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Glossary

The following is a description of the meanings of some of the oil and natural gas industry terms used on this website.

3-D seismic. Geophysical data that depict the subsurface strata in three dimensions. 3-D seismic typically provides a more detailed and accurate interpretation of the subsurface strata than 2-D, or two-dimensional, seismic.

AMI. Area of mutual interest.

Basin-centered gas.
A regional abnormally-pressured, gas-saturated accumulation in low-permeability reservoirs lacking a down-dip water contact.

Bbl. One stock tank barrel, or 42 U.S. gallons liquid volume, used on this website in reference to crude oil or other liquid hydrocarbons.

Bbl/d. One Bbl per day.

Bcf. Billion cubic feet of natural gas.

Bcfe.
Billion cubic feet equivalent, determined using the ratio of six Mcf of natural gas to one Bbl of crude oil, condensate or natural gas liquids.

Biogenic gas. Bacteria-generated natural gas usually found at depths of a few hundred to a few thousand feet because it is formed at the low temperatures that accompany the shallow burial and rarely is generated at depths greater that 3,000 feet.

Boe.
Barrels of oil equivalent, with six thousand cubic feet of natural gas being equivalent to one barrel of oil.
Btu or British thermal unit. The quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

Coalbed methane (CBM). Natural gas formed as a byproduct of the coal formation process, which is trapped in coal seams and produced by non-traditional means.

Completion. The process of treating a drilled well followed by the installation of permanent equipment for the production of natural gas or oil, or in the case of a dry hole, the reporting of abandonment to the appropriate agency.

Condensate. Liquid hydrocarbons associated with the production of a primarily natural gas reserve.
Developed acreage. The number of acres that are allocated or assignable to productive wells or wells capable of production.

Development well.
A well drilled into a proved natural gas or oil reservoir to the depth of a stratigraphic horizon known to be productive.

Discontinuous lenticular sands. Sandstone reservoirs that have a limited aerial extent. In general these types of sandstones will be encountered by separate wellbores infrequently in a given area depending on well density. By comparison, a continuous or blanket sandstone may be encountered repeatedly by multiple wellbores in a given area.

Down-dip. The occurrence of a formation at a lower elevation than a nearby area.

Dry hole.
A well found to be incapable of producing hydrocarbons in sufficient quantities such that proceeds from the sale of such production exceed production expenses and taxes.

Environmental Assessment (EA). An environmental assessment, a study that can be required pursuant to federal law prior to drilling a well.

Exploratory well. A well drilled to find and produce natural gas or oil reserves not classified as proved, to find a new reservoir in a field previously found to be productive of natural gas or oil in another reservoir or to extend a known reservoir.

Farm-in or farm-out.
An agreement under which the owner of a working interest in a natural gas and oil lease assigns the working interest or a portion of the working interest to another party who desires to drill on the leased acreage. Generally, the assignee is required to drill one or more wells in order to earn its interest in the acreage. The assignor usually retains a royalty or reversionary interest in the lease. The interest received by an assignee is a "farm-in" while the interest transferred by the assignor is a "farm-out".

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

Finding and Development Costs.
Capital costs incurred in the acquisition, exploitation and exploration of proved oil and natural gas reserves divided by proved reserve additions and revisions to proved reserves.
Fractured shale gas. Gas that is present in fractures in a formation consisting mostly of shale.
Gross acres or gross wells. The total acres or wells, as the case may be, in which a working interest is owned.

Horizontal re-entry well.
A new well in which a pre-existing wellbore is used as the starting point of a new horizontal borehole. Drilling a horizontal re-entry well typically involves milling a hole in the casing of the pre-existing wellbore and drilling hundreds or thousands of feet from the pre- existing wellbore.

Identified drilling locations.
Total gross locations specifically identified and scheduled by management as an estimation of the Company's multi-year drilling activities on existing acreage. The Company's actual drilling activities may change depending on the availability of capital, regulatory approvals, seasonal restrictions, natural gas and oil prices, costs, drilling results and other factors.

