Accountability - responsibility to someone for a particular activity. Everyone is accountable for delivering specific results or products as part of their job.
Annual Allowance - an amount of moneyprovided to employees in certain locations; provides employees with theflexibility to use the allowance in the manner most meaningful to them, ratherthan the Company specifying how it is to be used.
Approval Matrices - defines anindividual's range of spending authority to purchase goods or services on behalfof the Company, and indicates when a supervisor's approval is required.
Battery - a place where oil is collected from various pipelines.
Benchmark - a standard point of reference by which something can bemeasured or judged.
Best Practice - a process, practice or solution judgedas the ultimate way to reach a goal or result; held up as a model to be learnedfrom or followed.
Bitumen - petroleum in semi-solid or solid forms. Requiresunconventional production methods such as mining or steam assisted gravitydrainage.
Business unit - segment of the Company with operationsfocused on a specific area of expertise or geography.
Coalbed Methane (CBM) - a sweet natural gas found in coal and used for home heating, natural gas-fired electrical generation and as an industrial fuel.
Code of Conduct - policies defining the manner in which anorganization, employees, contractors and service providers are expected toconduct business.
Common Share - an ownership stake in the Company. Acommon share of a publicly traded company can be bought or sold at the currentmarket price on the stock exchange(s) where it is listed, e.g., New York.
Compressor Site - a field location comprised of one ormore compressor stations.
Compressor Station - a location on the system where the pressure of the gas isincreased so the transportation of the gas can continue. Basic hydraulic theoryfor the transportation of gas is that gas will naturally flow from higherpressure locations to lower pressure locations. The actual increase in pressurehappens inside compressor units. A station may have one or more units arrangedin parallel or in a series. Additional units in parallel increase the allowableamount of flow while maintaining a pressure increase. Additional units in aseries increase the allowable pressure while supporting the same flow.Compressing gas increases the volume.
Contractor - independent incorporated businessentities engaged to perform services for a Company. Services and deliverablesare outlined in a written agreement between the entity and Company. Individualsperforming the services are engaged by the business entity, which provides thebusiness infrastructure to manage its workforce. Contractors can be companiesfrom whom the organization has selected one or more specific individuals toperform a service (e.g. professional or technical specialists, temporarystaffing agencies), or companies selected to perform a service withoutspecifying the individuals who will provide the service (i.e. service providerssuch as services for drilling, completions and workovers). The term contractorcan refer to the business entity or an individual it employs.
Control Valve - a physical device that can regulate orcontrol the flow within a pipeline, or upstream or downstream pressure.
Core Competencies - the areas ofexpertise on which a business is built, those tasks or deliverables for which acompany is considered expert. An individual's competencies are those attributesthat make up their expertise or suitability to a particular job.
Crude Oil – petroleum found in liquid form, flowing naturally orcapable of being pumped without further processing or dilution.
Delineation Well - a well drilled just outside the proved area of an oil or gas reservoir in an attempt to extend the known boundaries of the reservoir.
Development Well - a well drilledwithin the area of an oil or gas reservoir known to be productive. Developmentwells are relatively low risk.
Discount Rate – the rate at which a series of futurecash flows are discounted in order to determine their present value.
Downstream - closer to the point of sale than to thepoint of production.
Downstream Sector - the refining andmarketing sector of the petroleum industry.
Dry Hole - a well found to be incapable of producing oil or gas insufficient quantities to justify completion.
eBusiness - a means of doing business that uses electronic technologies, such as EDI (Electronic Data Interface), the internet, and web-based supply chain integration, to the benefit of the Company.
Employee - an individual on the Company's payroll.
Established Reserves - the portion of thediscovered resource base that is estimated to be recoverable using knowntechnology under present and anticipated economic conditions. Includes provedplus a portion of probable (usually 50%).
Exploitation - various methods of optimizing oil andgas production or establishing additional reserves from producing propertiesthrough additional drilling or the application of new technology.
Exploration - the act of searching for new,undiscovered oil and gas resources.
Exploratory Well - a well drilled inan unproved area, either to find a new oil or gas reservoir or to extend aknown reservoir. Sometimes referred to as a wildcat.
Field - a geographical area under which one or more oil or gas reservoirs lie.
Firewall - a set of technologies used for security that allow theCompany to test, filter and route all incoming internet messages.
Flaring/Venting - controlled burning (flare) or release(vent) of natural gas that can't be processed for sale or use because oftechnical or economic reasons.
Flow-Through Evaluation - an approach toproject economic evaluation that assumes taxes payable are calculated on acorporate basis that allows a project to take maximum tax deductions.Flow-through evaluations are required for large projects that require corporateimpact analysis.
Flow Rate - the amount of volume per unit of time that is moving onthe pipeline system.
Fracture, Refracture - the process ofapplying hydraulic pressure to an oil or gas bearing geological formation tocrack the formation and stimulate the release of oil and gas.
Gross Acres - the total acres covered by a lease.
Horizontal Drilling - drilling a well that deviates from the vertical and travels horizontally through a producing layer.
Increased Density/Infill Well - a well drilled in addition to the number of wells permitted under initial spacing regulations,used to enhance or accelerate recovery, or prevent the loss of proved reserves.
Internal Rate of Return (IRR) - after tax rate ofreturn for the project life, at which net present value (NPV) equals zero
Market Capitalization - value of a corporation as determined by the market price of its issued and outstanding common stock. It is calculated by multiplying the number of outstanding shares by the current market price of a share.
