Oil & Gas Measurements

Barrel, bbl:  One barrel of oil (1 barrel = 42 U.S. gallons [approx.] or 35 imperial gallons [approx.] or 159 liters [approx.]; 7.45 barrels = 1 ton [approx.]; 6.29 barrels = 1 cubic meter).

Bcf:  Billion cubic feet (1 billion cubic feet of natural gas = .026 million metric tons or 0.18 million barrels of oil equivalent).

Bcm:  Billion cubic meters (1 cubic meter = 35.31 cubic feet).

BOE:  Barrel of oil equivalent.  A unit of measure to equate O&G volumes.  Each barrel of oil equals 6,000 cubic feet (or 6 mcf) of natural gas.  For example, if a company produces 1 million barrels of oil and 6 million mcf of gas, it has produced 2 million BOE.

BTU:  British thermal unit.

Mcf:  One thousand cubic feet.  The standard measure of natural gas volume (1 mcf = 1 million BTU of energy at 1 atmosphere of pressure; 6 mcf = 1 barrel of oil equivalent [BOE]).

Volumetric calculations:  A method of determining O&G reserves by use of rock volume and rock characteristics.  Relating to VPP (volumetric production payment).