Abandoned Well	: A well not in use because it was a dry hole originally, or because it has ceased to produce. Statutes and regulations in many states require the plugging of abandoned wells to prevent the seepage of oil, gas, or water from one stratum of underlying rock to another.
Abandonment	: The termination of deliveries under a sales contract which is certified under the Natural Gas Policy Act.
Abandonment Period	: The period of time prescribed by each jurisdiction after which a particular type of unclaimed property (unclaimed wages, mineral proceeds, etc.) is presumed abandoned or unclaimed by the particular jurisdiction. The abandonment period generally commences from the date the property was payable or distributable.
Abstract of Title	: A chronological history of the ownership or important events affecting a particular piece of property. In formal usage, a document prepared by an abstract or title company and certified by the preparer to contain all pertinent information or copies of all documents affecting title to a given piece of property.
Accredited Petroleum Accountant (A.P.A)	: A designation developed by the Council of Petroleum Accountants Societies (COPAS) to provide an independent source of recognition of achievement for petroleum industry accountants. To earn the A.P.A. designation, a candidate must meet the eligibility requirements as specified by the COPAS Board of Examiners, complete the required course of study and successfully pass the examinations for all eight sections (Operations, Law, Financial Reporting, Revenue, Joint Interest, Managerial, Tax, and Audit) of the program.
Acidizing	: A procedure in which acid (hydrochloric acid usually) is pumped into a reservoir to dissolve calcite so that increased flow from the reservoir will occur.
Acknowledgment (Of Documents)	: A sworn, notarized statement wherein a person swears that he signed "for the purpose and consideration therein expressed, and in the capacity therein stated." An acknowledgment is a reinforcing statement in which the signer declares that he accepts the terms of the instrument. Acknowledgment is required for legal validity of some documents; on others it is optional.
Acre	: A measure of land 43,560 square feet. The primary measurement of land on oil and gas leases.
Ad Valorem Tax	: A property tax imposed by various states on recoverable reserves and well equipment.
Administrative Costs	: Those costs associated with managing the affairs of another or providing services to another.
Administrator	: A person appointed by the court to settle the estate of a person who died without a will. An administrator is not required for every estate, but is necessary if the estate has unpaid debts or taxes or is very large.
Administrator with the Will Annexed	: An individual or a trust institution appointed by a court to settle the estate of a deceased person in accordance with the terms of his/her will when no executor has been named in the will or when the one named has failed to qualify.
Advance Royalty	: A royalty payment made to the owner of the land or lessor before actual production from the land begins and based on an agreed price. When production occurs, actual payments due on the royalty may be credited against this advance royalty payment. Now only commonly found in coal and lignite leases.
AFE	: See Authority for Expenditure.
Affidavit	: An instrument wherein an individual swears to certain facts; i.e.: marital affidavit, possession affidavit, heirship, and other ownership factors affecting a piece of property. An affidavit does not transfer anything and could be similar to giving a testimony in a courtroom.
Affidavit of Heirship	: A sworn statement providing genealogical information that may be used in support of facts but is not, standing alone, legally admissible as evidence. It is used when someone dies without a will and the estate is rather small. An Affidavit of Heirship, made preferably by two disinterested persons acquainted with the decedent, may provide facts about marital history, children's names and ages, payment of debts and taxes, and other estate facts. Frequently, these are required by attorneys when there is some question as to the heirs of a property.
Affidavit of Identity	: An affidavit which identifies an individual known by different names as one and the same person. Example: "J. Doe, John Doe, J.B. Doe, John B. Doe, also known as John Baker Doe, are one and the same person who executed that certain oil and gas lease, dated..."
Affidavit of Non	:Compliance
Affidavit of Non	:Development
Affidavit of Possession	: An affidavit given by a knowledgeable person on the use and possession of land for the purpose of establishing possession in the record title owner. Usually prepared and submitted as fulfillment of a title opinion requirement, a Possession Affidavit addresses questions such as who has lived on the property, who has exercised ownership over it, and the incidents of ownership, (i.e., payment of taxes, fences, improvements, growing of crops, etc.)
Agency Clause	: (1)Clause in an oil and gas lease which provides for an agent to be named once an interest is assigned to six or more persons; (2) Provision stating that assignment by heirs cannot enlarge a lessee's obligations/or that no change of division of royalties "shall operate to enlarge the obligation or diminish the rights of the lessee."
