Abandon
To temporarily or permanently cease production from a well or to cease further drilling operations.

Assignment
The legal instrument whereby an interest is transferred to another party.

Assignee
The person to whom the interests are assigned.

Assignor
Person who conveys interest in an assignment.

Borehole
The hole created by the drilling of the well.

Bottomhole
The lowest or deepest part of a well.

Casing
Steel pipe placed in an oil or gas well to prevent the wall of the hole from caving in, to prevent movement of fluids from one formation to another and to aid in well control.

Check stub
Stub attached to a check disclosing well name, month of production, price received, total volumes produced, and net decimal interest of payee.

Completion
After the drilling of a successful well, the "completion" includes all the work required to make the well ready for commercial production.

Conveyance
Legal term for transferring the title of a property from one party to another, typically by deed (or bill of sale, etc.)

Crude Oil
A naturally occurring mixture of liquid hydrocarbons as it comes out of the ground.

Deed
A written legal document by which the title to a property is transferred from one party to another.

Depreciation Allowance
Income tax deduction allowed for the exhaustion of a natural resource.

Division Order
A Division Order is a document that an Operator of a well issues that describes the property, the operator, the legal description, the owner's remittance address and tax ID, information, if known, as well as the owners's decimal interest in the property. The Owner is asked to sign and return the Division Order. This information is used by the operator to remit proceeds to the Owner.

EUR
Estimated Ultimate Recovery. An estimate of the cumulative volume of reserves that will ultimately be recovered over the life of the well, field, or property.

Fracturing
A procedure undertaken to attempt to increase the flow of oil or gas from a well. A fluid (usually crude oil, diesel oil or water) is pumped into the reservoir, with such great force that the reservoir rock is broken and split open.

Grantor
The person who grants or conveys lands, minerals, etc.

Grantee
The person acquiring the grant of land, minerals, etc.

Horizontal Drilling
The newer and developing technology that makes it possible to drill a well from the surface, vertically down to a certain level, and then turn at an angle, and continue drilling horizontally within a specified reservoir, or an interval of a reservoir.

Joint Operating Agreement
A contract in which multiple partners who own the operating rights in a tract of land agree to share costs of exploration and development.

Landman
The person who secures leases and handles damages for oil and gas companies who are drilling wells or laying pipelines.

Landowner
The person who generally owns all or part of the minerals under his lands and is entitled to lease the same. The landowner's ownership may also be limited to surface ownership.

Lease
A legal contract by which the owner of the mineral rights to a property conveys to another party, the exclusive right to explore for and develop minerals on the property, during a specified period of time.

Lessee
The person who acquires the right to drill an oil or gas well.

Lessor
The mineral owner who grants an Oil, Gas, or Mineral Lease.

Natural Gas
A mixture of hydrocarbon compounds and small amounts of various non-hydrocarbons (such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen) existing in the gaseous phase or in solution with crude oil in natural underground reserves.

Operating Expenses
The costs of operating a well.

Operator
The party designated by all working interest owners to conduct the operations for the well which is stated in the Joint Operating Agreement.

Paid-up Lease
An oil and gas lease that is paid-up through the primary term. It is paid to the Lessor when the lease is signed.

Reserves
The amount of oil and gas in a reservoir calculated to be recoverable and described in measurements of barrels of oil, or million cubic feet (MCF).

Royalty
A royalty is the mineral owners share of the gross production, which is free of the costs of production. It is probably the most important part of the lease to the mineral owner and is a negotiated term, amongst other terms, agreed to prior to executing the oil, gas & mineral lease.

Royalty Revenue
Funds received from the production of oil or gas, free of costs, except taxes and other transportation charges which are incurred in order to transport the product to the point of sale, which are paid to the lessor based upon the percentage of gross production.

Salt Water Disposal Well
A well into which oilfield salt water is disposed.

Shut-In
An oil or gas well that is capable of future production but for some stated reason, is not producing at the time.

Spacing Unit
The size (amount of surface area) of a parcel of land on which only one producing well is permitted to a specific reservoir.

Surface Owner
The person who owns the surface rights to a tract of land.

Working Interest
Interest in a well which bears the cost of operations.