Sarbanes-Oxley Legislation Designed to Increase Accountability Can Boost Efficiency and Revenues for Oil and Gas Producers, Says EMK3

DALLAS, Aug. 30 2004 -- An article published in American Oil and Gas Reporter this month indicates that with new personal responsibility for their companies' financial accountability, chief executive and financial officers in the oil and gas industry are prioritizing their companies' compliance with federal regulations. At the same time, the C Suite is finding that, with the proper technological tools, accountability and compliance may provide significant opportunities for business returns.

The author of the article, Terry Coulter of EMK3, a marketing software provider for the gas and oil industry, wrote, "Most U.S. independent oil and gas producers have viewed marketing as merely an administrative function, overlooking it when investing in additional resources and technology. However, two major industry-changing events have transformed marketing into a mission-critical activity." These events, cited by Coulter as changes in how gas and oil producers approached marketing following the collapse of Enron and passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), have created a need for accurate and well-documented internal controls to complement an effective marketing strategy.

"The good news is that if [implementation of SOX is] properly managed, there is opportunity to capture the value along the value chain," said Coulter.

According to Coulter, companies are investing their most valuable resources in meeting federal deadlines for filing accounting reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). To optimize their investment, companies may need to revisit their information management systems to accommodate the challenges posed by the new accounting and filing standards. "Few companies have invested in systems capable of tracking changes to financial data as they move from one internal department or user to another, and although many companies have invested heavily in enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, the data those systems collect are often simply fed into spreadsheets, which are prone to human error," wrote Coulter.

Effective marketing software can preclude such error while having the added benefit of lowering costs and increasing revenues. Coulter commented, "Companies that solve internal control issues correctly within the marketing function stand to gain considerable benefits far beyond the assurance of sound internal control." Instead of expending resources on solving ongoing data management and marketing problems, oil and gas companies that adopt new technological tools can focus on analyzing ways to enhance business.

To view the full article, which is the first in a three-part series, visit EMK3's website: http://www.emk3.com/home/sox/article_aogr_pt1.htm.

ABOUT EMK3
EMK3 is a market leader in providing information technology solutions that are designed specifically for oil & gas producers, enabling them to transform the way production volumes are sold and priced at the well. EMK3's software helps manage the complete marketing cycle and helps clients sell the maximum produced each day at the optimal price and efficiency.

Contact:
Terry Coulter, Vice President of Sales, EMK3
972-267-3653
tcoulter @ emk3.com
http://www.emk3.com