panel deals with
markets. This year we really wanted to
pull the business community in and make
sure we are thanking our partners, who
have supported us through the past year,
but we also want to provide an update,"
Sandberg explains. "The convention really
is going to go out with a bang. I think the
business power lunch is going to become
one of our premier annual events. There
is no better lineup than we have this year
for that panel."
For information, visit http://rmesummit.org/con.
❒

DISCLOSURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FROM PAGE 35
June 27, SEC says it has determined the
European Union Accounting and Transparency Directives, Canada's Extractive
Sector Transparency Measures Act, and
the U.S. Extractive Industries Transparency
Initiative are substantially similar to Rule
13q-1.
In objecting to SEC's original disclosure rule, API had cited the USEITI as a
better alternative to increase transparency
without harming competitiveness (AOGR,
November 2012, pg. 18).
Potential Problems
Nevertheless, API Director of Tax and
Accounting Policy Stephen Comstock
says the new rule "fails to strike the right
balance between informing foreign citizens
of government revenues and protecting
the competitiveness of American companies."
"There appears to be no meaningful
difference between this rule and the previous rule . . . so our concerns remain the
same. The SEC's rule forces U.S. companies to disclose proprietary information
to their competitors while foreign entities
do not," Comstock states, adding, "We
need to take a closer look at the impact
of the new rule on our operations and determine our next steps."
Brian Mich, leader of BDO USA
LLP's U.S. anti-corruption compliance
and investigations practice, says the disclosure rule could cause difficulties on

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two fronts: competition and compliance.
"First," Mich says, "the rule requires
companies under SEC jurisdiction to
reveal proprietary information that companies outside of that jurisdiction won't
necessarily have to reveal. From a compliance perspective, companies will have
to determine who qualifies as a government
entity and who does not, which could
prove difficult. They also will have to
determine whether they are obligated to
disclose under the rule. For middle-market
and smaller companies, this may prove
difficult."
Mich says another challenge will be
to re-evaluate existing contracts to remove
confidentiality language that conflicts
with the disclosure rule, and to update
procedures for future contracts to ensure
compliance.
"Finally," he says, "energy companies
likely will have to update information
governance practices to ensure they are
collecting, storing and reporting all payment data (especially recipients) accurately,
and can disclose the required information
easily."
❒

This Society, a 501(c)-3 nonprofit organization established
in 2003, needs immediate
financial support to continue
making a difference in public
education. Our "Petroleum
Age" newsletter and network
of community oil and gas
museums serve as frontline
energy educators. Together we
explain the many historic
achievements of today's energy
business. The public gains a
new appreciation for geology,
petroleum engineering and
chemistry. Funding remains the
constant challenge for accomplishing this outreach. Now
more than ever, America needs
an educated public making
informed decisions about energy.

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