Services  /  Reserve Red-Flag Review

A 72-hour reserve sanity check, before your next borrowing-base or bid.

Independent reservoir-engineering review of a reserve summary, DCA assumptions, price deck, LOE and PUD compliance. Stanford PhD reservoir engineer. Fixed scope, fixed price, no surprises.

From $7,500 · 72 hours from signed engagement letter to PDF for portfolios under 200 wells · Aries (.adb / CSV), PHDwin or generic reserves PDF accepted.

Who this is for

Three buyers under deadline pressure.

Energy lender

Sizing a borrowing base or credit

Borrower's reserves report is from a trusted firm but the numbers are aggressive. You want an independent reservoir engineer to flag the issues in 72 hours, not commission a full Ryder Scott engagement.

Small-cap E&P CFO

Preparing 10-K supplementary disclosures

Reservoir manager left. Reserves engineer is overworked. Auditor is pushing back on the PUD bucket. You need a fast independent read before the filing deadline.

PE-backed E&P CEO

Preparing a sale process

Buyer-side diligence should find clean books, not a list of red flags. Surface and fix what you can before the data room opens.

What you get

A red-flag scorecard your credit committee can read in 10 minutes.

60-minute walkthrough call included. One follow-up round included — credit committee or auditor pushback responded to within 48 hours.

1. Red-flag scorecard

Every PDP, PUD and undeveloped category reviewed against a structured red-flag framework. Issues flagged CRITICAL / WARNING / NOTE.

2. DCA assumption audit

Type-curve coefficients (b-factor, Di, qi) sanity-checked against basin norms.

3. PUD compliance audit

SEC 5-year rule, drilling-pace credibility, capital allocation.

4. Price deck stress-test

PV-10 sensitivity at −20% WTI / −30% HH.

5. LOE reasonableness check

Operating cost trajectory benchmarked against basin norms.

6. Methodology memo

References to SPE PRMS, SEC Regulation S-X and basin-norm sources.

7. PDF executive summary + Excel detail file

Drops into a credit memo or diligence packet. Excel detail file gives your team the per-well evidence behind every flag.

What we surface

Common red-flag themes.

A reserve red-flag review covers themes like the ones below. Specific findings depend on your portfolio and your audience — we describe full findings on the walkthrough call, not on a public page.

PUD timing & classification support

SEC five-year exposure, drilling-schedule credibility, capital required to keep booked PUDs compliant.

Decline-curve & type-curve support

High b-factors, shallow terminal declines, vintage mismatch and basin-norm outliers.

PDP economic-limit risk

Wells kept economic by stale LOE, optimistic differentials or unsupported terminal assumptions.

LOE, taxes & netback pressure

Operating cost escalation, gathering/transport deductions and price realisations that move PV-10.

Capex & rig-schedule feasibility

Booked development pace versus actual rig count, permit status and available capital.

Ownership & burden mismatches

NRI / WI changes, overrides, non-op exposure or lease terms that don't match the cash-flow case.

Price-deck & sensitivity exposure

PV-10 movement under lower WTI / Henry Hub, basis widening and delayed first production.

Why us

Independent. Fast. Defensible.

Stanford PhD · SPE papers on DCA

Stanford PhD in reservoir engineering & optimization. Founder authored multiple SPE papers on DCA, type-curve generation and production forecasting.

Independent

No drilling services, completions, or field operations — no incentive to write a friendly report.

Fast

72 hours from signed engagement letter to PDF delivery for portfolios under 200 wells.

Fixed price

$7,500 starting. No "estimated hours billed monthly."

How it works

Six steps. NDA in 24 hours.

01

Scoping call

20 minutes, free. Portfolio + audience + deadline.

02

Engagement + NDA

24-hour turn.

03

Data hand-off

Aries (.adb / CSV export), PHDwin or generic reserves PDF.

04

72-hour review

Mehrdad personally + our analysis stack.

05

Delivery

PDF executive summary + Excel detail file + 60-min walkthrough call.

06

Follow-up round

Credit committee or auditor pushback responded to within 48 hours, no additional cost.

Pricing

Starting at $7,500.

Fixed scope, fixed price.

Scope Price
Up to 100 wells, single basin $7.5k
100–500 wells, multi-basin $12k–$18k
500–2,000 wells, multi-basin $20k–$35k
2,000+ wells, or full restatement Custom

Scope honesty

Where this fits, and where it doesn't.

This is a fast, defensible decision-support package. It is not a substitute for field execution, legal advice or a signed statutory opinion.

Not a reserves report. We're not a registered reserves auditor and we don't issue SEC-filing reserves opinions. For signed reserves opinions, use Ryder Scott, NSAI, DeGolyer or another qualified reserves auditor.

Not a fairness opinion. We do not opine on deal fairness or valuation fairness. We identify reserve, cash-flow and compliance assumptions that should be addressed before a credit or bid decision.

Not legal advice. Counsel owns securities, credit-agreement and disclosure conclusions. We provide the engineering evidence counsel, auditors and committees can review.

FAQ

Common questions.

Why 72 hours? Seems fast.

It's a sanity check, not a restatement. Output is a red-flag scorecard, not a 200-page report. Lender redetermination and bid deadlines don't wait.

Will you sign an SEC reserves opinion?

No. For a signed reserves opinion, talk to Ryder Scott, NSAI, DeGolyer or another qualified reserves auditor. Our role is to flag the issues an auditor is likely to ask about, before you engage them.

My data is in Aries / PHDwin.

We accept CSV export, native Aries (.adb), PHDwin (.phw), or PDF.

Should the borrower or the lender commission the review?

Most valuable form is when an independent third party (lender, buyer, audit committee) is the one who sees the output. If a borrower commissions for internal use only, tell us on the call — we'll be honest whether the work is worth it.

Get a 72-hour read on the reserves.

Book a 20-minute scoping call. Tell us the portfolio, the audience and the deadline. We'll come back with fixed scope and fixed price.

Or email info@petropt.com directly.