The American Gas Association (AGA) maintains an excellent glossary of industry terms. The AGA Glossary can be reached by clicking the link below:
Energy Units can often be confusing. Here's a quick summary of frequently used units of measure.
1 MMBTU = 10 Therms = 1 dekatherm (dth)
1 MCF = 1000 cubic feet = 1 MMBTU*
1 BCF = 1 billion cubic feet = 1 million MMBTU*
1 TCF = 1 trillion cubic feet = 1000 BCF
1 gigajoule = 0.9478 MMBTU
1 Kilowatt-hr = 3412 BTU
#2 oil = 139,000 BTU/gal
#6 oil = 150,000 BTU/gal
Propane = 91,600 BTU/gal
*Based on natural gas approximate heat value of 1,000 BTU per cubic foot.
Other important terms unique to gas marketing:
| Daily Imbalance | Difference between the nominated volume and the actual daily usage |
| Monthly Imbalance | Accumulation of daily imbalances for the month |
| Cashout | Cost of liquidating the monthly imbalances |
| Nomination | Notifying LDCs and pipelines of the scheduled daily volume |
| Curtailment | Notification that an enduser must quit using gas per the contract requirements |
| OFO | Operational Flow Order - issued by pipelines and LDCs per their tariff authority |
| Primary Firm | Transportation service that is not normally subject to any recall rights |
| Secondary Firm | Transportation service that is subject to recall by the transporting pipeline on peak days |
| Interruptible Service | Transportation service that can be recalled at any time by the provider |
| Basis | The difference in price between two points |
| NYMEX | New York Mercantile Exchange |
| LDC | Local Distribution Company - the regulated utility |
| Liquidation |
Selling off an asset, such as fixed price gas, at current market value |
| NAESB | North American Energy Standards Board - produces a standard contract form |
