OIL
AND GAS GLOSSARY
Abandonment of a Well: Conversion of a drilled
well to a condition that can be left indefinitely without
further attention and which will not damage fresh water supplies
or potential petroleum reservoirs.
AFE: Authority for Expenditure
Associated Gas: Natural gas found in association
with oil in a reservoir, either dissolved in the oil or as
a cap above the oil.
Bcf: 1,000,000,000 ft3; billion cubic feet.
Barrel: A unit of measure for oil and petroleum
products that is equivalent to 40 U.S. gallons.
Barrel of Oil Equivalent (BOE): The volume
of natural gas that when burned produces the same amount of
heat as a barrel of oil (typical conversion 6,000 ft3of gas
equals one barrel of oil), typically: 6:1.
Bitumen: Crude oil in semi-solid or solid
forms.
British Thermal Units (BTU): A measure
of the heating value of the fuel.
Condensates: Hydrocarbons in the gaseous
state under reservoir conditions which become liquid when
temperature or pressure is reduced, and include a mixture
of pentanes and higher hydrocarbons.
Development Well: A well drilled within
the proved area of an oil or gas reservoir to the depth of
a stratigraphic horizon known to be productive.
[Back To Top]
Distillates: The products of condensation
during the fractional distillation process (includes gaseous
fuels, naphtha, gasoline, kerosene and gas oils).
Distillation: The basic process carried
out in an oil refinery and entails successive vaporization
and condensation of crude oil to separate out the lighter
products, leaving a residue of fuel oil or bitumen.
Downstream: Activities which take place
between the loading of crude oil at the export terminal and
the use of the oil by the end-user, including transport, supply,
trading, refining. distributing and marketing.
Dry Hole: An unsuccessful well, drilled
without finding commercial quantities of oil or gas.
Exploration and Production (E&P): The
‘upstream’ sector of the oil and gas industry.
Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR): The recovery
of hydrocarbons from a reservoir other than by the use of
natural reservoir pressure. This can involve increasing the
pressure (secondary recovery), heating or increasing the pore
size of the reservoir (tertiary recovery).
Exploratory Well: A hole drilled to find
and produce oil or gas in an area previously considered unproductive,
to find a new reservoir in a known field or to extend the
limit of a known oil or gas reservoir.
Farm-in: When a company acquires an interest
in a reserve by taking over all or part of the financial commitment
for drilling an exploration well.
[Back To Top]
Field: An area consisting of single or multiple
reservoirs all related to the same individual geological structural
feature or stratigraphic condition.
Flare: A means of safely disposing of waste
gases through the use of combustion.
Fracturing: A method of breaking down a
formation by pumping fluid at very high pressures in order
to increase production rates from a reservoir.
Held By Production: Typically, a lease payment holds the lease on the oil and gas property until drilling and production occur, and thereafter, the lease is held by production until production stops.
Lease: A legal document conveying the right
to drill for oil and gas, or the tract of land on which a
lease has been obtained where the producing wells and production
equipment are located.
Lifting Costs: The cost of producing oil
from a well or lease.
mcf: 1000 ft3; thousand cubic feet.
MMSCFD: Million Standard cubic feet of gas
per day, usually specified at 60F and 14.7 psia.
Operator: A company or individual responsible
for managing an exploration, development or production operation.
Pay Zone/Pay Thickness: Rock in which oil
and gas are found in exploitable quantities.
Permeability: A measure of the ability of
a rock to transmit fluid through pore spaces.
Play: An area in which hydrocarbon accumulations
or prospects of a given type occur.
Pool: A subsurface oil accumulation.
Prospect Lands: Lands considered being potentially
prolific.
Recoverable Crude: The proportion of the
crude in a reservoir that can be removed using currently available
techniques.
[Back To Top]
Recovery Factor: The ratio of recoverable
oil or gas reserves to the estimated oil or gas in place in
the reservoir.
Reserves: An economically recoverable quantity
of crude oil and gas that has not yet been produced from reservoirs.
Proven Reserves: Those reserves which geological,
geophysical and engineering data indicate to be in place and
recoverable with a high degree (>90%) of certainty.
Probable (Estimated) Reserves: Those reserves
which are not yet proven but have a better than 50% chance
of being produced, based on technical and economic factors.
Reservoir: A porous, permeable, sedimentary
rock formation containing oil and/or natural gas enclosed
or surrounded by layers of less permeable or impervious rock.
Seismic Acquisition (2-D, 3-D, 4-D): Data
used to map subsurface formations. A 2-D survey reveals a
cross section of the subsurface, a 3-D survey creates a three-dimensional
image of the subsurface based on data gathered in the inline
and crossline directions and a 4-D or time-lapse 3-D survey
includes a repetitive 3-D survey over time to track fluid
movement in the reservoir.
Spud: The initial penetration of the ground
or seafloor at the start of the drilling operation
Tcf: 1,000,000,000,000 ft3; trillion cubic
feet.
Tight Hole:
1. [Drilling] A section of a wellbore, usually openhole, where
larger diameter components of the drillstring, such as drillpipe
tool joints, drill collars, stabilizers, and the bit, may
experience resistance when the driller attempts to pull them
through these sections.
2. A well that the operator requires be kept as secret as
possible, especially the geologic information. Exploration
wells, especially rank wildcats, are often designated as tight.
Unfortunately, this designation is of questionable benefit
in keeping the data secret.
Upstream: Activities relating to the exploration,
drilling, production and delivery to a sales point for crude
oil or natural gas.
Wellhead: The equipment at the surface of
a well used to control the pressure and where hydrocarbons
and water exit the ground.
Working Interest: The interest in a mineral
property that entitles the owner to a portion of the production
from the property and may entitle the owner to royalty payments.
[Back To Top]
Glossary Terms adopted from the following
sources, as at 19 December 2003.
Baker Hughes http://www.bakerhughes.com/investor/resources/oil_glossary_s_z.htm#w
PetroAssist.com http://www.petroassist.com/Tech%20Know/techknow.asp
Petroleum Communication Foundation http://www.pcf.ab.ca/glossary/default.asp
Schlumberger Limited http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Default.cfm
Society of Petroleum Engineers http://www.spe.org/spe/jsp/basic/0,2396,1104_1710_0,00.html
United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association http://www.ukooa.co.uk/ukooa/glossary.htm
Home
| Projects
| News
Releases | Investor
Corporate Info
| Contact
Us
Copyright © 2006 SilverStar Energy.
All Rights Reserved. |