Oil and Gas
Volume III of the Sector Coverage Series
For E&P company general counsel, midstream operators, refinery security, JOA compliance, and independent investigators retained by upstream, midstream, and downstream operators and their insurers.
Professional Reference Material
These playbooks are professional reference material intended for licensed investigators. They are not legal advice. Investigators are responsible for compliance with the laws of their jurisdiction and the specific requirements of their clients and cases.
The TALON Difference
Every playbook in this platform is built against TALON, the proprietary defensive-operations doctrine developed inside The Investigator's Desk over years of federal investigative practice.
Actor-model analysis
Reverse trace
Artifact mapping
evidence econstruction
“Subscribers receive the playbook; the proprietary model that produced it stays inside the platform.”
Oil and Gas, at a Glance
82
Investigative Playbooks
17
Categories
$227
Per Month
within 24-36h
Dispatch
The 82 Oil and Gas Playbooks
The full catalog is listed below by category. Each entry is a standalone playbook covering the case type named.
01. Upstream Production and Royalty Fraud
Royalty underpayment investigation
Volume misreporting workup
Lease operating expense fraud workup
Post-production cost dispute workup
Overriding royalty interest fraud
Federal and state royalty audit response
02. Midstream Pipeline Fraud and Theft
Pipeline hot-tap and product theft
Pipeline measurement fraud workup
Gathering system fraud workup
Pipeline tariff and transportation dispute
Pipeline right-of-way encroachment workup
03. Refinery and Downstream Fraud
Refinery product theft investigation
Fuel adulteration and dilution workup
Refinery product mislabeling workup
Terminal loading fraud workup
Distributor and jobber fraud workup
04. Well Services and Completion Fraud
Well services over-billing workup
Frac and stimulation fraud workup
Wireline and logging fraud workup
Cementing and casing fraud workup
Rig services fraud workup
05. Drilling Operations Investigation
Drilling contractor fraud workup
Well-control incident investigation
Blowout and stuck-pipe workup
Rig employee misconduct workup
Directional drilling and MWD fraud workup
06. Environmental Compliance and Spill
Spill investigation and response workup
Produced water disposal fraud workup
Air emissions and flaring workup
Superfund and legacy contamination workup
BLM/BOEM environmental compliance workup
07. Pipeline Safety and PHMSA
PHMSA compliance investigation
Pipeline integrity management workup
Pipeline incident investigation
Third-party pipeline damage workup
08. Oilfield Theft (Equipment/Crude)
Crude oil theft investigation
Tank-battery theft workup
Oilfield equipment theft investigation
Copper and metal theft (oilfield)
Oilfield tool and pipe theft workup
Fuel theft workup (oilfield)
09. Executive Fraud and Self-Dealing
Executive expense abuse workup (O&G)
Executive self-dealing investigation
Executive conflict of interest workup
Officer trading and disclosure workup
10. Contractor and Procurement Fraud
Procurement kickback investigation (O&G)
Contractor over-billing workup
Bid rigging investigation (O&G)
Vendor fictitious delivery workup
Contractor safety representation fraud workup
11. Joint Venture and JOA Disputes
JOA operator misconduct investigation
Non-consent penalty dispute workup
AFE and cost-overrun dispute workup
Joint interest billing (JIB) audit
Operator removal and successor workup
12. Labor and OSHA Safety
Fatality investigation (O&G)
Serious injury investigation (O&G)
H2S exposure workup
Rig floor injury workup
Wage-and-hour investigation (O&G)
13. FCPA and International Corruption
FCPA investigation workup
Third-party diligence workup
Foreign agent fraud workup
Facilitation payment workup
Sanctions and OFAC compliance workup (O&G)
14. Cyber and OT Security
OT/ICS cyber incident investigation (O&G)
SCADA compromise workup (pipeline)
Ransomware incident response (O&G)
BEC and wire fraud investigation (O&G)
15. Insurance Investigation
Property claim workup (O&G)
Business interruption claim workup (O&G)
Environmental claim workup (O&G)
Well-control coverage claim workup
16. M&A and Reserves Diligence
Reserves and reserves-audit diligence
Acquisition and divestiture diligence (O&G)
Chain-of-title investigation
Reps and warranties investigation (O&G)
17. Emerging Exposure
CCS and 45Q compliance workup (O&G)
Methane emissions and MERP compliance workup
Orphan well and plug-and-abandonment fraud
Hydrogen and blue-hydrogen fraud workup
Energy transition and stranded-asset workup
Where Oil and Gas Meets the Rest of the Catalog
Oil and Gas investigations regularly cross into adjacent sectors. The volumes listed below carry the framework and playbooks that most often surface alongside an oil and gas matter. Tier 2 subscribers have access to every volume; the cross-references identify where to look first.
Volume II · Banking
Reserve-based lending fraud, energy trading fraud investigations, project-finance disputes
Volume IV · Maritime
Tanker cargo disputes, bunker fraud, oil spills at sea, dark-fleet exposure
Volume XI · Transportation and Logistics
Pipeline coordination with rail, truck fleet fuel theft, cargo diversion of refined product
Volume XV · Insurance
Operator well-control claims, business-interruption after outages, environmental impairment liability
Volume XX · Utilities
Gas-utility interconnection disputes, pipeline-adjacent utility easement matters
Volume XXI · Renewable Energy
Energy-transition acquisition diligence, hybrid oil-and-renewables project disputes
What Ships & How
Two Documents Per Case Request
Operational Playbook
The doctrinal chapter: case overview, business and practice framework, investigative blueprint with step cards covering purpose, actions, output, restrictions, and gates, evidence considerations, interview strategy, report considerations, common mistakes, a tabletop exercise with worked answers, closing take, and the case-specific Client Communication Pack of email templates for every touchpoint from proposal through invoicing.
TALON Brief
The actor model for the case typology, the artifact map, and the reverse-trace sequence. This is the doctrine layer that tells the investigator not just what to do, but why those steps in that order, grounded in how actors in that typology actually operate.
Universal Forms
25 universal forms are provided separately as a one-time subscriber download.
Delivery Framework
Case requests → secure email
Dispatch → within 24–36 hours
Maximum → 3 playbooks / rolling 7 days
Monthly reports → scheduled delivery
Quarterly report → scheduled delivery
On-Demand Reports → separate purchase