(May 15, 2009) - In addition to the Conference Chair and two Committee positions, Hein & Associates LLP also featured two speakers at this year’s North American Petroleum Accounting Conference (NAPAC) held at the Westin Galleria in Dallas, Texas, May 14-15, 2009.

Peter Schulman, Partner Emeritus in the Denver office, spoke on day one of the conference in a session titled "Consensual Restructuring and Avoiding Preference Lawsuits," which addressed topics for both distressed companies and their creditors. These included maximizing opportunities for restructuring debt and Chapter 11 bankruptcies, as well as avoiding and defending preference payment claims and fraudulent transfer lawsuits. Schulman was joined in his speech by Denver Attorney John Smiley of Lindquist & Vennum.

On day two, Jennifer Elder, Senior Audit Manager in Dallas, addressed "Derivative Accounting for the Oil and Gas Producer." In this one-hour session, she covered the basics and potential hazards of derivative identification and cash flow hedge accounting under FAS 133, Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities, valuation issues related to commodity instruments under FAS 157, Fair Value Measurements, and disclosure issues under FAS 161, Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities.

Dallas Senior Audit Manager Kenny Wilks was this year’s NAPAC Chairperson, while Dallas Audit Partners Joe Blice and Megan McFarland sat on the NAPAC Committee, and are both past Chairpersons. McFarland is also the National Leader of Hein & Associates LLP's Energy Practice Area.

NAPAC is aimed at individuals in oil and gas accounting, and showcases the latest developments with dynamic speakers in a session format. It is sponsored by the Council of Petroleum Accountants Societies (COPAS) of Dallas, and the Professional Development Institute (PDI) of the University of North Texas, a not-for-profit education corporation recognized as one of the world’s largest providers of oil and gas accounting education.

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