"Exxon Relents, Wipes Oil Sands Reserves From Its Books"

"Low prices force the oil giant to stop counting 3.5 billion barrels as an asset, a major turnaround in its accounting."

"ExxonMobil announced Wednesday that it had wiped off its books all 3.5 billion barrels of tar sands oil reserves at one of its projects in Canada. Because of recent low oil prices, the company said none of those reserves can be considered economical according to the accounting rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The accounting change at its Kearl project, a momentous if expected development, represented a turnaround for the company, which has long resisted calls to revise its reserves estimates. Over the past decade, Exxon had steadily increased its holdings in Canada's tar sands to become a leading producer there.

Exxon also removed from its books 800 million barrels of oil-equivalent reserves in North America, though the reductions were offset by the addition of 1 billion barrels of oil and gas elsewhere."

Nicholas Kusnetz reports for InsideClimate News February 23, 2017.