In this chapter,

(1) “barrel of oil” means 42 United States gallons of oil of 231 cubic inches a gallon computed at a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit;

(2) “British thermal unit” means the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water from 58.5 degrees Fahrenheit to 59.5 degrees Fahrenheit at a constant pressure of one atmosphere;

(3) “BTU equivalent barrel” means

(A) in the case of oil, one barrel;

(B) in the case of gas, the amount of gas that has a heating value of 6,000,000 British thermal units;

(4) “catastrophic oil discharge” has the meaning given in AS 46.04.900;

(5) “Cook Inlet sedimentary basin” has the meaning given in regulations adopted to implement AS 38.05.180(f)(4);

(6) “cubic foot of gas” means the volume of gas contained in one cubic foot of space measured at a pressure base of 14.65 pounds per square inch absolute and a temperature base of 60 degrees Fahrenheit;

(7) “explorer” means a person who, in exploring for new oil or gas reserves, incurs expenditures;

(8) “gas” means

(A) all natural, associated, or casinghead gas;

(B) all hydrocarbons that

(i) are recovered by mechanical separation of well fluids or by gas processing in a gas processing plant; and

(ii) exist in a gaseous phase at the completion of mechanical separation and any gas processing in a gas processing plant; and

(C) all other hydrocarbons produced from a well not defined as oil;

(9) “gas processing”

(A) means processing a gaseous mixture of hydrocarbons

(i) by means of absorption, adsorption, externally applied refrigeration, artificial compression followed by adiabatic expansion using the Joule-Thomson effect, or another physical process that is not mechanical separation; and

(ii) for the purpose of extracting and recovering liquid hydrocarbons;

(B) does not include gas treatment;

(10) “gas processing plant” means a facility that

(A) extracts and recovers liquid hydrocarbons from a gaseous mixture of hydrocarbons by gas processing; and

(B) is located upstream of the inlet of any pipeline transporting gas to a gas treatment plant and upstream of the inlet of any gas pipeline system transporting gas to a market;

(11) “gas treatment”

(A) means conditioning gas and removing from gas nonhydrocarbon substances for the purpose of rendering the gas acceptable for tender and acceptance into a gas pipeline system;

(B) includes incidentally removing liquid hydrocarbons from the gas;

(C) does not include

(i) dehydration required to facilitate the movement of gas from the well to the point where gas processing takes place;

(ii) the scrubbing of liquids from gas to facilitate gas processing;

(12) “gas treatment plant” means a facility that performs gas treatment, regardless of whether the facility also performs gas processing;

(13) “gross value at the point of production” means

(A) for oil, the value of the oil at its point of production without deduction of any costs upstream of that point of production;

(B) for gas, the value of the gas at its point of production without deduction of any costs upstream of that point of production;

(14) “heating value” means the gross number of BTUs released by complete combustion of an amount of gas;

(15) “landowner's royalty interest” means

(A) a lessor's royalty interest under an oil and gas lease; or

(B) a royalty interest that is

(i) held by a surface owner of land from which oil or gas is produced; and

(ii) granted in exchange for the right to use the surface of that land or as compensation for damage to the surface of that land;

(16) “lease or property” means any right, title, or interest in or the right to produce or recover oil or gas including:

(A) a mineral interest;

(B) a leasehold interest;

(C) a working interest, royalty interest, overriding royalty interest, production payment, net profit interest, or any other interest in a lease, concession, joint venture, or other agreement for exploration, development, or production of oil and gas or of gas only;

(D) a working interest, royalty interest, overriding royalty interest, production payment, net profit interest or any other interest in an agreement for unitization or pooling under the provisions of 26 U.S.C. 614(b)(3) (Internal Revenue Code) as defined on January 1, 1974;

(17) “oil” means

(A) crude petroleum oil; and

(B) all liquid hydrocarbons that are recovered by mechanical separation of well fluids or by gas processing in a gas processing plant;

(18) “oil and gas lease” includes an oil and gas lease, a gas only lease, and an oil only lease;

(19) “ownership or right to which is exempt from taxation” means any ownership interest of the federal government or the state;

(20) “pipeline quality” means good and merchantable condition;

(21) “point of production” means

(A) for oil, the automatic custody transfer meter or device through which the oil enters into the facilities of a carrier pipeline or other transportation carrier in a condition of pipeline quality; in the absence of an automatic custody transfer meter or device, “point of production” means the mechanism or device to measure the quantity of oil that has been approved by the department for that purpose, through which the oil is tendered and accepted in a condition of pipeline quality into the facilities of a carrier pipeline or other transportation carrier or into a field topping plant;

(B) for gas that is

(i) not subjected to or recovered by mechanical separation or run through a gas processing plant, the farthest upstream of the following locations: the first point where the gas is accurately metered, the inlet of any pipeline transporting the gas to a gas treatment plant, or the inlet of any gas pipeline system transporting the gas to a market;

(ii) subjected to or recovered by mechanical separation but not run through a gas processing plant, the farthest upstream of the following locations: the first point where the gas is accurately metered after completion of mechanical separation, the inlet of any pipeline transporting the gas after completion of mechanical separation to a gas treatment plant, or the inlet of any gas pipeline system transporting the gas after completion of mechanical separation to a market;

(iii) run through a gas processing plant, the farthest upstream of the following locations: the first point where the gas is accurately metered downstream of the gas processing plant, the inlet of any pipeline downstream of the gas processing plant transporting the gas to a gas treatment plant, or the inlet of any gas pipeline system downstream of the gas processing plant transporting the gas to a market;

(22) “producer” means an owner of an operating right, operating interest, or working interest in a mineral interest in oil or gas;

(23) “regular production” has the meaning given in AS 31.05.170;

(24) “surcharge” means

(A) when used in AS 43.55.201 - 43.55.299, the surcharge levied by AS 43.55.201;

(B) when used in AS 43.55.300 - 43.55.310, the surcharge levied by AS 43.55.300;

(25) “unit” means a group of tracts of land that is

(A) subject to a cooperative or a unit plan of development or operation that has been certified by the commissioner of natural resources under AS 38.05.180(p);

(B) subject to a cooperative or a unit plan of development or operation that has been certified by the United States Secretary of the Interior under 30 U.S.C. 226(m);

(C) subject to an agreement of the owners of interests in the tracts of land to validly integrate their interests to provide for the unitized management, development, and operation of the tracts of land as a unit, within the meaning of AS 31.05.110(a); or

(D) within the unit area of a unit created by order of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission under AS 31.05.110(b);

(26) “used in the state” means delivered for consumption as fuel in the state, including as fuel consumed to generate electricity.