Lexicon of Terms

Table of Contents

A

Arab oil embargo of 1973-74 — During the Arab-Israeli conflict in October 1973, Arab oil producers cut off shipments to the Unites States and the Netherlands in retaliation for their support of Israel. At the same time, they cut down production. The shortage was felt by all oil-importing nations, with world prices moving sharply higher. Price and allocation controls suppressed some of this increase in the United States, but gasoline lines were still prevalent.

Acre-foot — In the U.S., the thickness of a pay zone is measured in feet, and the area of the reservoir is measured in acres. An acre-foot is a volume of reservoir rock that is one acre in area and one foot thick.

API gravity — The gravity (weight per unit of volume) of crude oil expressed in degrees according to an American Petroleum Institute recommended system. The higher the API gravity, the higher the crude. High-gravity crudes are generally considered more valuable.

Annulus of a well — The space between the surface casing and the inner, producing well-bore casing.

AFE (Authorization For Expenditure) — An estimate of the costs of drilling and completing a proposed well, which the operator provides to each working interest owner before the well is commenced.

Anticline — A geological term describing a fold in the earth’s surface with strata sloping downward on both sides from a common crest. Anticlines frequently have surface manifestations like hills, knobs, and ridges. At least 80 percent of the world’s oil and gas has been found in anticlines.

Associate gas — The gas that occurs with oil either as free gas or in solution. When occurring alone, it is referred to as unassociated gas.

Asphalt — A solid hydrocarbon which may be deposited within the reservoir rock, in well equipment, or in surface lines and tanks.

Annular space — The space between a well’s casing and the wall of the borehole.

API — American Petroleum Institute, a petroleum industry association that sets standards for oil field equipment and operations.

Aquifer — An underground water reservoir contained between layers of rock, sand or gravel.

Acre-foot — In the U.S., the thickness of a pay zone is measured in feet, and the area of the reservoir is measured in acres. An acre-foot is a volume of reservoir rock that is one acre in area and one foot thick.

API gravity — The gravity (weight per unit of volume) of crude oil expressed in degrees according to an American Petroleum Institute recommended system. The higher the API gravity, the higher the crude. High-gravity crudes are generally considered more valuable.

Annulus of a well — The space between the surface casing and the inner, producing well-bore casing.

AFE (Authorization For Expenditure) — An estimate of the costs of drilling and completing a proposed well, which the operator provides to each working interest owner before the well is commenced.

Anticline — A geological term describing a fold in the earth’s surface with strata sloping downward on both sides from a common crest. Anticlines frequently have surface manifestations like hills, knobs, and ridges. At least 80 percent of the world’s oil and gas has been found in anticlines.

Associate gas — The gas that occurs with oil either as free gas or in solution. When occurring alone, it is referred to as unassociated gas.

Asphalt — A solid hydrocarbon which may be deposited within the reservoir rock, in well equipment, or in surface lines and tanks.

Annular space — The space between a well’s casing and the wall of the borehole.

API — American Petroleum Institute, a petroleum industry association that sets standards for oil field equipment and operations.

Aquifer — An underground water reservoir contained between layers of rock, sand or gravel.

B

Bridle — The cable link between the “horsehead” and the pump rod on a pumping unit.

Basement rock — Igneous or metamorphic rock lying below sedimentary formations in the earth’s crust. Basement rock does not contain petroleum deposits.

BS&W — (basic sediment and water) Material pumped up with oil and gas which must be separated out.

Bleeding core — A core sample of rock so highly permeable and saturated that oil drips from it.

Butane — A hydrocarbon associated with petroleum. It is gaseous at ordinary atmospheric conditions.

Barrel Standard — Unit of measurement in the petroleum industry. One barrel of oil equals 42 U.S. gallons.

Blowout — A sudden escape of oil or gas from a well, caused by uncontrolled high pressure. It usually occurs during drilling.

Btu (British thermal unit) — A standard measure of heat content in a fuel. One Btu equals the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit at or near 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Back-in — A type of interest in a well or property that becomes effective at a specified time in the future, or on the occurrence of a specified future event.

Bonus Money — paid to a landowner or other holder of mineral rights by the lessee for the execution of an oil and gas lease in addition to any rental or royalty obligations specified in the lease.