Agent	: A person who acts for another person by the latter's authority. The distinguishing characteristics of an agent are that the agent acts on behalf and subject to the control of the principal, does not have title to the property of the principal, and owes the duty of obedience to the principal's orders.
Aggregate Pay	: See Minimum Pay
Aggregate Value	: The value under which items of unclaimed property may be reported in total by a holder without reference to a description of the particular owner of their property. As many jurisdictions are not required by law to advertise for unclaimed owners having unclaimed property below a certain aggregate value, such jurisdictions, in turn, do not require the holder to report the owner to them on an individual basis. Some jurisdictions may not require very small amounts of unclaimed property to be reported.
Allocation	:Sales
Allocation	: Distribution of production from a number of wells in a particular field. Each well is adjusted to produce at its most efficient rate after the total production from the field is determined.
Allowable	: A limit of production placed on a well by state authorities during a given period.
Ancillary Proceedings	: Supplemental probate proceedings filed in the estate where the property is located when the person's estate is actually settled in another state.
Anniversary Date	: The date, usually one year from the effective date of the lease, by which rentals must be paid to maintain the lease in effect in the absence of drilling or production.
API	: American Petroleum Institute. A petroleum industry association that is responsible for setting standards for oil field equipment and oil field operations.
API Gravity	: A system of classifying crude oil based on its specific gravity, whereby the greater the gravity, the lighter the oil. Specifically:
APO	: After payout; a point during the production of an oil or gas well defined by terms of revenue received as set out by contracts and agreements between working interest owners.
Apparent Owner	: The person who, from the books and records of the holder, apparently is entitled to unclaimed property held, issued, or owing by a holder.
Arpent	: French unit of measurement, equal to 191.833 feet.
Assignee	: The person receiving the assignment.
Assignment	: An instrument whereby one party sells or transfers an interest or property to another.
Assignor	: The person making or giving the assignment.
Associated Gas	: Natural gas naturally occurring in a reservoir with oil. The "associated gas" is in a gas cap or dissolved in the oil.
Attestation	: An affirmation or authentication. Wills in Texas can be attested by two or more credible witnesses over he age of fourteen signing their names on the will in the presence of the testator. Corporate attestation is the signing of a document by the officers or others approved by the corporation's board of directors. Corporate attestation may also mean affixing the corporate seal, which is generally performed by the corporate secretary.
Attorney in Fact	: The party to whom a power of attorney is granted and who then performs a service or executes an order on behalf of the principal. See Power Of Attorney.
Authority for Expenditure	: Commonly called AFE. The estimated costs for drilling and completing a proposed well. It is prepared by a lease operator and sent to each nonoperator with a working interest for approval before work is undertaken. Normally used in connection with well
B
Bad address.
Balancing Agreement	: A contractual agreement between two or more legal entities to account for differences between measured quantities and the total confirmed nominations at a point. They have been used to keep track of over/under production relative to entitlement between producers and over/under deliveries relative to confirmed nominations between operators of wells, pipelines, and LDCs.
Barrel of Oil	: 42 U.S. Gallons at 60"F. A net barrel refers to a quantity of oil net of the BS&W content.
Basement	: Non
Basic Lease Provisions	: The basic parts of a lease which identify:
Basic Sediment and Water (BS&W)	: Impurities present in oil as it comes from the well. These impurities include emulsified water, suspended particles from the reservoir formation, etc.
Basin	: A large natural depression on the earth's surface in which sediments generally brought by water accumulate.
Beneficiary	: One for whose benefit a trust is created.
Bequest	: A gift made by a person's will of real or personal property.
Blowout	: An uncontrolled flow of oil, gas, water or mud from a wellbore caused when drilling activity penetrates a rock layer with natural pressures greater than the drilling mud in the borehole.
Bonus	: The cash consideration paid by a lessee to the owner of the leasing rights, usually upon execution of an oil and gas lease. May take other forms than cash, and some lessors, for tax reasons, may request partial payments the following year(s).
Borehole	: The hole created in the earth when a well is drilled or bored.
Bottom	:Hole
Bottom	:Hole Pressure
British Thermal Unit (Btu)	: A measure of the heat value of a fuel. One Btu is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.
Broker	: One who acquires leases and does certain title work for an oil and gas company. A broker is generally acting on behalf of the company and is not an employee. Sometimes interchanged with landman.
