SFAS 112, Employer's Accounting for Post-Employment Benefits, requires accrual accounting for benefits provided to former or inactive employees after employment but before retirement. Topics on the agenda at the 1993 AICPA Conference on Current SEC Developments included offsetting and disclosure contingencies, discounting of liabilities, and extraordinary losses. The SEC staff has clarified the disclosures of deferred tax assets required in MD&A Other discussion items include separate financial statements of a subsidiary, implication of tax-planning strategies, joint ventures, and mandatorily redeemable preferred stock-EPS treatment. Interim reports concern adoption of new standards, restatement of quarterly information, and SFAS 107 disclosures. Issues receiving current review emphasis by the SEC include MD&As, SAB 74, segment information, and proxy information. Beginning in 1993, new SEC rules will require changes to executive compensation disclosure. The AICPA has issued a specific industry audit risk alert, Oil and Gas procedures Industry Developments--1992.

Current Developments in Financial Accounting and Reporting. Jennings, Dennis R., Spring 1993, pp. 1‑11.

The focus of this issue's taxation update is the energy tax proposals of the Clinton economic plan. The authors discuss the administration's objectives, the BTU tax proposal, the BTU tax impact on exported goods, alternative energy proposals, and the economic and environmental impact of the plan.

Current Update in Oil and Gas Taxation. McElroy, Ted E. and Smith, Ira L., Spring 1993, pp. 12‑18.

The COPAS fall meeting in San Francisco saw the election of a new slate of officers and directors and the approval of several new and revised bulletins and addendums. The various standing committees report on their completed and ongoing projects.

COPAS: An Update. Westbrook, Jack, Spring 1993, pp. 19‑24.

Appearing in this issue of the Journal is a new column on environmental issues written by Dr. Charlotte J. Wright from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Wright summarizes the Financial Accounting Standard Board Emerging Issues Task Force's work relating to accounting for environmental costs, discussing specifically EITF Issue No. 89-13 "Accounting for the Cost of Asbestos Removal, "and EITF Issue No. 90-8, "Accounting for Environmental Costs."

Current Developments in Environmental Issues. Wright, Charlotte, Spring 1993, pp. 25‑28.

Topics covered in this issue concern reserves of investee accounted for under equity method and treatment of exploration costs of successful efforts companies in statement of cash flows.

Accounting Forum. Brock, Horace, Spring 1993, pp. 29‑32.

Despite the petroleum industry's relatively good safety and environmental record, a recent public opinion poll reveals disturbing statistics regarding public attitudes toward environmental safety and the petroleum industry. Mr. Haddock weighs the benefits of costly environmental regulations against the costs and addresses the defects in the current regulatory system, as well as the difficulty of reforming the system. The author also discusses in some detail the American Petroleum Institute's STEP plan (Strategies for Today's Environmental Partnership).

The Environment: The Road to Success is Always under Construction. Haddock, Ron W., Spring 1993, pp. 33‑43.

As Director of Oil Policy and Director of the Office of Energy Tax Policy within both the Reagan and Bush Administrations, Mr. Goodman possesses a unique insight into the dilemma facing the Clinton Administration of simultaneously growing the U.S. economy and ensuring a healthy domestic petroleum industry. His recommendations include initiatives regarding a new investment incentive, broad-based energy or environmental taxes to promote oil price stability, and aggressive government action to level the playing field between natural gas and coal.

Point of View: Policy Initiatives for the New Administration. Goodman, Craig G., Spring 1993, pp. 44‑50.

The accounting rules mandated by the FASB and SEC in 1977 have remained, for the most part, unchanged for over a decade. This article explores the possibility that the financial accounting practices of oil and gas companies may be inflating the net book values of mature-stage producing properties. Given the current economic climate, this issue is significant in that accounting practices developed when times were good may be resulting in inflated net book values, increased depreciation expenses, lower profits, and dismal accounting rates of return in a sagging economy.

Financial Accounting Practices and "Over Capitalization" of Mature Producing Properties: Some Observations. Wright, Charlotte; Brown, Craig D.; and Landreth, Mike, Spring 1993, pp. 51‑64.

This paper discusses the historical context of the newly proposed I.R.C. Section 761 regulations and their expected impact on gas balancing agreements. Also highlighted are competing theories of income attribution and gas balancing methods. The author concludes that the proposed regulations do impose an additional burden on taxpayers subject to GBA's, though the effect is not as severe as earlier anticipated.

The Proposed Regulations under I.R.C. Section 761 regarding Gas Balancing Agreements. File, Richard G., Spring 1993, pp. 65‑78.

The authors reviewed companies' annual reports, 10K filing, pro-filings, and information releases to identify the existence, nature, and scope of voluntary disclosures of finding costs. Included is a bibliography of articles and books on the finding costs issue.

Voluntary Disclosures of Finding Costs by Publicly Owned Oil and Gas Firms. Boone, Jeffery and Boynton IV, Charles E., Spring 1993, pp. 79‑96.

Oil price fluctuation and stock market volatility were closely linked throughout the 1970's, 1980's, and the Gulf War crisis in 1990-1991. This study tests whether investors earned excess returns across bull and bear market conditions by investing in oil stocks. Also examined are abnormal returns and changes in systematic risk across different sub periods and across four major oil shock periods.

Risk-Adjusted Return and Changes in Systematic Risk: The Evidence for Large Integrated Oil Company Stocks (1963-1990). Hatfield, Gay and Walker, Mark, Spring 1993, pp. 97‑109.

What is the relationship between profits (losses) at the major oil companies and companies in related industries? Do increased profits result in increased cash flows? This article presents an overview of the sales/profits interrelationship between integrated oil companies, secondary oil companies, drillers, oilfield equipment/service companies, and pipelines.

An Analysis of Earnings in Oil Related Industries. Jordan-Wagner, James and Wootton, Charles W., Spring 1993, pp. 110‑123.

This study explores the likelihood of companies receiving qualified opinions to switch auditors, whether the selection of a new auditor leads to the receipt of an unqualified opinion, and whether a change in accounting method accompanies the auditor and opinion changes. Also examined are the questions of whether switches after qualifications tend to be to non-Big Six firms and whether non-Big Six firms are more likely to give unqualified opinions.

Auditor Changes following Qualified Opinions in the Oil and Gas Industry. Bryan, Barry J. and Smith, L. Murphy, Spring 1993, pp. 124‑131.