Market Price - last reported traded price (if on anexchange) of a share, or its current bid and ask prices (if over-the-counter);i.e., the price as determined by buyers and sellers in an open market. Alsocalled market value.
Meter Station - a pipeline location with metering ormeasuring of gas flow as its primary function.
Midstream - the processing, storage and transportation sector of thepetroleum industry.
Miscible Flooding - an oil-recoveryprocess in which a fluid, capable of mixing completely with the oil itcontacts, is injected into an oil reservoir to increase recovery.
Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) - liquid hydrocarbons that are extracted and separated during natural gas production. NGL productsinclude ethane, propane, butane and natural gasoline.
Net Acres - Company's working interest times the total acres coveredby a lease.
Netback - Linkage of the price of crude oil to the market price ofproducts refined from it.
Net Present Value (NPV) - sum of alldiscounted after-tax cash flows, including capital costs. Often reported for0%, 9%, and 15% discount rate.
Oil sands - a complex mix of sand, water and clay trapping very heavy oil known as bitumen.
Onshore - exploration and production taking place on land.
Policy - A clear and concise statement by the organization's executive leadership indicating the Corporation's intentions, principles and performance expectations relative to the Corporate Constitution and to its legal, regulatory, legislative, social and/or governance responsibilities.
Practice - A universally applied standard defining the Corporation'sexecution expectations relative to one or more corporate policies.
Profit Investment Ratio (PIR) - Net Present Valuedivided by discounted capital investment. Reported for 0% and 9% discountrates.
Proved Reserves - estimates of oil, gas and NGL quantitiesthought to be recoverable from known reservoirs under existing economic andoperating conditions.
P Mean - the expected average value or risk-weighted average of allpossible outcomes.
P90 - the outcome for which the probability of occurrence ofthat value or greater is 90%. Nine times out of 10 the actual value is expectedto be larger.
P10 - the outcome for which the probability of occurrence ofthat value or greater is 10 percent. The actual value is expected to be largeronly one time out of 10.
Recavitate - the process of applying pressure surgeson the coal formation at the bottom of a well in order to increase fracturing,enlarge the bottomhole cavity and thereby increase gas production.
Recompletion - the modification of an existing well forthe purpose of producing oil or gas from a different producing formation.
Resource Play - a term used to describe an accumulationof hydrocarbons known to exist over a large area expanse and/or thick verticalsection, which when compared to a conventional play, typically has a lowergeological and/or commercial development risk and lower average decline rate.
Royalty - the owner's share of the value of minerals (oil and gas)produced on the property.
Seismic - a tool for identifying underground accumulations of oil or gas by sending energy waves or sound waves into the earth and recording the wave reflections. Results indicate the type, size, shape and depth of subsurface rock formations. 2-D seismic provides two-dimensional information while 3-D creates three-dimensional pictures. 4-C, or four-component, seismic is a developing technology that utilizes measurement and interpretation of shear wave data. 4-C seismic improves the resolution of seismic images below shallow gas deposits.
Service Providers - a subset of contractors, service providers are independent incorporated business entities engaged to provide services to a Company. Services and deliverables are outlined in a written agreement between the entity and Company. Individuals performing the services are engaged by the business entity, which provides the business infrastructure to manage its workforce. Service providers are generally companies selected to perform a service without specifying the individuals who will provide the service (e.g. services for drilling,completions and workovers). Service providers may conduct their work onsite at Company facilities or offsite from their own facilities.
Severance Tax – a tax imposed upon nonrenewable naturalresources that are removed from the earth.
Sour Gas - natural gas at the wellhead may contain hydrogen sulphide(H2S), a toxic compound. Natural gas that contains more than 1% of H2S iscalled sour gas.
Stakeholders - people with an interest in theactivities of the oil and gas industry are considered stakeholders. They mayinclude landowners, municipalities, recreational land users, other industries,environmental groups, governments and regulators.
Station - remote pipeline facility including meter stations,compression stations, block valve sites, and control valve sites.
Steam Injection - a recovery technique in which steam isinjected into a reservoir to reduce the viscosity of the crude oil.
Supplier - an organization that offers goods or services to apurchaser and may recommend opportunities for savings and improvements.Examples of suppliers include companies that sell pipe, valves and fittings,coiled tubing services or steel products.
Sweet Oil and Gas - petroleumcontaining little or no hydrogen sulfide.
Take-In-Kind - used to denote that a royalty may bepaid/received in product (e.g. oil or gas) rather than fiscally.
Tight Gas - gas found in sedimentary rock that is cemented together sotight that flow rates are very low. Extracting tight gas usually requiresenhanced technology like"hydraulic fracturing" where fluid is pumpedinto the ground to make it more permeable.
Undeveloped Acreage - lease acreage onwhich wells have not been drilled or completed to a point that would permit theproduction of commercial quantities of oil or gas.
Upstream - companies who explore for, develop and produce petroleumresources are known as the upstream sector of the petroleum industry.
Valve - a physical device that can regulate or control the flow ofoil or gas on a pipeline.
Vendor - a supplier that can arrange to offer specified goods on apre-determined schedule. Examples of vendors include companies that sell officepaper or safety supplies.
Wildcat - a well drilled in an area where no oil or gas productionexists.
Workover - the process of conducting remedial work, such as cleaningout a well bore, to increase or restore production.