Gross Working Interest (GWI)
GWI refers to an interest in a well that bears the operating and drilling expenses.
How it’s important to us
In the United States, it is more common than not that ownership in a well is shared jointly, as dictated by the well’s current DOI. Due to the high cost of drilling a well, and the likelihood that it will be a “dry hole” (not commercially viable to produce), it is advantageous to seek out partners to share the cost of drilling and operating. The burden that each party bears is expressed by its GWI, often seen in its decimal equivalent (between 0 and 1) with the summation of all parties’ shares adding to 1.0. While there is typically a relationship between your working interest and the revenue interest, this is not always the case. It is important to understand that there are a variety of types of interests in an oil & gas asset, and GWI is just one of them.
