Chevron 2014 Annual Report Download - page 27

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Accidental leaks and spills requiring cleanup may occur in the ordinary course of business. In addition to the costs for
environmental protection associated with its ongoing operations and products, the company may incur expenses for
corrective actions at various owned and previously owned facilities and at third-party-owned waste disposal sites used by the
company. An obligation may arise when operations are closed or sold or at non-Chevron sites where company products have
been handled or disposed of. Most of the expenditures to fulfill these obligations relate to facilities and sites where past
operations followed practices and procedures that were considered acceptable at the time but now require investigative or
remedial work or both to meet current standards.
Using definitions and guidelines established by the American Petroleum Institute, Chevron estimated its worldwide
environmental spending in 2014 at approximately $2.6 billion for its consolidated companies. Included in these expenditures
were approximately $0.9 billion of environmental capital expenditures and $1.7 billion of costs associated with the
prevention, control, abatement or elimination of hazardous substances and pollutants from operating, closed or divested sites,
and the abandonment and restoration of sites.
For 2015, total worldwide environmental capital expenditures are estimated at $0.9 billion. These capital costs are in addition
to the ongoing costs of complying with environmental regulations and the costs to remediate previously contaminated sites.
Critical Accounting Estimates and Assumptions
Management makes many estimates and assumptions in the application of generally accepted accounting principles
(GAAP) that may have a material impact on the company’s consolidated financial statements and related disclosures and on
the comparability of such information over different reporting periods. Such estimates and assumptions affect reported
amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, as well as disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities. Estimates and
assumptions are based on management’s experience and other information available prior to the issuance of the financial
statements. Materially different results can occur as circumstances change and additional information becomes known.
The discussion in this section of “critical” accounting estimates and assumptions is according to the disclosure guidelines of
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), wherein:
1. the nature of the estimates and assumptions is material due to the levels of subjectivity and judgment
necessary to account for highly uncertain matters, or the susceptibility of such matters to change; and
2. the impact of the estimates and assumptions on the company’s financial condition or operating performance is
material.
The development and selection of accounting estimates and assumptions, including those deemed “critical,” and the
associated disclosures in this discussion have been discussed by management with the Audit Committee of the Board of
Directors. The areas of accounting and the associated “critical” estimates and assumptions made by the company are as
follows:
Oil and Gas Reserves Crude oil and natural gas reserves are estimates of future production that impact certain asset and
expense accounts included in the Consolidated Financial Statements. Proved reserves are the estimated quantities of oil and
gas that geoscience and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be economically producible in the future
under existing economic conditions, operating methods and government regulations. Proved reserves include both developed
and undeveloped volumes. Proved developed reserves represent volumes expected to be recovered through existing wells
with existing equipment and operating methods. Proved undeveloped reserves are volumes expected to be recovered from
new wells on undrilled proved acreage, or from existing wells where a relatively major expenditure is required for
recompletion. Variables impacting Chevron’s estimated volumes of crude oil and natural gas reserves include field
performance, available technology, commodity prices, and development and production costs.
The estimates of crude oil and natural gas reserves are important to the timing of expense recognition for costs incurred and
to the valuation of certain oil and gas producing assets. Impacts of oil and gas reserves on Chevron’s Consolidated Financial
Statements, using the successful efforts method of accounting, include the following:
1. Amortization - Capitalized exploratory drilling and development costs are depreciated on a unit-of-production
(UOP) basis using proved developed reserves. Acquisition costs of proved properties are amortized on a UOP
basis using total proved reserves. During 2014, Chevron’s UOP Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization
(DD&A) for oil and gas properties was $13.0 billion, and proved developed reserves at the beginning of 2014
were 4.8 billion barrels for consolidated companies. If the estimates of proved reserves used in the UOP
calculations for consolidated operations had been lower by 5 percent across all oil and gas properties, UOP
DD&A in 2014 would have increased by approximately $690 million.
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