Page 4 - AIF - English

GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Common Industry Terms

Products

Hydrocarbons are solids, liquids or gas made up of underlying commodity of futures contracts on the

compounds of carbon and hydrogen, in varying New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).
proportions.
Natural gas is a mixture of lighter hydrocarbons, which, at

Crude oil is a mixture of pentanes (lighter hydrocarbons) atmospheric conditions of temperature and pressure, is in a
and heavier hydrocarbons that exists in the liquid phase in gaseous state.

reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure and
temperature. Crude oil may contain small amounts of Associated gas is the gas cap that overlays a crude
oil accumulation in a reservoir.
sulphur and other non-hydrocarbons, but does not include
liquids obtained in the processing of natural gas.
Conventional natural gas is natural gas produced
from all geological strata, including associated,
Bitumen or heavy crude oil is a naturally occurring
viscous mixture, consisting mainly of pentanes and non-associated and solution gas, but excluding
production from unconventional natural gas
heavier hydrocarbons, which may not be recoverable
at a commercial rate in its naturally occurring viscous formations, such as coal bed methane and shale gas.

state through a well without using enhanced recovery Non-associated gas is an accumulation of natural gas
methods. After it is extracted, bitumen or heavy crude
oil may be upgraded into crude oil and other in a reservoir where there is no crude oil.

petroleum products.
Solution gas is natural gas that is dissolved in crude

oil in the reservoir at original reservoir conditions and
Brent is a blend of light, sweet crudes sourced from that is normally produced with the crude oil.
the North Sea used as a global price benchmark for
internationally traded crude oil.
Natural gas liquids (NGLs) are hydrocarbon components
that can be recovered from natural gas as liquids,
Conventional crude oil is crude oil produced through
wells by standard industry recovery methods.
including, but not limited to, ethane, propane, butanes,
pentanes, plus condensate and small quantities of

Oil sands are naturally occurring deposits of sand or non-hydrocarbons. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
sandstone, or other sedimentary rocks that contain includes propane and/or butane.

bitumen.
Oil and gas exploration and development processes
Synthetic crude oil (SCO) is a mixture of
Development costs are costs incurred to obtain access to
hydrocarbons derived by upgrading bitumen from oil
sands. Yields of SCO from Suncor’s upgrading reserves and to provide facilities for extracting, treating,
gathering and storing the oil and gas from reserves.
processes are approximately 80% of bitumen
feedstock input, and may vary depending on the
Exploration costs are costs incurred in identifying areas
source of bitumen. SCO may contain sulphur or other that may warrant examination and in examining specific
non-hydrocarbon compounds and has many similarities
areas that are considered to have prospects that may
to crude oil. SCO with lower sulphur content is contain oil and gas reserves.
referred to as sweet synthetic crude oil, while SCO

with higher sulphur content is referred to as sour Field is a defined geographical area consisting of one or
synthetic crude oil.
more pools containing hydrocarbons.

Unconventional crude oil is crude oil produced using Reservoir is a porous and permeable subsurface rock
techniques other than by standard industry recovery formation that contains a separate accumulation of

methods.
petroleum that is confined by impermeable rock or water
barriers and is characterized by a single pressure system.
Western Canadian Select (WCS) is a heavy blended

Wells:
crude oil comprised primarily of conventional heavy oil
or bitumen blended with diluent that is traded out of
Development wells are drilled inside the established
limits of an oil or gas reservoir, or in close proximity to Hardisty, Alberta.
the edge of the reservoir, to the depth of a
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is a type of crude oil
stratigraphic horizon known to be productive.
used as a benchmark in oil pricing, and is the

2 SUNCOR ENERGY INC. ANNUAL INFORMATION FORM 2014