BOP (blowout preventer) — An assembly of heavy-duty valves attached to the top of a well casing to control pressure.

Bottom-hole pump — A compact, high-volume pump located in the bottom of a well, not operated by sucker rods or a surface power unit.

Blue Sky Law — State regulations governing an offering to sell securities within the state.

BCF (billion cubic feet) — The cubic foot is a standard unit of measure for gas at atmospheric pressure.

Biomass — Any organic material, such as wood, plants, and organic wastes, that can be turned into fuel.

Basin — A depression in the earth’s crust in which sedimentary materials have accumulated. Such a basin may contain oil or gas fields.

Blowout insurance — An insurance policy that protects the insured party (working interest owner) from liabilities which might arise from a blowout during the drilling, completion, or production of a well.

Bottom-hole pressure — The pressure of the reservoir or formation at the bottom of the hole. A decline in pressure indicates some depletion of the reservoir.

Blind pool — Refers to an oil and gas limited partnership which has not committed to specific prospects, leases, or properties at the time of capital formation.

Behind pipe — If a well drills through several pay zones and is completed in the deepest productive reservoir, casing is set all the way down to the producing zone. Viewed from (a perspective) inside the borehole, reserves in the shallower pay zones up the hole are behind the casing.

C

Capitalize — To treat certain expenditures as capital expenditures for Federal income tax computations.

Cracking — The process of breaking down the larger, heavier and more complex hydrocarbon molecules into simpler and lighter molecules, thus increasing the gasoline yield from crude oil. Cracking is done by application of heat and pressure, and in modern time the use of a catalytic agent.

Coal gasification — The chemical conversion of coal to synthetic gaseous fuel.

Capital Funds — Monies invested in a business for use in conducting the operations of the business.

Carried Interest — A fractional working interest in an oil and gas lease that comes about through an arrangement between co-owners of a working interest.

Cement squeeze — Forcing cement into the perforations, large cracks, and fissures in the wall of a borehole to seal them off.

Clean oil — Crude oil containing less than 1 percent sediment and water; “pipeline oil”, oil clean enough to send through a pipeline.

Cuttings — Chips and small rock fragments brought to the surface by the flow of drilling mud as it is circulated and examined by geologists for oil content.

Casinghead — The portion of the casing that protrudes above the surface and to which control valves and flow pipes are attached.

Casinghead gasoline — Highly volatile, water-white liquid hydrocarbons separated from casinghead gas.

Crude oil equivalent — A measure of energy content that converts units of different kinds of energy into the energy equivalent of barrels of oil.

Cavings Rock — Fagments that break off from the walls of a borehole and fall into the borehole during drilling operations.

Coal liquefaction — The chemical conversion of coal to synthetic liquid fuel.

Condensate — Liquid hydrocarbons separated from natural gas, usually by cooling.

Capital expenditure — An expenditure intended to benefit the future activities of a business, usually by adding to the assets of a business, or by improving an existing asset.

Cement — Fluid cement is mixed at the surface, pumped to the bottom of a cased well, forced to flow around the lower end of the casing and up into the space between the casing and the borehole. When the cement solidifies (sets), it holds the casing in place, and provides support.

Casing Pipe — used in oil wells to reinforce the borehole. Sometimes several casings are used, one inside the other. The outer casing, called the “surface pipe,’ shuts out water and serves as a foundation for subsequent drilling.

Completed well — A well made ready to produce oil or natural gas. Completion involves cleaning out the well, running steel casing and tubing into the hole, adding permanent surface control equipment, and perforating the casing so oil or gas can flow into the well and be brought to the surface.

Confirmation well — A well drilled to “prove” the formation encountered by an exploratory well.

Crude oil — Liquid petroleum as it comes out of the ground. Crude oils range from very light (high in gasoline) to very heavy (high in residual oils). Sour crude is high in sulfur content. Sweet crude is low in sulfur and therefore often more valuable.

Conveyance — Legal term for transferring the title of a property from one party to another, typically by deed.

Commissions — Payments to qualified agents of the sponsor of a limited partnership, for selling interests in it to investors. Commissions may take the form of a percent of partnership interests sold, an oil and gas interest, or stock in the sponsor’s company.

