A geographic location in which more than one oil and/or natural gas company has a stake. The area of mutual interest (AMI) is defined by a contract that describes the geographic area contained in the AMI, the rights each party has in the AMI (such as the a percentage of the interest allocated to each company), the length of time during which the contract will be in effect, and how the contract provisions are to be implemented.
The AMI agreement may also define how the parties to the agreement are allowed to explore for or extract oil and natural gas in the subject lands. If any party to an AMI contract wants to pursue a venture in the specified lands, it must do so in conjunction with or with the permission of the other parties to the contract.