elephant

n. a site containing very large mineral or petroleum deposits. Subjects: English, Petroleum, Jargon

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Citations: 1979 Wall Street Journal (Aug. 27) “Hottest U.S. Hydrocarbon Hunt Is In Western Rock Formation”: Though more than a thousand discoveries are made in the U.S. yearly, “elephant fields"—those containing proven recoverable reserves of 100 million barrels of oil, one trillion cubic feet of gas, or the equivalant in mixed reserves—are rare. 1985 James Cook Forbes (June 17) “Armand’s New Elephant” p. 66: It is sitting on what looks like the biggest new oilfield since the North Sea and Mexico offshore: a giant, by oil industry standards, if not yet exactly an elephant—Cano Limon, in Oxy’s 2.7 million-acre contract in Colombia. 2003 Brent Jang Globe and Mail (Toronto, Can.) (Nov. 25) “Penn West prefers to play at home” p. B15: Squeezing out the last drop from existing energy plays makes sense when so many rivals are going overseas to hunt for “elephants”—industry jargon for huge conventional reserves. 2004 Bloomberg.com (Oct. 27) “Ivanhoe Seeks Riches Selling Output of Mongolian Mine to China”: Vale threw a party in Ulan Bator with samba dancers flown in from Brazil to mark the company’s arrival in Mongolia to search for another “elephant”—mining parlance for a big discovery.

Posted 27 Oct 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend