Technology Focus: Reserves Management (December 2025)

_ The landscape of reserves management continues to evolve rapidly, shaped by advances in digital technologies, changing regulatory frameworks, and strategic financial priorities across the upstream and midstream sectors. The papers featured here highlight how artificial intelligence (AI), carbon management, and risk analytics are redefining the way companies assess and manage their assets in increasingly complex environments. Three key themes emerge from the selected works. Expanding AI Applications. Machine learning is being embedded across workflows—from optimizing field operations in real time to identifying anomalies in financial statements. This broader application of AI and data science strengthens both reserves assurance and corporate governance. AI-driven asset optimization, in particular, is proving transformative in balancing capital efficiency with operational reliability. Shift Toward Probabilistic Project Management. A notable transition is underway from deterministic planning to probabilistic modeling. By integrating cost and schedule risk, operators can better quantify potential delays and their financial implications, an essential capability for resilient reserves planning amid market volatility. Subsurface Storage and Long-Term Strategy Integration. The emergence of carbon capture and storage (CCS) introduces new technical and regulatory dimensions to reserves management. The papers discuss evolving frameworks that link CCS deployment to corporate sustainability targets and financing strategies, reflecting the growing importance of aligning reserves practices with environmental, social, and governance commitments and investor expectations. Collectively, these trends signal a more mature and interconnected discipline, one that is multidisciplinary, data-driven, and increasingly responsive to both technical realities and societal imperatives shaping the future of energy. Summarized Papers in This December 2025 Issue SPE 221836 - Integrated Cost and Schedule Risk Analysis Eases Consequences of Project Delays by Christopher Britton, SPE, OMV. SPE 222600 - Image Hashing and Vector Databases Improve Detection of Fraud in Financial Statements by Dalia Albuqaytah, Sarafudheen Tharayil, and Muhammad Azmi Idris, Saudi Aramco. SPE 225882 - Independent Study Addresses Causes of Challenges in Asia Pacific Flagship CCS Project by Ali Sabzabadi, SPE, Ian Gladman, and Bill Billingsley, RISC Advisory. Recommended Additional Reading at OnePetro: www. onepetro. org. SPE 225849 - CCS in the State of Alaska—Regulatory Framework and Commercial Selection Criteria for Transoceanic CO2 Imports by N. Fulford, Gaffney, Cline, and Associates, et al. SPE 225371 - AI-Enabled Integrated Asset Optimization for CAPEX and OPEX by Fernando Gutierrez, Tachyus, et al. SPE 225633 - Financing Strategies for Oil and Gas Companies Pursuing Long-Term Energy Transition Under ESG Regulations by Y. Akin, Turkish Petroleum