Infill drilling.
The drilling of wells between established producing wells on a lease to increase reserves or productive capacity from the reservoir.

MBbls. Thousand barrels of crude oil or other liquid hydrocarbons.

Mcf. Thousand cubic feet of natural gas.

Mcf/d.
One Mcf per day.

Mcfe. Thousand cubic feet equivalent, determined using the ratio of six Mcf of natural gas to one Bbl of crude oil, condensate or natural gas liquids.

MMBbls. Million barrels of crude oil or other liquid hydrocarbons.

MMboe. One million barrels of oil equivalent.

MMBtu. Million British Thermal Units.

MMcf.
Million cubic feet of natural gas.

MMcf/d.
One MMcf per day.

MMcfe.
Million cubic feet equivalent, determined using the ratio of six Mcf of natural gas to one Bbl of crude oil, condensate or natural gas liquids.

MMcfe/d. One MMcfe per day.

Net acres or net wells.
The sum of the fractional working interest owned in gross acres or gross wells, as the case may be.

Overpressured.
A subsurface formation that exerts an abnormally high formation pressure on a wellbore drilled into it.

PDNP.
Proved developed nonproducing.

PDP. Proved developed producing.

Plugging and abandonment
. Refers to the sealing off of fluids in the strata penetrated by a well so that the fluids from one stratum will not escape into another or to the surface. Regulations of all states require plugging of abandoned wells.

PUD. Proved undeveloped.

Present value of future net revenues (PV-10). The present value of estimated future revenues to be generated from the production of proved reserves, before income taxes, of proved reserves calculated in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board guidelines, net of estimated production and future development costs, using prices and costs as of the date of estimation without future escalation, without giving effect to hedging activities, non-property related expenses such as general and administrative expenses, debt service and depreciation, depletion and amortization, and discounted using an annual discount rate of 10%.

Productive well. A well that is found to be capable of producing hydrocarbons in sufficient quantities such that proceeds from the sale of the production exceed production expenses and taxes.

Prospect.
A specific geographic area which, based on supporting geological, geophysical or other data and also preliminary economic analysis using reasonably anticipated prices and costs, is deemed to have potential for the discovery of commercial hydrocarbons.

Proved developed reserves (PDP).
Reserves that can be expected to be recovered through existing wells with existing equipment and operating methods.

Proved reserves. The estimated quantities of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids which geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be commercially recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions.

Proved undeveloped reserves (PUD).
Proved 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.
PV-10. Present value of future net revenues.

Recompletion.
The process of re-entering an existing wellbore that is either producing or not producing and completing new reservoirs in an attempt to establish or increase existing production.

Reservoir. A porous and permeable underground formation containing a natural accumulation of producible natural gas and/or oil that is confined by impermeable rock or water barriers and is separate from other reservoirs.

Standardized Measure.
The present value of estimated future cash inflows from proved natural gas and oil reserves, less future development and production costs and future income tax expenses, discounted at 10% per annum to reflect timing of future cash flows and using the same pricing assumptions as were used to calculate PV-10. Standardized Measure differs from PV-10 because Standardized Measure includes the effect of future income taxes.

Stratigraphic play.
An oil or natural gas formation contained within an area created by permeability and porosity changes characteristic of the alternating rock layer that result from the sedimentation process.
Structural play. An oil or natural gas formation contained within an area created by earth movements that deform or rupture (such as folding or faulting) rock strata.

Tight gas sands.
A formation with low permeability that produces natural gas with very low flow rates for long periods of time.

Undeveloped acreage. Lease acreage on which wells have not been drilled or completed to a point that would permit the production of commercial quantities of natural gas and oil regardless of whether such acreage contains proved reserves.

Working interest.
The operating interest that gives the owner the right to drill, produce and conduct operating activities on the property and receive a share of production and requires the owner to pay a share of the costs of drilling and production operations.

 

 

 

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