billions of cubic feet equivalent (BCFE)

A term used by the natural gas industry to describe large amounts of natural gas. This term is usually used to describe the amount of reserves or the amount of natural gas consumed over a period of months or years. The term is also used to compare the amount of energy produced by natural gas with the amount produced by other sources, such as oil. The energy produced by 6,000 BCFE of natural gas is equal to the energy produced by one barrel of oil.