Natural Gas

Mcf: one thousand cubic feet of natural gas
Mmcf: one million cubic feet of natural gas
Bcf: one billion cubic feet of natural gas
Tcf: one trillion cubic feet of natural gas
Mmcf/d: millions of cubic feet of gas per day

Energy equivalents

Boe: barrel of oil equivalent (one barrel of oil equals 6,000 cubic feet of natural gas)
Mboe: one thousand barrels of oil equivalent
Mmboe: one million barrels of oil equivalent
Mmcfe: one million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent
Bcfe: one billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent
Tcfe: one trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent

Airlift the Hole - After perforating a well, or anytime you wish to clean debris out of a well, run a pipe down the hole to the plug or bottom of the well bore to blow out any cascading fines that may have come out of the perforations before the well is opened back up to insert the down hole pump, strings, and ARID mandrel, etc

Blow Out - As related to CBM wells, is when the pressure from gas coming out of the coal seam exceeds the pressure of the drilling fluid trying to keep it into the coal seam.

Bugs - The bacteria that are found in some coal beds that help generate the methane gas.

Bull Plugs - Plugging cap that goes on the end of a pipe

Bump The Plug (when cementing) - When cementing well casing into a newly drilled well the cement, once filled into the inside of the well casing receives a wood and rubber plug added lastly, water is then used to push or displace the plug and cement down the casing forcing the cement out of the bottom of the casing and between the casing and the rock. When enough water has displaced the plug to the bottom of the hole the well will pressure-up because the plug can’t fit out of the bottom of the hole, at that instant a resulting pressure bump will occur.

BTU - British Thermal Unit
The amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one Fahrenheit degree. One BTU is equivalent to 252 calories, 0.293 watt-hours or 1,055 joules.

BOP (Blow Out Preventer) - The arrangement of valves at the wellhead to control the flow of oil or natural gas and to prevent blowouts.

CCF - One Hundred Cubic Feet
One CCF is one hundred cubic feet of natural gas at standard distribution pressure of 14.73 pounds per square inch and 60° Fahrenheit.

Carried Interest - An interest a lease owner and operator agree upon which provide exemptions to the lease owner for additional incurred cost associated with drilling and/or lease operations. Example would be if a lease owner had a “Carried Interest to the tanks” that would mean the lease owner had no other expenses except those incurred once the oil or gas got to the tanks (or storage system) so transportation cost, taxes etc. only; no drilling, completion, or operational cost.

CNG - Compressed Natural Gas

Coal Seam Gas (CSG) - another term for Coal Bed Methane (CBM), Natural Gas from Coal (NGC) , Coal bed Gas (CBG).

Coal Mine Methane (CMM) - the methane gas that naturally dissipates from coal mining operations both above and below ground

Completion - The procedure by which a successful well is readied for production.

Compressor station - Stations located along natural gas pipelines which recompress gas to ensure an even flow.

Conventional Resource – Any area where oil and natural gas can be drilled and extracted from the usual geologic formations where these resources typically occur.

Crossover - When gas from a coal seam moves to other geologic formations through a fracture or other means.

Cubic foot - The amount of natural gas required at room temperature at sea level to fill a volume of one cubic foot.

Derrick/Drilling Rig - A steel structure mounted over the borehole to support the drill pipe and other equipment that is lowered and raised during drilling operations.

Directional drilling - A technique that enables drilling at an angle to reach a particular underground formation.

DOE - Department of Energy
A cabinet-level federal agency created in 1977 to replace the Federal Energy Administration. The DOE manages national energy policy, nuclear power and nuclear weapons programs, and the national energy research labs.

Drilling permit - Authorization from a regulatory agency to drill a well.

Drillbit - Tool used in drilling to break up rock mechanically in order to penetrate the subsoil. The bit drills a circular hole.

EIA - Energy Information Administration
An agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. EIA provides energy data, forecasts and analyses.

Flaring - The controlled and safe burning of gas which cannot be used for commercial or technical reasons.

Fracturing or fracing - The pumping of crude oil, diesel, water or chemicals into a reservoir with such force that the reservoir rock is cracked and results in greater flow of oil or gas from the reservoir.

Gas processing plant - A facility which extracts liquefiable hydrocarbons or sulfur from natural gas and/or fractionates a liquid stream.

Gathering - The process of collecting natural gas flowing from numerous wells and bringing it together into pooling areas where it is received into transmission pipelines.

Gathering lines - Pipelines that move natural gas or petroleum from wells to processing or transmission facilities.

GGE - Gasoline Gallon Equivalent

GPM - Gallons per minute

Horizontal drilling - An advanced form of directional drilling in which the lateral hole is drilled horizontally.

Landman - The individual in an oil and gas company or agent who negotiates oil and gas leases with mineral owners, cures title defects and negotiates with other companies on agreements concerning the lease.

LDC - Local Distribution Company

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) - Natural gas that has been cooled into a liquid state so that it takes up only 1/600 of the volume of natural gas.

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - Propane, butane or propane-butane mixtures derived from crude oil refining or natural gas fractionation. For convenience of transportation, these gases are liquefied through pressurization.

Mineral interest - An ownership of the minerals beneath a tract of land. If the surface ownership and the mineral ownership are different, the minerals are said to be or "split," resulting in the term “split estate."

Mud Logs - A record of data produced during the drilling of a well in which the drilling fluid or “Mud” is analyzed to identify rock cuttings, oil & gas content formation changes and other data.

Natural gas - A naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases found in porous rock formations. Its principal component is methane.

Natural gas liquids (NGL) - A general term for liquid products separated from natural gas in a gas processing plant. These include propane, butane, ethane and natural gasoline.

NGV - Natural Gas Vehicle

Operator - The party responsible for exploration, development or production projects.

Outcropping - When an underground seam formation is exposed to the surface usually on hillsides, cliffs or at the land surface.

PC Pump or Progressive Cavity Pump - An above ground motor that turns rods in a circular motion that extends down the well bore to a screw or worm gear called a rotor, the rotor is seated in a hard rubber sleeve called a stator. The turning rods allow the fluids to ride on the rotor like an auger pushing the fluids up to the land surface.

Permeability - A measure of the resistance offered by rock to the movement of fluids through it and is determined by the amount of tiny fractures that connect the entire formation to its self.

Pipeline - A string of interconnected pipe providing a route for natural gas to travel from the wellhead to market. Without pipelines, natural gas cannot be transported and sold at market to provide royalty payments, clean energy and economic benefits to the community.

Plug - A permanent plug, usually cement, set in a borehole to block the flow of fluids, to isolate sections of the well or to permanently plug a dry hole or depleted well.

Plug and Abandon - The process of shutting a well down after production is completed.

Pooling - A term frequently used interchangeably with “unitization;” more properly, it refers to the combining of small or irregular tracts into a unit large enough to meet state spacing regulations for drilling permits. “Unitization” is a term used to describe the combined operations of all or some portion of a producing reservoir.

Porosity - The open space between rock grains or sand grains within a geologic formation, similar to pores in a sponge.

Pressure Test or Integrity Test - Testing a well bore casing with air pressure to insure that the casing will hold pressure.

Processing - The separation of oil, gas and natural gas liquids and the removal of impurities.

Proved Reserves - The quantity of oil or natural gas proven to be recoverable from known fields under existing economic and operating conditions. This is determined on the basis of drilling results, production and historical trends.

Reservoir - Rock suitable for the containment of oil and/or natural gas.

Rod Pumps and Beam Pumps, - Usually considered the same type of pump for pumping fluids, it is a pump that has the motor on the ground surface (rather than down in the well bore). The motor is hooked to a pump by rods that extends down the well bore. The mechanics of a beam pump moves the rods up and down to create a vacuum that draws the fluid into the pump chamber within the well bore, thus with each stroke of the rod, water is pulled up by the vacuum it creates. The Beam portion of the pump is what is commonly seen above ground with a beam over an “A Frame” which the beam rocks like a teeter-totter thus providing the up and down movement of the rods to the pump.

Roustabouts- Surface crew that hooks up the service lines, power, etc to the well head.

Royalty - The share of production or proceeds reserved to a mineral owner under the terms of a mineral lease.

SCF - Standard Cubic Feet

Schmell Units - A small rig that is used to lower or raise down hole equipment in and out of the well bore.

Seismic - A tool for identifying geologic structures underground for the possible accumulations of oil or natural gas. By sending shockwaves and measuring the return of energy a computer process the data and generates cross-sectional maps of the sedimentary structures to assist in planning drilling programs.

Shales Gas - Gas reserves found in unusually nonporous rock, requiring special drilling and completion techniques.

Shut In Well - A well which is producing or capable of producing but is not produced. Reasons for wells being shut in may be lack of pipeline access to market or economically unfavorable market prices.

Soft Coals - Coals that are not usually as deep in the ground, and are under less pressure, they may release gas more readily.

Sound Blanket - A sound blanket or a wall sometimes erected in order to reduce the noise emitted from a drilling rig.

Spacing - The distance between wells allowed by a regulatory body. Spacing is based on what is deemed to be the amount of acreage that can be efficiently and economically drained by a well.

Spud - The commencement of drilling operations.

Swab the Hole - After perforating the well, a soft rubber lift tool is lowered down the well and pushes through the water on its way, when retrieved pulls out the water and sand fines that may have come out of the perforate.

Squeeze - Pumping cement back into a perforation in a well bore to close it off.

Tank Battery - Tank batteries are part of the production equipment installed after a well is completed. They store the oil that is returned from a producing well.

Tight Coals - Coals that don't release gas as readily because permeability is low.

Unconventional Resource - A resource that is developed by the inability to use the typical wisdom or knowledge used by industry to develop a similar commodity. Examples would be Shale Gas, Tight Sand Gas, Coal Bed Methane, Tar Sands, etc.

Wellhead - Equipment fitted to the top of the well, consisting of outlets, valves, gages etc.

Working Interest - The lease owner will bear a percentage of the cost incurred by the operator for the drilling and operation of the production well and for any other wells on there lease.