BS&W	: See Basic Sediment & Water.
Business Association	: A corporation, joint
Carbon Dioxide	: A colorless, odorless, gaseous compound of carbon and oxygen (GO) that is a product of incomplete combustion.
Carried Interest	: An agreement between two or more working interests whereby one party (carried party) does not share in lease revenue until a certain amount of money has been recovered by the other party (carrying party). The carrying party pays costs applicable to the carried party's interests in the property and is reimbursed out of the revenue applicable to the carried party's interest.
Carved Out Interest	: An interest such as an oil payment or overriding royalty conveyed by the owner of a greater interest. Example: The grant of an overriding royalty out of working interest.
Cash Consideration	: The cash money paid in return for a promise or an act such as the execution of an oil and gas lease, also called "bonus."
Casing	: Large steel pipe that is placed in the borehole to prevent it from collapsing and to prohibit the flow of drilling fluids into the borehole. Casing pipe is usually 30 feet long and sections are cemented in place by pumping cement into the space between the casing and borehole walls.
Casing Point	: The time at which the well has reached the objective depth and the decision is made to either complete the well for production or to plug and abandon it.
Casinghead	: A fitting on the top of the casing in a producing oil or gas well that regulates oil or gas flow. It also helps separate oil from gas.
Casinghead Gas	: Natural gas produced in conjunction with the production of crude oil.
Certificate of Title	: An abbreviated type of abstract wherein the abstractor reports his opinion as to the present owner(s) of the land, unreleased oil and gas leases, mineral or royalty conveyances, and outstanding liens or encumbrances.
Certification of Abstract	: A certificate signed by the abstractor reciting that the abstract contains a full and complete abstract of all recorded instruments affecting the title to the described lands for the time periods covered by the abstract.
Certified Copy	: A copy of an original document filed with the county clerk or the court clerk which is sworn to by the clerk to be an exact copy of such document. See also Recording.
Certified Professional Landman (CPL)	: A landman who has successfully completed the certification exam given by the American Association of Professional Landmen.
Chain of Title	: Recorded transfers (links) in title from patent to present.
Christmas Tree	: A combination of gauges, valves, controls and pipe connections at the top of the casing on a flowing well that controls well flow and resembles a heavily
Circulation	: A continuous pumping of drilling mud down through the drill pipe and drill bit and back up to the surface so that rock cuttings are moved away from the drill bit.
Cloud on a Title	: A claim or encumbrance that, if upheld by a court, would impair the owner's title to the property.
Clouded title or disputed ownership.
CNG	: Compressed Natural Gas.
Co	:ownership (co
Co	:tenancy
Co	:ownership (co
Codicil	: An amendment or supplement to a will executed with all the formalities of the will itself. When inconsistent with the provisions of the will, a properly executed codicil takes precedence.
Commercial Well	: A well capable of making a profit over the cost of drilling, equipping, completing, and operating it. In some instances, the term means merely a well with sufficient production to cover current operating expenses, without regard to original drilling costs.
Commingled Gas	: Gas from two or more sources which is combined into a single stream.
Commingling	: (1) Combining production from more than one zone in one well or lease in the same storage tank. For accounting purposes, it is often necessary to meter the production from each zone, well, or lease before it enters the tank. (2) Mixing married persons' separate property which then causes the property to become community property.
Commingling Facility	: An installation, serving two or more leases, which provides services such as gathering, separating, treating, and storing more economically than could several smaller facilities.
Common Law	: A system of law based on court decisions, or judicial precedent, rather than on legislated statutes or executive decrees. Common law began in England and was later used in English colonies. It is still applied in most of the United States; however, Louisiana operates under the Napoleonic Code. Also called "case" law.
Communitization	: The act of unitizing federal leases. Federal leases must be communitized because they contain no pooling authority.
Communitization Agreement	: An agreement approved to allow separate tracts to be developed and operated in conformity with an established well
Community Lease	: A single lease covering two or more separately owned tracts of land.
Community Property	: Property jointly owned by the husband and wife. Unless otherwise set out, all property is considered to be owned jointly in a community property state. Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas all have some type of community property laws. See Estates in Land.
Community Property
Compensatory Royalty	: Payments to royalty owners as compensation for losses in income due to failure to adequately develop a lease.
Completion of a Well	: The installation of permanent production equipment in order to begin delivery of crude oil.
Compression