In the case of the oil company, for instance, the cost of land corresponds to the premium (or down-payment) on a call option, and the extra investment needed to start production to its strike price (at which the option is exercised).

ECONOMIST: Economics focus

If I'm still here in15 years' time I will have to find more burial space, but the cost of land is premium.

BBC: Glanogwen churchyard, Bethesda

In 2012, the average premium rate of residential land was around 8.9% in the second quarter, 15.08% in the third and 22.33% in the fourth.

FORBES: In Just Three Months, Shanghai's Land Prices Double

In this neck of the Northwest woods, people pay a premium for land they know is underwater.

FORBES: Lifestyle Feature

Nine out of 14 residential land transactions in the first quarter of this year sold at an average premium over the sales price of a whopping 30.39%.

FORBES: In Just Three Months, Shanghai's Land Prices Double

Iceland's farmers, long used to scratching a hard living from their unfertile land in its cool climate, now hope to export their clean beef and lamb at a premium in the wake of the foot-and-mouth outbreak in Europe.

ECONOMIST: David Oddsson, Iceland��s Eurosceptic leader