Author: bomuo

Production and disposal or lifting of the petroleum discovered in a reservoir.

The costs associated with the extraction of a mineral reserve from a producing property or the cost to bring a barrel of oil to the surface. In Saudi Arabia the lifting cost is $2 per barrel of oil. In 2006, the average cost in Africa was $4 per barrel, in the U.S. $6.83, in Canada $8.30. There are also “finding costs” for exploration and development of oil fields – about $5.26 per barrel in the Middle East to as much as $63.71 for U.S. offshore oil. Add to that taxes, transportation and refining costs.

Lifting agreement is usually a supplemental agreement to a JOA that sets out the rights, obligations and procedures for the lifting of liquid petroleum under the contract. Such a lifting agreement is often based on the AIPN Model Form Lifting Procedure.

Refers to tankers and barges loading cargoes of petroleum at a terminal or transshipment point.

When a governmental body offers exploration acreage for leasing by exploration and production companies, typically in return for a licensing fee and an obligation to perform a set program. This program can include acquisition of seismic data or drilling a well. Exploration licenses are initially of limited duration (about 3-5 years) after which there might be a requirement to return half or more of the licensed acreage to the state after the licensee has selected the area in which he wants to pursue his activities. If hydrocarbons are discovered, a separate production license or production-sharing agreement is usually drawn up before development can proceed

From the technical (i.e. non legal point of view) this term has been described as “the identification by a government of potential (upstream) petroleum investment opportunities in the national territory, their subdivision into Contract Areas of prospective size, their offering to the international oil companies by a suitable tendering process and the establishment and negotiation of technical, financial and contractual terms and conditions (for award) consistent with their petroleum prospectivity and with the national interest”