E - F
Written by Brandy Burch
Updated at February 25th, 2025
E
E-85
85 percent ethanol mixed withe 15 percent gasoline. But only about 5 million "flexible-fuel" cars that can run on E-85 have been produced, out of about 238 million vehicles in use in the United States.
E&P
Exploration and Production
Easement
Similar to right of way - use of an area of land for a specific purpose.
Economic Interest
An interest in mineral(s) in place which the owner has acquired by investment, and secures income derived from the extraction of the mineral(s) to which the owner must look for a return on capital.
EDQ
Equal daily quantities. An average daily volume used for pricing crude oil, by allocating volumes from multiple run tickets in a month.
EEZ
Exclusive Economic Zone
EIA
Energy Information Administration
Eminent Domain
The right of government to seize private land for public use for the good of the community.
Engineer
The person who designs wells and attempts to maximize production.
Enhanced Recovery
An method used to drive oil from reservoirs into a well in excess of that which may be produced through natural reservoir pressure, energy, or drive (primary recovery). (See Secondary and Tertiary Recovery).
Entitled Volume
Amount of gas that an owner should receive from production in a period- used for gas balancing.
Ethane, Propane, Butane
Valuable NGL products produced in a gas plant.
Exchanging
Avoiding physically shipping oil by swapping with another producer at a different place or time.
Exempt Owner
An owner whose interest is exempt when calculating production, severance, or ad valorem taxes. Usually a government interest is exempt.
Exploitation Engineering
Engineering related to subsurface geology, the recovery of fluids from reservoirs, and the drilling and development of oil and gas reserves.
Exploration Costs
Costs incurred in identifying areas that may warrant examination, and in examining specific areas, including drilling exploratory wells and exploratory stratigraphic type test wells.
Exploration Rights
Permission granted by landowners allowing others to enter upon their property for the purpose of conducting geological and geophysical surveys.
Exploratory Well
A well drilled to find and produce oil or gas in an unproved area, to find a new reservoir in a field previously found to be productive in another reservoir, or to extend a known reservoir.
Extension
Additional term tacked onto a lease.
F
Farmout
Transfer of all or part of the operating rights from the working interest owner to an assignee, who assumes all or some of the burden of development, in return for an interest in the property. The assignor usually retains an overriding royalty but may retain any type of interest.
Faults
Oil and gas traps formed by the breaking and shearing of strata resulting from significant moving shifting of the earth's surface.
Fee Interest
The ownership of both surface and mineral rights.
Fee Simple
The most complete title one can have in a property.
Feeder Lines
Piperlines that collect production from more than one location and bring it to a trunkline.
FERC
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Field
An area consisting of a single reservoir or multiple reservoirs all grouped on or related to the same individual geologic structural feature and/or stratigraphic feature.
Field Exploratory Well
A well drilled just outside the proved limits of a reservoir. Also known as a delineation well.
Field Facility
Oil and gas production equipment serving more than one lease, e.g., separator, extraction unit, etc.
Field Processing
Treating oil or gas before it is delivered to a gas plant or refinery.
Finding Cost
The costs of adding proved reserves of oil and natural gas through exploration and development activities and the purchase of properties that contain reserves.
Fire Wall
An earthen dike built around an oil tank to contain the petroleum if the tank ruptures.
First Purchaser
The initial party to purchase crude oil and natural gas through exploration and development activities and the purchase of properties that contain reserves.
Fish
Any object accidentally dropped or stuck in the wellbore during drilling, completion, or workover operations. Operations to recover the object are called fishing.
Fixture
Something that was formerly personal property that had become so attached to real property as to become part of it.
Flare
To burn unmarketable gas from a lease.
Flash Gas
High BTU content gas that is vented from a low-pressure separator.
Flow Assurance
Prevents the blockages of pipelines from hydrates, waxes, asphaltenes, and sand.
Flow Chart
(1) a circular paper chart that records metered gas differential pressure and static pressure, used to determine gas volume flowing through the meter or (2) a schematic of how gas flows from point to point.
Flow Lines
Pipes carrying produced emulsion (oil, gas, or water) from wells to lease treatment and storage facilities.
Flow Tank
The tank into which oil is stored after being produced.
Flow Treater
A piece of equipment which separates oil and gas, heats oil, and treats oil and water.
Flowing Well
A well that lifts oil and gas to the surface with natural reservoir pressure.
Fluid Injection
Inducing gas or liquids into a reservoir to move oil toward the well bore.
Flush Production
The large flow of production initially made by a well immediately after being drilled.
Footage Drilling Contract
A well drilling contract which provides for payment at a specified price per foot for drilling to a certain depth.
Force Majeure Clause
A lease or contract provision whereby the lessee is not in violation of the lease or contract in the event the lessee is incapable of fulfilling the lease or contract terms due to conditions or events beyond the lessee's control.
Formation
A bed or deposit composed substantially of the same minerals throughout.
Formation Pressure
Bottom hole pressure of a shut-in-well.
Formation Testing
The testing of a formation to determine its potential productivity before installing casing in a well.
Fracturing
A procedure (fracing or frac job) to stimulate production by forcing under high pressure a mixture of fluid (usually diesel oil or water) and proppant (usually sand) into the formation. Fracing creates artificial fractures in the reservoir rock to increase permeability and porosity. The size of the frac job is expressed in terms of the pounds of proppant used (which might range from 20,000 to 1,000,000 pounds of sand).
Free Resource Use
Right of the Landowner to use hydrocarbon produced for his own purpose.
Free Well Agreement
A form of sharing arrangement in which one party drills one or more wells completely free of costs to a second party in return for some type of economic interest in property.
Front Month
Future contract term for the next month.
Fuel Blending/Preparation
Fuel blending is the mixing of various partially processed hydrocarbons.
Fuel Oils
Oil that is heavily distilled in the refining process and often used for supplying energy to factories and power stations.
Full Cost
The full cost method of accounting, a concept under which all costs incurred in searching for, acquiring, and developing oil and gas reserves are capitalized.
Futures Contract
A derivative in which a set quantity of a commodity is contracted to be delivered to a certain location on a certain date in the future for a certain price.