GLOSSARY OF TERMS
The following glossary of commonly used terms in the
oil and gas industry is being provided for ease of reference
and convenience purposes only.
"area of mutual interest" or "AMI" - An agreement by which
parties attempt to describe a geographical area within which
they agree to share certain existing and additional leases
acquired by any of them in the future.
"APO/BPO" - After payout/before payout.
"Btu/MMBtu" - British Thermal Units, a measure of the
heating value of fuel. MMBtu stands for one million Btu.
"Bbls/MBbls" - A Bbl. or barrel is 42 U.S. gallons of crude
oil or condensate measured at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. MBbls
stands for one thousand Bbls.
"carried interest" - A fractional working interest in an oil
and gas lease, the holder of which is carried and has no
liability for a portion or all of the attributable
development and operating costs. The person advancing the
costs is the carrying party; the other is the carried party.
"casing point" - The time when the operator recommends that
a completion attempt be made, or when the well is plugged
and abandoned without a completion attempt being made.
"choke/choke size" - A pipe section having an orifice for
restricting and controlling the flow of oil and gas. Choke
size is the orifice diameter and is commonly expressed in
64ths of an inch.
"continuous drilling" - A lease clause providing that
drilling of another well be commenced within a specified
time after completion of the preceding well. As a general
rule, if this is not done, all undeveloped acreage must be
released.
"development" - The drilling of a well within the productive
area of an oil or gas reservoir, as indicated by reasonable
interpretation of available data, with the object of
completing the well in that reservoir.
"exploration" - Operations conducted in search of
undiscovered oil, gas and/or condensate.
"farmout/farmin" - An agreement providing for assignment of
a lease. A typical characteristic of a farmout is the
obligation of the assignee to conduct drilling operations on
the assigned acreage as a pre-requisite to completion of the
assignment. The assignor will usually reserve some type of
interest in the lease. The transaction is characterized as
a farmout to the assignor and farmin to the assignee.
"field" - An area within a lease or leases where production
of oil, gas and/or condensate has been established and which
has been so designated by the appropriate regulatory
authority.
"gathering facilities" - Pipelines and other facilities used
to collect gas from various wells and bring it by separate
and individual lines to a central point where it is
delivered into a single line.
"gathering gas" - The first taking or the first retaining of
possession of gas for transmission through a pipeline, after
the severance of such gas, and after the passage of such gas
through any separator, drip, trap or meter that may be
located at or near the well. The act of collecting gas after
it has been brought from the earth.
"gathering line" - Pipes used to transport oil or gas from
the lease to the main pipeline in the area. In the case of
oil, the lines run from the lease tanks to a central pump
station at the beginning of the main pipeline. In the case
of gas, the flow is continuous from the well head to the
ultimate consumer, since gas cannot be stored. Gathering
lines collect gas under fluctuating pressures which are then
regulated by regulating stations before the gas is
introduced into trunk or transmission lines.
"gathering system" - The gathering lines, pumps, auxiliary
tanks (in the case of oil), and other equipment used to move
oil or gas from the well site to the main pipeline for
eventual delivery to the refinery or consumer, as the case
may be. In the case of gas, the gathering system includes
the processing plant (if any) in which the gas is prepared
for the market.
"gross/net" - The term "gross" is used when reference is
made, for example, to the total acreage of a lease. The
term "net" is used when reference is made to the working
interest or net revenue interest in a lease of one
particular leaseholder. The same term may be applied to a
leaseholder's interest in reserves and/or production from a
lease.
"held by production" or "HBP" - A provision in a lease to
the effect that such lease will be kept in force as long as
there is production from the lease in paying quantities.
"lease bonus" - A cash payment by the lessee for the
execution of an oil and gas lease by the mineral owner.
"lease" or "leasehold" - An interest for a specified term in
property allowing for the exploration for and production of
oil, gas and/or condensate.
"log" - A record of the formations penetrated by a well,
from which their depth, thickness, rock properties and (if
possible) contents may be obtained.
"Mcf/MMcf/Bcf" - Mcf stands for one thousand cubic feet of
gas, measured at 60 degrees Fahrenheit and at atmospheric
pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch. MMcf stands for one
million cubic feet of gas. Bcf stands for one million Mcf.
