Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) announced today that the securities commissions for the provinces of Alberta and Ontario have issued a decision document (the Decision), which has the effect of granting ExxonMobil exemptive relief from the disclosure requirements contained in National Instrument 51-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities (NI 51-101).
As a result of the Decision, and provided that certain conditions set out in the Decision are met on an on-going basis, ExxonMobil will not be required to comply with the requirements of NI 51-101 and, accordingly, will not be required to file Form 51-101F1 – Statement of Reserves Data and Other Oil and Gas Information, Form 51-101F2 – Report on Reserves Data by Independent Qualified Reserves Evaluator or Auditor and Form 51-101F3 – Report of Management and Directors on Oil and Gas Disclosure. In lieu of such filings, ExxonMobil is permitted, pursuant to the Decision, to provide disclosure in respect of its oil and gas activities in the form permitted by, and in accordance with, the legal requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the United States Securities Act 1933, as amended, the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the United States Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules of the New York Stock Exchange (collectively, the U.S. Rules). ExxonMobil is required to file such disclosure with the securities regulatory authority or regulator in each of the provinces of Canada as soon as practicable after such disclosure is filed pursuant to the U.S. Rules.
Readers should be aware that ExxonMobil’s future disclosure relating to its oil and gas activities will comply with the U.S. Rules rather than NI 51-101 and the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook. The U.S. Rules differ in a number of respects from the disclosure otherwise required under NI 51-101 and the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook and readers are urged to consider these differences when considering all future disclosures made by ExxonMobil relating to its oil and gas activities.