CO2 injection — A secondary recovery technique in which carbon dioxide (CO2) is injected into wells as part of a miscible recovery program.

Circulate — To pump drilling fluid into the borehole through the drillpipe and back up the annulus.

CAOF (calculated absolute open flow) — A figure representing a gas well’s theoretical producing capability per day.

Conventional energy sources — Oil, gas, coal, and sometimes nuclear energy, in contrast to alternative energy sources such a solar, hydroelectric and geothermal power, synfuels, and biomass.

Capital costs (Oil & Gas Tax Usage) — For Federal income tax purposes, the costs of capital expenditures which may be recovered by deduction against income (through depreciation and depletion).

Casinghead gas — Natural gas produced from an oil well, as opposed to gas produced from a gas well.

Capital asset — An asset acquired as an investment, for the purpose of creating a product or service intended to be used in the activities or operations of a business.

Choke — An orifice installed in a pipeline at the well surface to control the rate of flow.

Cogeneration — The combined production of electrical or mechanical energy and usable heat energy.

Connate water — The water present in a petroleum reservoir in the same zone occupied by oil and gas considered by some to be the residue of the primal sea, connate water occurs as a film of water around each grain of sand in granular reservoir rock and is held in place by capillary attraction.

Christmas tree — An assembly of valves, gauges, and chokes mounted on a well casinghead to control production and the flow of oil to the pipelines.

Cable drilling — A method of well-drilling that employs a reciprocating, rather than a rotary, motion to penetrate rock. In the nineteenth century, until Drake’s time, power was supplied by men. Drake used a steam-powered cable rig. Today, cable rigs are powered by gasoline or diesel engines.

Common carrier — A person or company in the business of transporting the public or goods for a fee. In the industry, a person or company engaged in the movement of petroleum products, like a public utility.

Core — Samples of subsurface rocks taken as a well is being drilled. The core allows geologists to examine the strata in proper sequence and thickness.

D

Directional drilling — Drilling at an angle, instead of on the perpendicular, by using a whipstock to bend the pipe until it is going in the desired direction. Directional drilling is used to develop offshore leases, where it is very costly and sometimes impossible to prepare separate sites for every well; to reach oil beneath a building or some other location which cannot be drilled directly; or to control damage or as a last resort when a well has cratered. It is much more expensive than conventional drilling procedures.

Distillate — Liquid hydrocarbons, usually colorless and of high API gravity, recovered from wet gas by a separator that condenses the liquid out of the gas. The present term is natural gas.

Development — well A well drilled in an already discovered oil or gas field.

Downstream — All operations taking place after crude oil is produced, such as transportation, refining, and marketing.

Depletion, restoration of — In federal income taxation, the adding back to income of depletion allowance taken on minerals not produced.

Dual completion — Completing a well that draws from two or more separate producing formations at different depths. This is done by inserting multiple strings of tubing into the well casing and inserting packers to seal off all formations except the one to be produced by a particular string.

Dry natural gas — Natural gas containing few or no natural gas liquids (liquid petroleum mixed with gas).

Delay rental — Cash payments to the mineral rights owner (lessor) by the working interest owner (lessee), for the privilege of postponing the commencement of drilling operations on the leased property.

Deductions — Tax items which may be subtracted from gross income to arrive at taxable income in Federal income tax computations.

Downhole — Refers to equipment or operations that take place down inside a borehole.

Drill string — Also called drill pipe or drill stem. Thirty-foot lengths of steel tubing screwed together to form a pipe connecting the drill bit to the drilling rig. The sting is rotated to drill the hole and also serves as a conduit for drilling mud.

Drillstem test — A test through the drill pipe prior to completion to determine if oil or gas is present in a formation.

Drilling mud — A mixture of clay, water, chemical additives, and weighting materials that flushes rock cuttings from a well, lubricates and cools the drill bit, maintains the required pressure at the bottom of the well, prevents the wall of the borehole from crumbing or collapsing, and prevents other fluids from entering the well bore.

Due Diligence — In an offering of securities, certain parties who are responsible for the accuracy of the offering document, have an obligation to perform a “due diligence” examination of the issuer; issuer’s counsel, underwriter of the security, brokerage firm handling the sale of the security. Due diligence refers to the degree of prudence that might properly be expected from a reasonable man, on the basis of the significant facts which relate to a specific case.

Domestic production — Oil and gas produced in the United States as opposed to imported product.

Drilling break — A sudden increase in the rate of drilling.

Drilling rig — The surface equipment used to drill for oil or gas, consisting chiefly of a derrick, a winch for lifting and lowering drill pipe, a rotary table to turn the drill pipe, and engines to drive the winch and rotary table.

Drilling platform — An offshore structure with legs anchored to the sea bottom that supports the drilling of up to 35 wells from one location.

Deliverability — A well’s tested ability to produce.

Deed — A written document by which the title to a property is transferred from one party (the grantor) to another (the grantee).

Drilling — The act of boring a hole through which oil or gas may be produced if encountered in commercial quantities.

Differential-pressure sticking — A condition in which a section of drillpipe becomes stuck in deposits on the wall of the borehole.

Distillate fuel oil — A term subject to a variety of definitions. Sometimes the definition is based on the method of production, but other definitions are based on boiling range, viscosity, or use.

Deepwater port — An offshore marine terminal designed to accommodate large vessels such as VLCCs and tankers, connected to the shore by submerged pipelines.

Dry hole — A well that either produces no oil or gas or yields too little to make it economic to produce.

Distributor — A wholesaler of gasoline and other petroleum products; also know as a jobber. Distributors of natural gas are almost always regulated utility companies.

Drilling fund — The generic term employed to describe a variety of organizations established to attract venture capital to oil and gas exploration and development. Typically the fund is established as a joint venture or limited partnership.

Diesel oil — A petroleum fraction composed primarily of aliphatic (linear of unbranched) hydrocarbons. Diesel oil is slightly heavier than kerosene.

Division Order — A contract for the sale of oil or gas, by the holder of a revenue interest in a well or property, to the purchaser (often a pipeline transmission company).

Drill bit — The part of the drilling tool that cuts through rock strata.

E

External casing packer — A device used on the outside of the well casing to seal off formations or protect certain zones. The packer is run on the casing and expanded against the wall of the borehole at the proper depth by hydraulic pressure or fluid pressure from the well.

Extraction plant — A plant for the extraction of the liquid constituents in casinghead gas or wet gas.

Ethanol — The two-carbon-atom alcohol present in the greatest proportion upon fermentation of grain and other renewable resources such as potatoes, sugar, or timber. Also called grain alcohol.

Exploratory well — A well drilled to an unexplored depth or in unproven territory, either in search of a new reservoir or to extend the known limits of a field that is already partly developed.

Electrical well logging — A method of oil exploration that originated with Conrad Schlumberger, who first tested it in 1927 on a 1,500-meter well in France. As used today, the process is very simple. Current passes into the ground, through the resistive medium and into the sonde. The resulting charts show the varying resistance, the conductance, and the self-potential of the strata surrounding the well at every level, and geophysicists use them to assay whether petroleum is present in a formation.

Economic interest — An interest in oil and gas in the ground. It entitles the owner to a deduction from gross income derived from production of that oil and gas as specified in Federal income tax regulations.

Exploration — The search for oil and gas. Exploration operations include: aerial surveys, geophysical surveys, geological studies, core testing and the drilling of test wells.

Enhanced oil recovery — Injection of water, steam, gases or chemicals into underground reservoirs to cause oil to flow toward producing wells, permitting more recovery than would have been possible from natural pressure or pumping alone.

Expenses (Tax Usage) — Expenditures for business items that have no future life (such as rent, utilities, or wages) and are incurred in conducting normal business activities.

F

Flange up — To complete the drilling of a well.

Future prices — Refers to the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) which introduced futures contracts for crude oil in 1985 and natural gas in 1990.

Fossil fuels — Fuels that originate from the remains of living things, such as coal, oil, natural gas, and peat.

Fishing — Recovering the tools or pipe that have been accidentally lost down the borehole by using specially designed tools that screw into or grab the missing equipment.

Flowing well — A well that produces through natural reservoir pressure and does not require pumping.

