Abstract:

The oil and gas extraction industry is essential for the functioning of the economic system of the present, and there is no any evidence claiming that this industry is going to collapse or disappear in the long term, despite the international concern about the strategies that promotes sustainable development and promotes to combat the climate change.

This industry represents a technological system that has changed the way of life of the people, even their culture, by generating through the oil and natural gas different raw materials that compose a lot of the goods and services consumed.

Its operation involves various sectors, both public and private, that contribute to mobilize much of world economic resources highlighting among others the following: the process of prospecting and exploration, the funding, and the corresponding regulations and laws.

The energy self-sufficiency remains a concern for many countries, both developed and undeveloped, and oil and natural gas industry contributes to achieving this self-sufficiency at the same time that it generates important and positive social impact due to the expectations of progress, employment, and improvements in the quality of life of the people.

This research is useful to deepen the understanding of this industry, explaining about important aspects of the operations of oil and natural gas industry that requires a lot of types of expenditures for this purposes, highlighting the next among others: acquisition of rights to explore; topographical, geological, geochemical and geophysical studies; exploratory drilling; sampling; and activities in relation to evaluating the technical feasibility and commercial viability of extracting a mineral resources.

This is a documentary research developed through the inquiry of financial information and through the practices described in the annual reports of major companies in this sector, such as: Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, PetroChina, Chevron, Gazprom, BP (British Petroleum), and so on.

Keywords:

Oil and gas, operations, financial reporting.