Billions Of Cubic Feet Equivalent - BCFE

A natural gas industry term typically used to measure the amount of natural gas that is either untapped in reserves, or being pumped and delivered over extended periods of time (such as months or years). The "equivalent" is used to describe the equivalent amount of energy liberated by the burning of this type of fuel versus crude oil, with every 6,000 cubic feet of natural gas being equal to one barrel of oil.

This term, most commonly found in the annual reports of natural gas and oil corporations, is used to quantify the energy produced (or potentially produced) by a company's reserves, as well as what is actually delivered to customers. One billion cubic feet of gas equivalent can produce roughly 1.028 trillion BTUs, which is enough to power all of Delaware's natural gas needs for slightly more than one week. Considering that the average natural gas well pumps roughly 250,000 - 350,000 cubic feet equivalent per day, it would take one well roughly 3,000 days to pump one billion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas.