George J. Stosur, Petroleum Consultant; J. Roger Hite, Business Fundamentals Group; Norman F. Carnahan, Carnahan Corporation; Karl Miller, Consultant

SPE Paper 84908 was presented at the SPE International Improved Oil Recovery Conference in Asia Pacific, 20-21 October, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to call attention to the need to establish a mutually acceptable definition of the terms Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and Improved Oil Recovery (IOR). It is hoped that the SPE will take note of the need to define the terms and use them as guidelines in reviewing of manuscripts for publications and presentations at its worldwide SPE meetings. A workable definition of the terms is necessary not just for improved communication, but also for recoverable reserves, contract negotiations, Government incentives, taxation purposes, and regulatory authorities when looking at fiscal issues. To get the discussion started, the authors propose workable definitions of the IOR and EOR terms based largely on an informal survey within the SPE EOR/IOR Technical Interest Group (EOIO TIG).

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