"net revenue interest" or "NRI" - The share of revenues to
which the holder of a working interest is entitled upon
fulfilling the obligations, after deduction of all
royalties, overriding royalties or similar burdens,
attributable to his working interest.
"operator" - The person or company having the operational
management responsibility for the drilling of or production
from any oil, gas and/or condensate well.
"overriding royalty" - A form of royalty, entitling the
holder to receive a percentage of oil, gas and/or condensate
produced from the wells on a specified lease, or the
revenues arising from the sale thereof, free of all expenses
arising therefrom, save for production taxes. Generally,
the rights accruing to working interest holders are subject
to the rights of overriding royalty holders and any rights
of overriding royalty holders terminate upon cancellation or
reversion of the underlying lease.
"pay" - The geological deposit in which oil, gas and/or
condensate is found in commercial quantities.
"payout" - Generally, that point in time, determined by
agreement, when a person has recouped his investment in the
drilling, development, equipping and operating of a well or
wells.
"permeability" - A measure of the resistance offered by rock
to the movement of fluids through it.
"porosity" - The volume of the pore spaces between mineral
grains as compared to the total rock volume. Porosity is a
measure of the capacity of rock to hold oil, gas and water.
"prospect" - One lease comprising, or several leases which
together comprise, a geographical area believed to contain
commercial quantities of oil, gas and/or condensate.
"prospective" - A geographical area or structure believed to
contain commercial quantities of oil, gas and/or condensate.
"proved developed reserves" - Reserves that can be expected
to be recovered through existing wells with existing
equipment and operating methods and those reserves that
exist behind the casing of existing wells when the cost of
making such reserves available is relatively small compared
to the cost of a new well.
"proved reserves" - Estimated quantities of crude oil,
condensate, natural gas, and natural gas liquids that
geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable
certainty to be recoverable in future years from known
reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions,
i.e., prices and costs as of the date the estimate is made.
Prices include consideration of changes in existing prices
provided only by contractual arrangements, but not on
escalations based upon future conditions.
"proved undeveloped reserves" - Reserves that are expected
to be recovered from new wells on undrilled acreage, or from
existing wells where a relatively major expenditure is
required for recompletion. Reserves on undrilled acreage
shall be limited to those drilling units offsetting
productive units that are reasonably certain of production
when drilled. Proved reserves for other undrilled units can
be claimed only where it can be demonstrated with certainty
that there is continuity of production from the existing
productive formation. Under no circumstances should
estimates for proved undeveloped reserves be attributable to
any acreage for which an application of fluid injection or
other improved recovery technique is contemplated, unless
such techniques have been proved effective by actual tests
in the areas and in the same reservoir.
"psig" - Pounds per square inch, gauge.
"rental payment" - A sum of money payable to the lessor by
the lessee for the privilege of deferring the commencement
of drilling operations or the commencement of production
during the primary term of the lease.
"reserves" - The estimated value of oil, gas and/or
condensate which is economically recoverable. Reserves may
be categorized as proved, proved developed or proved
undeveloped.
"reservoir" - A porous, permeable, sedimentary rock
containing commercial quantities of oil, gas and/or
condensate.
"salt dome" - A mass or plug of salt which has pushed or
domed up sedimentary beds around it; this type structure is
favorable to oil and gas accumulation.
"sand" - A sedimentary rock consisting mostly of sand
grains.
"shut-in royalty" - A payment made when a gas well, capable
of producing in paying quantities, is shut-in for lack of a
market for the gas.
"structure" - A configuration of subsurface rock formations
considered, on the basis of geological or geographical
interpretation, to be capable of containing a reservoir.
"target depth" - The primary geological formation or depth
identified in an agreement applicable to the relevant well
or wells.
"test well" - An exploratory well.
"tight formation" - A zone of relatively low permeability
and thus low well productivity. Wells in such zones usually
require fracturing or other stimulation. Typically, the
productive capacity of a new well completed in a tight zone
declines rapidly for several months or longer after
completion.
"working interest" or "WI" - An interest in a lease carrying
the obligation to bear a proportion of drilling and
operating costs and the right to receive a proportion of the
production or gross revenues attributable thereto.
"workover" - Remedial operations on a well with the
intention of restoring or increasing production.