Oil & Gas

Production
Glossary
Abandonment / Decommissioning
Process of dismantling wellhead, production and
transportation facilities and restoration of depleted
producing areas in accordance with licence
requirements and /or legislation.
Acid stimulation
Form of hydrochloric acid is pumped down well hole to
enlarge pore space in oil bearing rocks to increase flow
and recovery.

Acoustic log
Record of time taken by a sound wave to travel over a
certain distance through geological formations.

Air injection
An enhanced recovery technique in which air is inected
into hydrocarbon formation to increase reservoir
pressure.

Annulus

Artificial lift
Any techniques, other than natural drives, for bringing
oil to surface.

Blow-down
!ondensate and gas produced simultaneously from
outset of production.
Casing perforation
"oles made in liner of a finished well to allow
hydrocarbons to flow into production tube.

Catodic protection
#ethod used to minimise rate of electrochemical
corrosion of structures, for e$ample, installations
offshore, pipelines and storage tanks.
Cristmas tree
%ranching series of pipes, gauges and valves on top end
of each production well to control flow of oil or gas.

Closed-in
&escriptive of a well that is capable of producing, but is
not currently producing.

Coiled tubing
'sed to carry production equipment to bottom of well.

Commingling
Producing oil and gas from two or more reservoirs at
different depths, or where product of two or more fields
is transported via a common pipeline.

Delineation well
&rilled at a distance from a discovery well to determine
physical e$tent, reserves and likely production rate of a
new oil or gas field.

De!iated well
"ori(ontal well drilled at an angle )over *+ degrees, to
vertical.
De!elopment
Phase on which a proven oil or gas field is brought into
production by drilling production )development, wells.

De!elopment well
A production well drilled with intent of producing oil or
gas from a proven field.
Downstream

Dual Completion
A well completed to produce from two separate
reservoirs.

"nanced reac
&eviated wells )over -. degrees, from vertical and
reach out hori(ontally more than twice vertical depth.

#ield
/eographical area under which an oil or gas reservoir
lies.
#ield $omenclature
Field ceased production )F!P,
Field under development )F'&,
Field in production )F0P,
#laring and !enting
Flaring is burning of hydrocarbon gases for commercial
or technical reasons. 1enting is release of gases to
atmosphere.

#lare %tac&
2teel structure on an offshore installation or at a
processing facility from which gas is flared.
Gas Cap
0n field containing both gas and oil, some gas will often
collect at top of reservoir in a single deposit.

Gas/Condensate field
Reservoir containing both natural gas and oil, with
greater proportion of gas. !ondensate appears when gas
in drawn from well, and its temperature and pressure
change sufficiently for some of it to became liquid
petroleum.

Gas field
Field containing natural gas, but no oil.
Gas gatering system
!entral collection point for offshore gas fields.
Production is then piped to central processing system
onshore.

Gas 'njection (G')
Associated gas is pumped back into a reservoir to
maintain reservoir pressure. 0n this way rate of
production of crude oil also can be increased.
Gas lift
/as from same or nearby field is mi$ed with oil in
tubing to lessen weight of liquid column.
Gas Oil *atio (GO*)
Gas Processing
2eparation of oil and gas, and removal of impurities and
3/4s from natural gas.

Gas +reatment
Removal of impurities, condensate, hydrogen sulphide
and 3/4s from natural gas.

Gra!ity %tructures
5ither concrete or hybrid )concrete base and steel legs
and superstructure, structures that due to weight rest on
seabed or piled into it.
,ori-ontal well
'sed when reservoir permeability is low or
hydrocarbons are being produced from vertical fractures
in rock.

.ac&et
2upporting )concrete base or steel legs, structure for an
offshore installation.
/arine *iser
Pipe connecting offshore installation to a subsea
wellhead or pipeline for drilling or production purposes.
/odule
2elf6contained bo$ or package built with a specific
purpose )for e$ample, well head, oil and gas separation,
gas compression, platform power generation, mud,
storage, diesel, filter and e$haust, located on production
installations.

/ultilateral well
#ore than one hori(ontal section drilled in one well.
'sed to ma$imise number of wells that can be drilled
from small installations.
Odorant
2ubstance )for e$ample mercaptan, added to odourless
natural gas or 3/4s to enable detection.

Offsore Oil 0oading $omenclature
2ingle buoy mooring )2%#,
2ingle point mooring )2P#,
5$posed location single buoy mooring )542%#,
2par
5nables offshore loading with vessel swinging to
present least resistance to prevailing wind or current
conditions.
Oil in Place (O'P)
5stimation of real amount of oil in a reservoir. "igher
value than recoverable reserves of reservoir.

