Old “pump-jacks” are viewed on March 26, 2015 in the oil town of Luling, Texas. Texas, which in just the last five years has tripled its oil production and delivered hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy, is looking at what could be a sustained downturn in prices. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

What are US oil and gas producers most concerned about in the current oil price environment and over the longer term? Financial advisory and consulting firm BDO took a stab at answering that question in their annual BDO Oil and Gas RiskFactor Report, which analyzes the risks listed in the most recent 10-K filings of the 100 largest public U.S. E&P companies by revenue.

Interestingly, oil and gas price volatility comes in third behind reserve replacement and regulatory issues. This illustrates that companies recognize commodity prices are inherently volatile, which is something they can adjust to as needed. However, shifting regulatory goal posts and maintaining – if not increasing – product inventory are issues that have greater potential to impact their businesses. Oil and gas prices will always fluctuate and the current down cycle will hurt over the short term, but over the longer term, replacing proved reserves and forecasting the regulatory weather keeps US producers up at night.

“Many in the oil & gas industry expected the commodity pricing environment to improve fairly quickly, but a variety of market forces—including growing supply in the Middle East and difficulties exporting U.S. resources abroad—have conspired to hit U.S. producers’ bottom lines hard,” Charles Dewhurst, leader of the Natural Resources practice at BDO said in a statement. “Ironically enough, the resulting lack of domestic supply may help push prices back up, but for now, it appears that U.S. companies are poised to feel the most pain as the market corrects itself.”