API gravity

Scale used to express specific gravity of oils. Higher API gravity, lighter oil.

Atmospheric pressure
Weight of atmosphere on surface of Earth. At sea level approx. 1.013 bars.

Bar
One bar = 100 kPa

Barrel (bbl)
7.3 bbls = One tonne: 6.29 bbls = One cubic metre: One bbl = 159 litres approx.

bcf
Billion Cubic Feet (One bcf = 0.176 Mboe)

bcm
Billion Cubic Metres (One bcm = 0.83 MToe)

Billion
One thousand million (109)

Block
UKCS acreage one thirtieth of a quadrant (approx. 200 - 250 sq. kms). Generally defined in terms of
latitude and longitude, at one-degree intervals.

bopd / boe
bbls of oil per day / bbls of oil equivalent.

Brent blend
International marker for crude oil pricing based on a blend of North Sea crudes.

British Thermal Unit (BTU)
One BTU or Btu = 1.05506 kJ = 0.293 watt-hour

Calorific equivalents
One cubic foot of gas = 1000 BTUs = 1055.06 kJ
Approx. one million tonnes of oil = 40 x 1012 BTUs = 40,400 MJ

Candela
SI unit of light intensity defined as 1/60 of the light radiated from a sq. cm of a blackbody, a perfect
radiator that absorbs no light, held at the temperature of freezing platinum.

Cubic foot
Standard unit used to measure quantity of gas at atmospheric pressure
(One cubic foot = 0.0283 cubic metres).

Cubic metre
SI unit used to measure quantity of gas at atmospheric pressure
(One cubic metre = 35.31 cubic feet).

Dead Weight (dwt)
Difference between loaded and unloaded weights of a ship.

Exposure
Measurement of time during which subject is at risk from a hazard.

Gas Oil Ratio (GOR)
Volume of gas at atmospheric pressure produced per unit of oil produced.

Joule (j)
Derived SI unit of work or energy.
Gigajoule = One million joules = 278 kWh.

Kilocalorie (kcal)
One thousand calories.

Kilogram (kg)
SI unit of mass. One thousand grams.

Kilopascal (kPa)
Defined as pressure of 0.0102 kg / sq. cm

Kilowatt-hour (kWh)
One kWh = 3.6 MJ = 3,412 BTU = 860 kcal = 0.0949 cubic metres of gas)

m / mcf
Thousands / Thousands of Cubic Feet (of Gas)

mm / M
Millions

mmbbls / mmboe
Million bbls / Million bbls of oil equivalent

mmscf / mmscfd
Millions of Standard Cubic Feet (of Gas) /
Millions of Standard Cubic Feet per Day (of Gas)

MtC
Million tonnes of carbon

MtCH4
Million tonnes of methane

MtCO2
Million tonnes of carbon dioxide

Mboe / MToe
Million bbls of oil equivalent /
Million tonnes of oil equivalent

Oil Equivalent
Method of assessing work of calorific value of different sources of energy in terms of one tonne of oil.
ppb / ppm
parts per billion / parts per million

psi
Pounds per square inch One psi = 6.89 kPa

Quadrant
UKCS acreage one degree by one degree. 30 Blocks to Quadrant.

Specific Gravity
Ratio of density of a substance at a particular temperature to density of water.

SI unit
Self-consistent system of measurement units based on the MKS (metre-kilogram-second) system.
Adopted for international use under Le Systme International d'Units, now employed for all scientific
and most technical purposes.

Square kilometres (Sq. kms / Km2)
1000 metres x 1000 metres, One Km2 (100 hectares) = 0.3861 sq. miles

Square Miles
One Sq Mile (640 acres) = 2.590 Km2

tcf
Trillion (a million million) Cubic Feet (of Gas)

Tonne (t)
Metric tonne = 1000 kilograms

Watt (W)
Power which in one second gives rise to energy of one joule (j).
Kilowatt (kW) = One kW = 1000 watts.
Megawatt (MW) = One million watts.
Gigawatt (GW) = Thousand megawatts.