Fuel oil — See Heating oil.

Flooding — One of the methods of enhanced oil recovery. Water flooding or gas flooding might be considered secondary recovery methods.

Flow Through concept — In ventures structured as partnerships (or S corporations), certain items of tax significance (profit, loss, etc.) are passed on to the partners (or S corporation shareholders) in the venture. In a venture structured as a “C” corporation, the responsible tax-paying party would be the corporation itself (not its shareholders).

Front-end costs — Costs that are paid out of initial investment in a venture, first, before the venture activities actually begin.

Fault trap — A geological formation in which oil or gas in a porous section of rock is sealed off by a displaced, nonporous layer.

Farmer’s oil — An expression that refers to the landowner’s share of oil from a well drilled on his property. This royalty is traditionally one-eighth of the produced oil free of any expense to the landowner.

Fee lands — Privately owned, nonpublic lands.

Fishing tools — Special instruments equipped with the means for recovering objects lost while drilling the well.

Feet of pay — The thickness of the pay zone penetrated in a well.

Fault — A break in the continuity of stratified rocks or even basement rocks. Faults are significant to oilmen because they can form traps for oil when the rock fractures, they can break oil reservoirs into noncommunicating sections, they help produce oil accumulations, and they form traps on their own.

Filter cake — A plastic-like coating that builds up inside the borehole. Such buildup can cause serious drilling problems, including sticking of the drillpipe.

Five-spot waterflood program — A secondary-recovery operation in which four injection wells are drilled in a square pattern with the production well in the center. Water from the injection wells moves through the formation, forcing oil toward the production well.

Flaring — The burning of gas vented through a pipe or stack at a refinery, or a method of disposing of gas while a well is being drilled. Flaring is regulated by state agencies. Venting (letting gas escape unburned) is generally prohibited.

Farm in — When one company drills wells or performs other activity on another company’s lease in order to earn an interest in or acquire that lease.

Formation — A geological term that describes a succession of strata similar enough to form a distinctive geological unit useful for mapping or description.

Farm out agreement — An arrangement in which the responsibility of exploration and development is shifted (by assignment) from the working interest owner to another party.

Field — A geographical area under which one or more oil or gas reservoirs lie, all of them related to the same geological structure.

Fracturing — A well stimulation technique in which fluids are pumped into a formation under extremely high pressure to create or enlarge fractures for oil and gas to flow through. Proppants such as sand are injected with the liquid to hold the fractures open.

G

Geophysicist — A geophysicist applies the principles of physics to the understanding of geology.

Gamma-ray logging — A technique of exploration for oil in which a well’s borehole is irradiated with gamma rays. The varying emission of these rays indicates to geologists the relative density of the rock formation at different levels.

Gun perforation — A method of creating holes in a well casing downhole by exploding charges to propel steel projectiles through the casing wall. Such holes allow oil from the formation to enter the well.

Geophones — The sound-detecting instruments used to measure sound waves created by explosions set off during seismic exploration work.

General partner — In a limited partnership, the general partner is responsible for managing the partnership’s activities (and is commonly the party that put the deal together). His liability to the partnership’s creditors is limited.

Geothermal energy — Energy produced from subterranean heat.

Gas-oil ratio — The number of cubic feet of natural gas produced along with a barrel of oil.

Gas-cut mud — Drilling mud permeated with bubbles of gas from downhole. The circulation of such mud can be severely impaired, seriously affecting drilling operations.

Gusher — A well drilled into a formation in which the crude is under such high pressure that at first it spurts out of the wellhead like a geyser. Gushers are rare today owning to improved drilling technology, the use of drilling mud to control downhole pressure, and oilmen’s recognition of their wastefulness.

Gross income — Total income from an activity, before deduction of (1) items that may be treated as expenses (such as intangible drilling costs), and (2) allowed tax items (such as depletion allowance, depreciation allowance, etc.).

Gas condensate — Liquid hydrocarbons present in casinghead gas that condense when brought to the surface.

Gas lift — A recovery method that brings oil from the bottom of a well to the surface by using compressed gas. Gas pumped to the bottom of the reservoir mixes with fluid, expands it, and lifts it to the surface.

