API - American Petroleum Institute

API gravity - The industry standard method of expressing specific gravity of crude oils. Higher API gravities mean lower specific gravity and lighter oils.

APO - After Payout

ASTM - American Society for Testing Material which establishes many of the technical standards used in the oil industry

Associated gas - Gas occurring in combination with crude oil, as distinct from gas occurring separately or manufactured from crude oil.

Bbl - Barrel

Bbls/d - Barrels per day

Bcf - Billion cubic feet

Boe - Barrel(s) of oil equivalent

BPO - Before Payout

Boe/d - Barrel(s) of oil equivalent per day

Barrel - A measurement used in the oil industry for a unit of volume of oil or oil products equivalent to 158.978 litres or 42 US gallons. Abbreviated to "bbl".

Barrels per day - A unit of measurement used in the industry for the production rates of oil fields, pipelines, and transportation. Abbreviated to "bpd", "b/d" or "bbl/d".

Condensate - A term used to describe light liquid hydrocarbons separated from crude oil after production and sold separately.

Crude oil - A mineral oil consisting of a mixture of hydrocarbons of natural origin, yellow to black in colour, of variable specific gravity and viscosity

Distillation - The first stage in the refining process in which crude oil is heated and unfinished petroleum products are initially separated.

Downstream - The oil industry term used to refer to all petroleum activities from the processing of refining crude oil into petroleum products to the distribution, marketing, and shipping of the products. The opposite of downstream is upstream.

Hydrocarbons - Compounds containing only the hydrogen and carbon atoms. May be in solid, liquid or gaseous form.

Mbbl - Thousands of barrels

Mboe - Thousand barrels of oil equivalent

Mmboe - Million barrels of oil equivalent

Mcf - Thousand cubic feet

Mcf/d - Thousand cubic feet per day

Mmcf - Million cubic feet

Mmcf/d - Million cubic feet per day

Natural gas - Petroleum in gaseous form consisting of light hydrocarbons often found in association with oil. Methane is the most dominant component.

OOIP - Original Oil In Place.

Operator - Term used to describe a company appointed by venture stake holders to take primary responsibility for day-to-day operations for a specific plant or activity.

Petrochemicals - Chemicals such as ethylene, propylene and benzene that are derived from petroleum

Polymerisation - Refining process which uses low temperature reforming to increase the octane value of gasoline

Pour point - The ability of crude oil to flow at low temperatures.

Refining - Refining is the process of converting crude oil into usable fuel products. A full description of refining and refining processes is available.

Refining margins - Refining margins are the difference in value between the products produced by a refinery and the value of the crude oil used to produce them. Refining margins will thus vary from refinery to refinery and depend on the price and characteristics of the crude used.

Reserves - An economically recoverable quantity of crude oil or gas.

Sour crude oil - Crude oil with a high sulphur content.

Specific gravity - A measure of thedensity of a material usually obtained by comparing it with water.

Sweet crude oil - Crude oil with a low sulphur content.

Synfuels - Synthetically petroleum products produced from coal, or natural gas.

Terminal - Plant and equipment designed to receive and process crude oil or gas to remove water and impurities.

Topping - The primary distillation phase of a refinery process, and by derivation, the type of refinery and its yield of products

Throughput - The total amount of raw materials processed by a refinery or other plant in a given period.

Upstream - The processes of exploring for oil; developing oil fields; and producing oil from the oil fields. The opposite of upstream is downstream.

Viscosity - The resistance to flow

WTI - West Texas Intermediate

NOTE: Units of natural gas are converted into barrels of oil equivalent at a ratio of six thousand cubic feet of natural gas to one barrel of oil.