| BAF |
best alternative fuel |
| bbl |
barrel (of oil) (1 barrel = 0.16 m3) |
| BBL |
Balgzand (in the Netherlands) to Bacton (in Norfolk, England) gas pipeline |
| bcm |
billion cubic metres (1 metre3 = 35.3 cubic feet) |
| bcm/y |
billion cubic metres per year (of gas) |
| BIS |
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, previously called Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) billion one thousand million or 109 |
| boe |
barrel of oil equivalent: this includes oil, gas and other hydrocarbons and equates all of these with oil, so that a common measure can be made of any of them, or of two or more of them in combination (1 boe = 164 m3 or 5.8 thousand cubic feet of gas) |
| bpd |
barrels per day |
| boepd |
barrel of oil equivalent per day |
| brown-field |
an oil or gas field already in production |
| BTU |
British Thermal Unit (of energy) |
| capex |
capital expenditure |
| CCGT |
combined cycle (gas + steam) gas turbine |
| CCS |
carbon capture and storage |
| CDA |
Common Data Access (a subsidiary of Oil & Gas UK) |
| CfD |
contract for difference |
| CHP |
combined heat and power |
| CNG |
compressed natural gas |
| CNS |
central North Sea |
| CO2 |
carbon dioxide (one of the six “greenhouse gases” under the Kyoto protocol) condensate low density, liquid hydrocarbon usually associated with natural gas which, depending on temperature and pressure, can be gaseous |
| CoP |
Cessation of Production (from a field) |
| CT |
Corporation Tax |
| DECC |
Department of Energy & Climate Change, formed in autumn 2008, by combining BERR’s previous responsibilities for energy and DEFRA’s for climate change and incorporating the Office of Climate Change |
| DEFRA |
Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |
| DSA |
Decommissioning Securities Agreement |
| E&A |
exploration and appraisal (drilling) |
| EEA |
European Economic Area (the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) |
| EIA |
Energy Information Administration (of the USA) |
| EMR |
electricity market reform (by DECC) |
| EOR |
enhanced oil recovery |
| E&P |
exploration and production |
| EU |
European Union (the 27 member states) |
| EU ETS |
European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme |
| FiT |
Feed-in Tariff (for electricity) |
| FPAL |
First Point Assessment Ltd, an organisation providing a registration, qualification and performance monitoring system of the industry’s suppliers and contractors |
| FPSO |
floating production, storage and offtake (vessel) |
| GHG |
greenhouse gas (of which there are six under the Kyoto protocol) |
| GTL |
gas to liquids |
| GVA |
Gross Value Added |
| GW |
Giga Watt (of electricity): one billion watts |
| HH |
Henry Hub (the principal trading point for gas in the USA) |
| HMRC |
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (sometimes known as “the Exchequer”) |
| HMT |
Her Majesty’s Treasury |
| HPHT |
high pressure, high temperature (of reservoirs) |
| IEA |
International Energy Agency (part of the OECD) |
| ITF |
Industry Technology Facilitator, a not-for-profit, industry owned body |
| JOA |
Joint Operating Agreement (between partners in a field) |
| kms |
kilometres |
| KW |
Kilo Watt (of electricity) – unit of power: one thousand watts |
| KWh |
Kilo Watt hour – unit of energy |
| LTC |
long term contract |
| LNG |
liquefied natural gas |
| mboepd |
million barrels of oil equivalent per day |
| mbopd |
million barrels of oil per day |
| mcm/d |
million cubic metres per day (of gas) |
| MS |
Member State (of the EU) |
| mtoe |
million tonnes of oil equivalent |
| mt/y |
million tonnes per year |
| MVA |
market value analysis |
| MW |
Mega Watt (of electricity): one million watts |
| NBP |
National Balancing Point (fictional location in Britain where the NTS is notionally in balance and at which the trading of gas takes place) |
| NGL |
natural gas liquid (e.g. butane, propane) |
| NGO |
non-governmental organisation |
| NNS |
northern North Sea |
| NTS |
National Transmission System (high pressure gas transmission system in Britain operated by National Grid – the “motorway” network for gas) |
| OCGT |
open cycle gas turbine |
| OECD |
Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development |
| OGP |
International Association of Oil and Gas Producers |
| ONS |
Office of National Statistics |
| OPEC |
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries |
| opex |
operating expenditure |
| OTC |
over the counter |
| PILOT |
joint oil and gas industry – government task force chaired by the Secretary of State of DECC |
| PRT |
Petroleum Revenue Tax |
| p/th |
pence per therm (for gas) |
| REMIT |
Regulation of Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (EU) |
| ROV |
remotely operated vehicle (sub-sea) |
| SCDI |
Scottish Council for Development and Industry |
| SCT |
Supplementary Charge to Corporation Tax |
| SIC |
Standard Industrial Classification (ref ONS) side-track description of a well that is started from the bore of an existing well, but is then deviated to create a new well |
| SME |
small to medium (sized) enterprise |
| SNS |
southern North Sea (sometimes referred to as “southern gas basin”) |
| trillion |
one million million or 1012 |
| UKCS |
United Kingdom Continental Shelf |
| UKTI |
UK Trade & Investment |
| UOC |
unit operating cost |
| WoS |
west of Shetland (sometimes referred to as “Atlantic margin”) |