Gas cap — The gas that exists in a free state above the oil in a reservoir.

Gravimeter — A geophysical device that has been particularly useful in finding salt domes. Actually, it is a weight on a spring. The spring gets longer in high-gravity areas and shorter in areas of gravity-minus. Magnetism helps the oil geologist understand its measurements

Gasoline — A volatile, inflammable, liquid hydrocarbon mixture.

Guaranteed payments — Payments by a partnership to one or more of its partners for services rendered.

Groundwater — The water in underground rock strata that supplies wells and springs.

H

Hydrostatic head — The height of a column of liquid. The difference in height between two points in a body of liquid.

Hydraulic fracturing — A method of stimulating production from a low-permeability formation by creating fractures and fissures by applying very high fluid pressure.

Heavy oil — A type of crude petroleum characterized by high viscosity and a high carbon-to-hydrogen ration. It is usually difficult and costly to produce by conventional techniques.

Hang the rods — To pull pump rods out of the well and hang them in the derrick on rod hangers.

Heating oil — Oil use for residential heating.

Horsehead — The curved guide or head piece on the well end of a pumping jack’s walking beam. The guide holds the short loop of cable, called the bridle, attached to the well’s pump rods.

History of a well — A written account of a well’s drilling and operation, required by law in some states.

Hydrometer — An instrument that measures the specific gravity of liquids.

Horizontal drilling — The newer and developing technology that makes it possible to drill a well from the surface, vertically down to a certain level, and then to turn at a right angle, and continue drilling horizontally within a specified reservoir, or an interval of a reservoir.

Hydrocarbons — A large class of organic compound of hydrogen and carbon. Crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas condensate are all mixtures of various hydrocarbons, among which methane is the simplest.

Horizon — A specific sedimentary layer in a cross section of land, especially one in which a petroleum reservoir is found.

Held by production — Refers to an oil and gas property under lease, in which the lease continues to be in force, because of production from the property.

I

Independent producer — 1. A person or corporation that produces oil for the market, who has no pipeline system or refining. 2. An oil entrepreneur who secures financial backing and drills his own wells

Infill drilling — Wells drilled to fill in between established producing wells to increase production.

Injection well — A well employed for the introduction into an underground stratum of water, gas or other fluid under pressure. Injection well are employed for the disposal of salt water produced with oil or other waste. They are also use for a variety of other purposes: 1) Pressure maintenance, to introduce a fluid into a producing formation to maintain underground pressures which would otherwise be reduced by virtue of the production or oil or gas, 2)Secondary recovery operations, to introduce a fluid to decrease the viscosity of oil, reduce its surface tension, lighted its specific gravity, and drive oil into producing wells, resulting in greater production of oil.

Intangible drilling costs — Expenditures, deductible for federal income tax purposes, incurred by an operator for labor, fuel, repairs, hauling, and supplies used in drilling and completing a well for production.

Initial potential — Flow rate measured during the initial completion of a well in a specific reservoir (initial daily rate of production).

In situ — In its original place. Refers to methods of producing synfuels underground, such as underground gasification of a coal seam or heating oil shale underground to release its oil.

Investment Tax Credit (ITC) — A credit against income taxes, usually computed as a percent of the cost of investment in certain types of assets.

Isopachous map — A geological map showing the thickness and shape of underground formations. A tool used to determine underground oil and gas reservoirs.

 

J

Jack or Unit — An oil-pumping unit. The pumping jack’s walking beam provides the up-and-down motion to the well’s pump rods.

Jetting — Injecting gas into a subsurface formation for the purpose of maintaining reservoir pressure.

Joint venture — A large-scale project in which two or more parties (usually oil companies) cooperate. One supplies funds and the other actually carries out the project. Each participant retains control over his share, including liability and the right to sell.

Joint — A single section of drill pipe, casing, or tubing, usually about 30 feet long.

Jet fuel — See Kerosene.

Jack-up rig — A floating platform with legs on each corner that can be lowered to the sea bottom to raise or jack up the platform above the water.

Joint Operating Agreement — A detailed written agreement between the working interest owners of a property which specifies the terms according to which that property will be developed.

Junk basket — A magnet used to retrieve small tools lost in the well. A fishing instrument.

