IFRS bulletin: Straight away

Download IFRS bulletin: Straight away: The extractive activities project at the IASB (83kb)

The Extractive Activities project at the IASB opens the door to potential radical changes to financial reporting for mining and oil & gas.

There is little guidance on the accounting for exploration, development and production of minerals and oil & gas in current IFRS. The Extractive Activities Discussion Paper (DP), published in draft form on 10 August 2009, is the first step towards an IFRS for these activities.

The draft DP was written by four national standard setters at the request of the IASB. The work was led by the Australian Accounting Standards Board with participation from Canada, Norway and South Africa. The DP will be published formally by the IASB in Quarter 1, 2010, with an invitation to comment. Publishing a DP in draft form is an unusual step and it is not clear whether or how much the recommendations may change prior to formal publication, as it is yet to be reviewed by the IASB.