A petroleum geologist discovers a significant reserve estimate discrepancy between their internal model and a third-party audit. What is the most professionally appropriate first step?
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A
Disclose the discrepancy to management and document the differences with supporting data
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B
Revise the internal estimate to match the third-party figure without analysis
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C
Ignore the discrepancy if internal methods are more sophisticated
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D
Report the discrepancy directly to regulators before notifying management