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. Founder-led, Stanford PhD. 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 assumptions sanity-checked against basin norms and vintage.

3. PUD compliance audit

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

4. Price deck stress-test

PV-10 sensitivity under price-deck stress cases scoped to the asset.

5. LOE reasonableness check

Operating cost trajectory benchmarked against basin norms.

6. Methodology memo

Methodology references documented in the delivered memo — defensible to auditor, credit committee or buyer.

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

Classification, timing and capital-plan support reviewed for defensibility.

Decline-curve & type-curve support

Type-curve assumptions and decline support reviewed against basin norms and vintage.

PDP economic-limit risk

Economic-limit assumptions reviewed against current operating realities.

LOE, taxes & netback pressure

Operating cost and netback assumptions reviewed for how they move PV-10.

Capex & rig-schedule feasibility

Capital plan reviewed against actual activity and execution constraints.

Ownership & burden mismatches

Ownership and burden assumptions reviewed for consistency with the cash-flow case.

Price-deck & sensitivity exposure

Price-deck assumptions reviewed for PV-10 robustness under stress cases scoped to the asset.

Why us

Independent. Fast. Defensible.

Stanford PhD · SPE papers on DCA

Stanford PhD in energy systems optimization. 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

the founder 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

Fixed-fee reviews start at $7,500.

Final scope and price depend on portfolio size, basin mix, complexity, and the audience for the output (credit committee, board, auditor, buyer, internal).

Most engagements land between $7.5k and $35k. Larger portfolios or full restatement support are scoped on the scoping call.

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.