Preparation of Engineering Appraisal Reports

The purpose of this discussion is to set forth some broad, general guidelines concerning the preparation of petroleum engineering appraisal reports. First, let me state that I feel that no engineering society or group of engineering societies should dictate the style or format of an engineering report to either the engineer preparing the report or the client for whom the report is prepared. The engineering report may consist of anything from a verbal report on the telephone or a xerox copy of work notes to a formal report bound in red leather with gold engraving. The report should adequately cover the scope of engineering work and be in a form which is in accordance with the function of the engineering report. The form of this report should be based on an agreement between the client and the engineer concerning what the client requires for his purpose, the availability and cost of data and data preparation, the amount of information available and pertinent to the study, and the amount of money that the client is willing to pay for engineering work. If, in the preliminary discussions concerning the scope of work and the nature of the engineering assignment and subsequent report, the engineer feels that he cannot do an adequate appraisal with the information available or for the amount of money the client is willing to pay for the work, or for any other reason he feels that his professional conduct would be compromised in this assignment, he should turn the work down and make such recommendations as he feels advisable to the prospective client. It is obvious in the case of a number of extremely small interests of low value that extreme detail work is not justified either from an engineering standpoint or an economic standpoint.