Accounting and financial reporting considerations for oil and gas companies operating under Australia's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme

Abstract

The introduction of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) is one of Australia’s most significant economic reforms since the deregulation of the Australian financial markets in the 1980s and will have a significant impact on companies across a number of sectors—in particular those in the oil and gas industry. Given the significant greenhouse gas emission footprint of the oil and gas industry in Australia, for many oil and gas companies the cost of buying carbon pollution permits and/or reducing emissions through targetted abatement programs is likely to be significant. From a strategic perspective, understanding how the proposed CPRS could affect future cash flows will be critically important. Financial markets have already begun to factor the potential cash flow impacts into valuations of companies likely to be directly impacted by the legislation. Public disclosure of the potential impacts of the CPRS is considered both an opportunity and threat for those companies exposed to it. The proposed CPRS will also pose significant governance, compliance and reporting challenges for those companies directly impacted by it. Measurement and reporting of emissions information will need to be subjected to the same level of control and rigour as other financial information. This paper will examine both the immediate and longer term accounting and financial reporting considerations for oil and gas companies as a result of the CPRS, focussing on what companies need to be doing now to be prepared for the introduction of this legislation.