The treatment of joint costs, which has troubled the sector for decades, is an integral part of any study of accounting in the petroleum industry. Taher treats joint costs and the problem of 'transfer prices' from one division of an international petroleum organisation to another as an essential element in determining the revenues to be assigned to each. He also discusses the chemistry of hydrocarbons in order to supply the firm, factual foundation on the basis of which he can then erect a formal system of cost allocation.