Acronym Guide

Energy industry acronyms

2LoT
2nd Law of Thermodynamics
AEI
Advanced Energy Initiative
AGW
Anthropogenic global warming
API
American Petroleum Institute
API gravity
Scale expressing the gravity or density of liquid petroleum products-- Crude oil is often described in terms of "lightness" or "heaviness" by an index called the API gravity. A high number denotes a "light" crude, and vice versa. Degrees API Gravity = (141.5/Specific Gravity at 60 Deg. F) - 131.5)
ASPO
Association for the Study of Peak Oil
ASPO-USA
Association for the Study of Peak Oil-USA
BANANA
Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody
B
barrels of oil
BBLs
barrels of oil
BG
Biomass gassification
BOE
Barrels of oil equivalent
BTL
Biomass-to-liquid
BTUs
British thermal units
CAFE
Corporate Average Fuel Economy
CERA
Cambridge Energy Research Associates (Chairman Daniel Yergin)
CO2
Carbon dioxide
CTL
Coal-to-liquid conversion
DoE
US Department of Energy
EIA
Energy Information Administration, division of US Department of Energy
EOR
Enhanced oil recovery
E&P
Exploration and production
EPR
Energy profit ratio
EROEI
Energy return on energy invested
FIP
Fields in production
FOP
Fuel oil price
FSU
Former Soviet Union
FT
Fischer-Tropsch process of converting methane, biomass, or coal to liquid fuels
FUA
Fields under appraisal
FUD
Fields under development
GB
Gigabarrels = 1 billion barrels
GHGs
Greenhouse gases (e.g., CO2, methane)
GOM
Gulf of Mexico
GOMEX
Gulf of Mexico
GOSP
Gas Oil Separation Plant
GTL
Gas-to-liquids conversion
HL
Hubbert Linearization
HVAC
Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning
IEA
International Energy Agency
IHS
IHS Energy (consulting company, parent of CERA)
IOC
International oil company (e.g., British Petroleum, ExxonMobil)
JODI
Joint oil data initiative
LNG
Liquified natural gas, refrigerated for shipping
LPG
Liquified petroleum gas (propane and butane)
LQHC
Low quality hydrocarbons (i.e., tar sands and oil shale)
MBD
Millions of barrels per day
MB
Millions of barrels
MBPD
Million barrels per day
MENA
Middle East and North Africa (includes Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates)
MER
Maximum effective rate (of production)
MMS
Minerals Management Service, division of US Department of the Interior
MRC
Maximum Reservoir Contact
NHC
National Hurricane Center, division of US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NGL
Natural gas liquids (ethane, propane, butane, isobutane and natural gasoline)
NG
Natural gas (mainly methane)
NIMBY
Not In My Backyard
NREL
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a laboratory of the US Department of Energy
NOAA
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOC
National oil company (e.g., Saudi Aramco)
NYMEX
New York Merchantile EXchange
ODAC
Oil Depletion Analysis Centre
OECD
Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development
OGJ
The Oil & Gas Journal
OOIP
Original oil in place
OPEC
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
PO
peak oil
P/Q
Pique to Qumulative
Qt
The estimated URR from a Hubbert Linearization
Quad
Quadrillion BTU.
RP
Reserves/production ratio
RUL
Regular unleaded gasoline
SA
Saudi Arabia
SPR
Strategic petroleum reserve
TB
Trillions of barrels
TCF
Trillion cubic feet (dry natural gas)
TOD
The Oil Drum
UAE
United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Qaiwain, Ras Al-Khaimah, Fujairah)
ULSD
Ultra-low sulfur diesel
URR
Ultimately recoverable resources
USGS
United States Geological Survey
VMT
Vehicle miles traveled
WTI
West Texas Intermediate (crude oil)
YTF
Yet to find

Common internet acronyms

AFAIK
As far as I know
BTW
By the way
FUD
Fear, uncertainty, doubt
GIGO
Garbage In, Garbage Out
GUT
Grand, Unified Theory
IIRC
If I recall correctly
IMHO
In my humble opinion
IMO
In my opinion
LOL
Laugh out loud
MSM
Mainstream media
TANSTAAFL
There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
TEOTWAWKI
The End of the World as We Know It (and I feel fine)

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