elephant n.— «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...
elephant n. a site containing very large mineral or petroleum deposits. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
elephant n.— «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.» —“Ivanhoe Seeks...
elephant n.— «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.» —“Penn West prefers to play...
shut in
n.— «No. 16 flowed 10,000 barrels, which went to waste, before it could be “shut in.”» —“In The Oil Fields” Los Angeles Times July 24, 1899. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
shut in n.— «The most important deal ever consummated in the history of the oil business was brought to a head at a late hour last night.…The great shut-down movement was completed in every detail, and the shut-down or shut-in will...