Pig
&evice for cleaning a pipeline or separating two liquids
being moved down pipeline. )0ntelligent pig 6 fitted with
sensors to check for corrosion or defects in pipelines.,

Piling
4ong steel piles driven into the seabed to anchor fi$ed
offshore structures solidly in place.
Pipeline
A pipe through which natural gas, crude oil or
petroleum products are pumped between two points,
either onshore or offshore.

Plateau
4evel of peak oil or gas field production7 it is always
followed by declining level of production.
Platform
Fi$ed structure resting on seabed or piled into it.
Platform $omenclature
8ension 4eg Platform )84P,
#inimum Facility Platform )#03F,
3ot 3ormally Attended 0nstallation )33A0,
/ravity based structures )/%2,
Accommodation )A!!9#,
!ompression )!9#P,
&rilling )&R04,
Riser )R025,
Pre!entati!e maintenance
#aintenance carried out prior to unit or system failure.

Primary *eco!ery
Recovery of hydrocarbons from a reservoir using only
natural reservoir pressure.)see also 2econdary and
8ertiary Recovery.,

Produced 1ater
%rines naturally present or inected into reservoir to
enhance production. Produced along side oil production.

Production Drilling
&rilling of wells in order to bring a field into
production.

Production 'nstallation
An installation from which development wells are
drilled and that carries all associated processing plants
and other equipment needed to maintain a field in
production.

Production %tring
8ubing or piping in a production well through which oil
or gas flows from reservoir to wellhead.

*eco!ery #actor
Ratio of recoverable oil and / or gas to estimated oil and
/ or gas in place in reservoir. &etermined by a various
factors such as reservoir dimensions, pressure, nature of
hydrocarbons, and development plan. )see also Primary,
2econdary and 8ertiary Recovery.,
*edetermination
Retroactive adustment to relative percentage interests
of oint venturers in a field.
*eser!es2 Possible
Reserves at present cannot be regarded as :probable:.
*eser!es2 Probable
Reserves not yet :proven:, but are estimated to have a
better than .+; chance of being technically and
economically producible.
*eser!es2 Pro!en
Reserves which on available evidence are virtually
certain to be technically and economically producible.
*eser!oir
2ubsurface, porous, permeable rock formation in which
hydrocarbons are present.
*eser!oir dri!e
Powered by difference in pressures within reservoir and
well.
*eser!oir engineering model
'sed to predict reservoir behaviour during production
to enable selection of most efficient method of
recovery.

%atellite 'nstallation
An offshore structure that depends on another
installation for materials or services.

%econdary *eco!ery
Recovery of hydrocarbons from a reservoir by
increasing reservoir pressure by inecting gas or water
into reservoir rock. )see also Primary and 8ertiary
Recovery.,

%lug catcer
Plant installed in a gas pipeline system to catch
unwanted :slugs: of liquid.

%ubsea manifolds
Allows wells to be put on production without need to
build a platform to operate and maintain wells.

%ub-sea wellead
A wellhead installed on the sea floor and controlled
remotely from a platform, a floating production facility
or land.

%ubstructure
2upport form of an offshore installation on which
derrick, engines, helicopter pad, cranes, etc. are
installed.

+ension 0eg Platform
A floating offshore structure held in position by a
number of tension6maintaining cables anchored to
seabed. !ables dampen wave action to keep platform
stationary.

+erminal
9nshore transit installation that receives oil or gas from
offshore production facilities via pipeline and / or
tankers. Plant and equipment designed to receive and
process crude oil or gas to remove water and impurities.

+ertiary *eco!ery
Recovery of hydrocarbons from a reservoir by
sophisticated methods, for e$ample, heating reservoir or
enlarging pore spaces using chemicals. )see also
Primary and 2econdary Recovery,
+ubing
Piping installed in wells for production of oil and gas.

+opsides
8op of an installation positioned on acket.
3pstream
1ater 'njection (1')
<ater is pumped into alternate wells in a field. Pressure
in reservoir as a whole can be maintained or increased
and production can be maintained or increased.
1ell completion

1ell $omenclature (#ield)
&evelopment )&51,
&eviated )&51<,
/as 0nection )/0,
<ater 0nection )<0,.
1or&o!er
Re6entry into a completed field well for modification or
repair. Restoring well productivity by cleaning out
accumulations of sand, silt or other substances that clog
production tubing.