The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Act" means the Virginia Gas and Oil Act of 1990, Chapter 16 ( § 45.2-1600 et seq.) of Title 45.2 of the Code of Virginia.

"Applicant" means a person or business who files an application, petition, appeal or other request with the Division of Gas and Oil.

"Board" means the Virginia Gas and Oil Board.

"Complete application" means all the materials required to be filed by the applicant under this chapter.

"Department" means the Department of Energy.

"Director" means the Director of the Department of Energy or his authorized agent.

"Directional survey" means a well survey that measures the degree of deviation of a hole, or distance, from the vertical and the direction of departure.

"Division" means the Division of Gas and Oil of the Department of Energy.

"Division director" means the Director of the Division of Gas and Oil.

"Election" means the performance of an act within the time established or required by statute, order or regulation. An election required to be made by board order or regulation must be in writing and (i) be personally delivered to the person or agent of the person described in the order or regulation by the date established or required, or (ii) be mailed to the person or agent of the person described in the order or regulation at the address stated therein and be postmarked by the United States Postal Service before midnight on the date established or required.

"Escrow" means an account held in trust. In the case of a gas or oil owner whose identity or location are unknown, escrow includes the deposit of funds with the Department of Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Division on behalf of such owner.

"Field" means the general area underlain by one or more pools.

"Gas/oil ratio" means the product of the number of Mcf of natural gas produced from a well divided by the number of barrels of oil produced from the well as determined by a gas/oil ratio test.

"Gas well" means any well which produces or appears capable of producing a ratio of 6,000 cubic feet (6 Mcf) of gas or more to each barrel of oil, on the basis of a gas-oil ratio test.

"Inclination survey" means a well survey to determine the deviation, using the surface location of the well as the apex, of a well bore from the true vertical beneath the apex on the same horizontal subsurface plane.

"Mcf" means, when used with reference to natural gas, 1,000 cubic feet of gas at a pressure base of 14.73 pounds per square inch gauge and a temperature base of 60°F.

"Mine development plan" means a permit or license application filed with the Division of Mines or Mined Land Repurposing for legal permission to engage in extraction of coal resources.

"Oil well" means any well which produces or appears capable of producing a ratio of less than 6,000 cubic feet (6 Mcf) of gas to each barrel of oil, on the basis of a gas-oil ratio test.

"Petitioner" means any person or business who files a petition, appeal, or other request for action with the Division of Gas and Oil or the Virginia Gas and Oil Board.

"Pooling" means the combining of all interests or estates in a gas, oil or coalbed methane drilling unit for the development and operations thereof. Pooling may be accomplished either through voluntary agreement or through a compulsory order of the board.

"Respondent" means a person named in an application, petition, appeal or other request for board action and against whom relief is sought by the applicant, or a person who under the terms of a board order, is required to make an election.

"Unit operator" means the gas or oil owner designated by the board to operate in or on a pooled unit.

Payment of funds into escrow accounts shall be made in accordance with the standards established in each order of the board requiring such payment. In addition, the unit operator of a drilling unit subject to a voluntary pooling agreement may petition the board under 4VAC25-160-140 of this chapter for an order authorizing the escrow of funds subject to conflicting claims in accordance with board standards or regulations regarding escrow of such funds in units subject to a compulsory pooling order.

When any gas or oil owner's identity and location remain unknown, the Operator may, pursuant to § 45.2-1600, dispose of the unknown lessor’s funds directly with the Department of Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Division to be held and distributed pursuant to the Virginia Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act (Va. Code §§ 55.1-2500 et seq.).