The Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (COGEH), produced by the Petroleum Society of Canada, is the primary reference for reporting resources under the National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities promulgated by the Canadian Securities Administrators.

Discovered resources (equivalent to discovered bitumen initially-in-place) is defined within the COGEH as that quantity of bitumen that is estimated, as of a given date, to be contained within known accumulations prior to production. The recoverable portion of discovered resources is referred to as production, contingent resources and/or reserves; the remainder is classified as unrecoverable. Discovered resources are the summation of all bitumen present, without qualitative or quantitative assessment to determine the exploitable portion of that resource.

Undiscovered resources (equivalent to undiscovered bitumen initially-in-place) is defined within the COGEH as that quantity of bitumen that is estimated, on a given date, to be contained in accumulations yet to be discovered. The recoverable portion of undiscovered resources is referred to as prospective resources; the remainder is classified as unrecoverable. Undiscovered resources are the summation of all bitumen thought to be present on undelineated lands, without qualitative or quantitative assessment to determine the exploitable portion of that resource.

Contingent Resources is defined within the COGEH as those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from known accumulations using established technology or technology under development, but which are not currently considered to be commercially recoverable due to one or more contingencies. Contingencies may include factors such as economic, legal, environmental, political, and regulatory matters, or a lack of markets. It is also appropriate to classify as contingent resources the estimated discovered recoverable quantities associated with a project in the early evaluation stage. Contingent resources are further classified in accordance with the level of certainty associated with the estimates and may be sub-classified based on project maturity and/or characterized by their economic status.

Prospective Resources is defined within the COGEH as those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations by application of future development projects. Prospective resources have both an associated chance of discovery and a chance of development. Prospective resources are further subdivided in accordance with the level of certainty associated with recoverable estimates assuming their discovery and development and may be sub-classified based on project maturity.

Discovered unrecoverable resources (equivalent to discovered unrecoverable petroleum initially-in-place) is defined within the COGEH as that portion of discovered resources which is estimated, as of a given date, not to be recoverable by future development projects. A portion of these quantities may become recoverable in the future as commercial circumstances change or technological developments occur; the remaining portion may never be recovered due to the physical/chemical constraints represented by subsurface interaction of fluids and reservoir rocks.

Discovered and undiscovered resource estimates determined in accordance with the COGEH use the following mutually exclusive categories: