Glossary

Commonly Used Terms

Bitumen		Bitumen is petroleum in a solid or semi-solid state in natural deposits with a viscosity greater than 10,000 centipoise measured at original temperature in the deposit and atmospheric pressure, on a gas-free basis. In its natural state, it usually contains sulphur, metals and other non-hydrocarbons
Carbonate		Sedimentary rock, primarily composed of calcium carbonate (limestone) or calcium magnesium carbonate (dolomite), which forms many petroleum reservoirs
Capital Expenditures		Includes capitalized administrative expenses but does not include proceeds, other assets or capitalized interest
Capital Program		Capital expenditures not including capitalized administrative expenses or capitalized interest
Coalbed Methane		Methane (CH4), the principal component of natural gas, is adsorbed in the pores of coal seams
Cogeneration		The production of electricity and thermal energy from a common fuel source. Heat left over from industrial processes can be used to power an electric generator and conversely, surplus heat from an electric generator can be used for industrial or heating purposes
Decommissioning		The ending of operations and the withdrawal of a facility from service, followed by its transformation into an out-of-service state and eventually, its complete removal
Differentials		Discounts paid for Canadian heavy oil against benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil
Feedstock		Raw materials which are processed into petroleum products
FPSO		Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel
Front-End Engineering Design		Preliminary engineering and design planning, which among other things, identifies project objectives, scope, alternatives, specifications, risks, costs, schedule and economics
Glory Hole		An excavation in the seabed where wellheads and other equipment are situated for protection from scouring icebergs
Gross/ Net Acres/ Wells		Gross refers to the total number of acres/wells in which a working interest is owned. Net refers to the sum of the fractional working interests owned by a company
Gross Reserves/ Production		A company's working interest share of reserves/production before deduction of royalties
Natural gas to oil conversion		Natural gas is converted on the basis that six mcf of natural gas equals one barrel of oil
NYMEX		New York Mercantile Exchange
OPEC		Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Polymer Flooding		The addition of polymers to injected water to improve mobility ratios and increase oil recovery
Reserves		Reserves are estimated remaining quantities of oil and natural gas and related substances anticipated to be recoverable from known accumulations, as of a given date, based on the analysis of drilling, geological, geophysical, and engineering data; the use of established technology; and specified economic conditions, which are generally accepted as being reasonable
Proved Reserves		Reserves that can be estimated with a high degree of certainty to be recoverable. It is likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will exceed the estimated proved reserves
Probable Reserves		Additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than proved reserves. It is equally likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will be greater or less than the sum of the estimated proved + probable reserves
Possible Reserves		Additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than probable reserves. It is unlikely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will exceed the sum of the estimated proved + probable + possible reserves
Developed Reserves		Reserves that are expected to be recovered from existing wells and installed facilities or, if facilities have not been installed, that would involve a low expenditure (e.g., when compared to the cost of drilling a well) to put the reserves on production. The developed category may be subdivided into producing and non-producing
Developed Producing Reserves		Reserves that are expected to be recovered from completion intervals open at the time of the estimate. These reserves may be currently producing or, if shut in, they must have previously been on production, and the date resumption of production must be known with reasonable certainty
Developed Non-Producing Reserves		Reserves that either have not been on production, or have previously been on production but are shut in and the date of resumption of production is unknown
Undeveloped Reserves		Reserves expected to be recovered from known accumulations where a significant expenditure (e.g., when compared to the cost of drilling a well) is required to render them capable of production. They must fully meet the requirements of the reserves category (proved, probable, possible) to which they are assigned
Restoration		The physical reclamation process involving re-contouring, replacing topsoil, and re-vegetating to restore the surface of the land to its equivalent land capability
Remediation		The decontamination of soil and or water to provide protection to human and environmental health
SAGD		Steam-assisted gravity drainage technology used in extracting bitumen from the oil sands
SEDAR		System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval
Seismic		A method by which the physical attributes in the outer rock shell of the earth are determined by measuring, with a seismograph, the rate of transmission of shock waves through the various rock formations
WCSB		Western Canada Sedimentary Basin
Wildcat well		Exploratory well drilled in an area where no production exists
WTI		West Texas Intermediate

Units of Measurement

bbls		barrels
bcf		billion cubic feet
boe		barrels of oil equivalent
bps		basis points
GJ		gigajoule
hectare		land area: One hectare is equal to 2.47 acres
mbbls		thousand barrels
mbbls/day		thousand barrels per day
mboe		thousand barrels of oil equivalent
mboe/day		thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day
mcf		thousand cubic feet
mcfge		thousand cubic feet of gas equivalent
mmbbls		million barrels
mmboe		million barrels of oil equivalent
mmbtu		million British Thermal Units
mmcf		million cubic feet
mmcf/day		million cubic feet per day
mmlt		million long tons
MW		megawatt
MWh		megawatt-hour
tcf		trillion cubic feet