85 percent ethanol mixed withe 15 percent gasoline. But only about 5 million "flexible-fuel" cars that can run on E-85 have been produced, out of about 238 million vehicles in use in the United States.

Exploration and Production

Similar to right of way - use of an area of land for a specific purpose.

An interest in mineral(s) in place which the owner has acquired by investment, and secures income derived from the extraction of the mineral(s) to which the owner must look for a return on capital.

Equal daily quantities.  An average daily volume used for pricing crude oil, by allocating volumes from multiple run tickets in a month.

Exclusive Economic Zone

Energy Information Administration

The right of government to seize private land for public use for the good of the community.

The person who designs wells and attempts to maximize production.

An method used to drive oil from reservoirs into a well in excess of that which may be produced through natural reservoir pressure, energy, or drive (primary recovery).  (See Secondary and Tertiary Recovery).

Amount of gas that an owner should receive from production in a period- used for gas balancing.

Valuable NGL products produced in a gas plant.

Avoiding physically shipping oil by swapping with another producer at a different place or time.

An owner whose interest is exempt when calculating production, severance, or ad valorem taxes.  Usually a government interest is exempt.

Engineering related to subsurface geology, the recovery of fluids from reservoirs, and the drilling and development of oil and gas reserves.

Costs incurred in identifying areas that may warrant examination, and in examining specific areas, including drilling exploratory wells and exploratory stratigraphic type test wells.  

Permission granted by landowners allowing others to enter upon their property for the purpose of conducting geological and geophysical surveys.

A well drilled to find and produce oil or gas in an unproved area, to find a new reservoir in a field previously found to be productive in another reservoir, or to extend a known reservoir.

Additional term tacked onto a lease.

Transfer of all or part of the operating rights from the working interest owner to an assignee, who assumes all or some of the burden of development, in return for an interest in the property.  The assignor usually retains an overriding royalty but may retain any type of interest.

Oil and gas traps formed by the breaking and shearing of strata resulting from significant moving shifting of the earth's surface.

The ownership of both surface and mineral rights.

The most complete title one can have in a property.

Piperlines that collect production from more than one location and bring it to a trunkline.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

An area consisting of a single reservoir or multiple reservoirs all grouped on or related to the same individual geologic structural feature and/or stratigraphic feature.

A well drilled just outside the proved limits of a reservoir.  Also known as a delineation well.

Oil and gas production equipment serving more than one lease, e.g., separator, extraction unit, etc.

Treating oil or gas before it is delivered to a gas plant or refinery.

The costs of adding proved reserves of oil and natural gas through exploration and development activities and the purchase of properties that contain reserves.

An earthen dike built around an oil tank to contain the petroleum if the tank ruptures.

The initial party to purchase crude oil and natural gas through exploration and development activities and the purchase of properties that contain reserves.

Any object accidentally dropped or stuck in the wellbore during drilling, completion, or workover operations.  Operations to recover the object are called fishing.

Something that was formerly personal property that had become so attached to real property as to become part of it.

To burn unmarketable gas from a lease.

High BTU content gas that is vented from a low-pressure separator.

Prevents the blockages of pipelines from hydrates, waxes, asphaltenes, and sand.

(1) a circular paper chart that records metered gas differential pressure and static pressure, used to determine gas volume flowing through the meter or (2) a schematic of how gas flows from point to point.

Pipes carrying produced emulsion (oil, gas, or water) from wells to lease treatment and storage facilities.

The tank into which oil is stored after being produced.

A piece of equipment which separates oil and gas, heats oil, and treats oil and water.

A well that lifts oil and gas to the surface with natural reservoir pressure.

Inducing gas or liquids into a reservoir to move oil toward the well bore.

The large flow of production initially made by a well immediately after being drilled.

A well drilling contract which provides for payment at a specified price per foot for drilling to a certain depth.

A lease or contract provision whereby the lessee is not in violation of the lease or contract in the event the lessee is incapable of fulfilling the lease or contract terms due to conditions or events beyond the lessee's control.

A bed or deposit composed substantially of the same minerals throughout.

Bottom hole pressure of a shut-in-well.

The testing of a formation to determine its potential productivity before installing casing in a well.

A procedure (fracing or frac job) to stimulate production by forcing under high pressure a mixture of fluid (usually diesel oil or water) and proppant (usually sand) into the formation.  Fracing creates artificial fractures in the reservoir rock to increase permeability and porosity.  The size of the frac job is expressed in terms of the pounds of proppant used (which might range from 20,000 to 1,000,000 pounds of sand).

Right of the Landowner to use hydrocarbon produced for his own purpose.

A form of sharing arrangement in which one party drills one or more wells completely free of costs to a second party in return for some type of economic interest in property.

Future contract term for the next month.

Fuel blending is the mixing of various partially processed hydrocarbons.

Oil that is heavily distilled in the refining process and often used for supplying energy to factories and power stations.

The full cost method of accounting, a concept under which all costs incurred in searching for, acquiring, and developing oil and gas reserves are capitalized.

A derivative in which a set quantity of a commodity is contracted to be delivered to a certain location on a certain date in the future for a certain price.