K

Kerosene — The petroleum fraction containing hydrocarbons that are slightly heavier than those found in gasoline and naphtha. Kerosene (also spelled kerosene) was the most important petroleum product because of its use for home and commercial lighting; in recent years demand has risen again as a result of kerosene’s use in gas turbines and jet engines.

Kill a well — To overcome downhole pressure by adding weighting elements to the drilling mud.

Kerogen — The hydrocarbon in oil shale. Scientists believe that kerogen was the precursor of petroleum and that petroleum development in shale was somehow prematurely arrested.

Keyseating — A condition in which the drill collar of another part of the drill string becomes wedged in a section of crooked hole.Kick Occurs – when the pressure encountered in a formation exceeds the pressure exerted by the column of drilling mud circulating through the hole. If uncontrolled, a kick leads to a blowout.

L

LNG (liquefied natural gas) — Natural gas that has been converted to a liquid through cooling to -260 degrees Fahrenheit at atmospheric pressure.

Lease offering (lease sale) — An area of land offered for lease – usually by the U.S. Department of Interior – for the exploration for and production of specific natural resources such as oil and gas. Such a lease conveys no title or occupancy rights apart from the right to search for and produce petroleum or other natural resources subject to the conditions stated in the lease.

Limited partner — In a limited partnership, a partner whose liability is limited to the amount of his investment in the partnership (plus any assessments and his share of undistributed partnership earnings).

Lease or Sublease — Any transaction in which the owner of operating rights in a property assigns all or a portion of these rights to any other party.

Lifting costs — The costs of producing oil from a well or lease; the operating expenses.

Lost circulation — A serious condition that occurs when drilling mud pumped into the well does not return to the surface, but goes into the porous formation, crevices, or caverns instead.

Landowner royalty — The share of the gross production of the oil and gas on a property without deducting any of the cost of producing the oil or gas. The usual landowner’s royalty is one-eighth of gross production.

Landman — A self-employed individual or company employee who secures oil and gas leases, checks legal titles, and attempts to cure title defects so that drilling can begin.

Logs — Records made from data-gathering devices lowered into the wellbore. The devices transmit signals to the surface which are then recorded on film and used to make the record describing the formation’s porosity, fluid saturation, and lithology. The filing of a log is required by the federal government if the drill site is on federal land.

Limestone — Sedimentary rock largely consisting of calcite. On a world-wide scale, limestone reservoirs probably contain more oil and gas reserves than all other types of reservoir rock combined.

LPG (liquefied petroleum gases) — Hydrocarbon fractions lighter than gasoline, such as ethane, propane and butane, kept in a liquid state through compression and/or refrigeration, commonly referred to as “bottled gas.

Law of capture — A legal concept on which oil and gas law in some states is based: since petroleum is liquid, and hence mobile, it is not owned until it is produced.

Limited partnership — A partnership in which the general partner manages the partnership’s activities and is solely liable for them. The limited partners are liable only to the extent of their contributions.

Lease (Oil and Gas) — A contract by which the owner of the mineral rights to a property conveys to another party, the exclusive right to explore for and develop minerals on the property, during a specified period of time.

Lignite — A solid fuel of a grade higher than peat but lower than bituminous coal.

Lease acquisition costs — Bonus payments.

Lease broker — An individual engaged in obtaining leases for speculation or resale.

Lease hound — Someone who goes out and aggressively acquires oil and gas leases from the landowner, and then turns around and sells or trades them to an oil company planning to drill a well in the area.

Lead lines — The lines through which production from individual wells is run to tanks.

M

Mud logger — A technician who uses chemical analysis, microscopic examination of the cuttings, and an assortment of electronic instruments to monitor the mud system for possible indications of hydrocarbons (shows).

Monocline — A geologic formation in which all the strata are inclined in the same direction.

Mud engineer — A technician responsible for proper maintenance of the mud system.

Milling — Cutting a “window” in a well’s casing with a tool lowered into the hole on the drillstring.

Multiple completion — Completion of a well in more than one producing formation. The tubing of each production zone extends up to the Christmas tree to be piped to separate tankage.

Mud — A fluid mixture of clay, chemicals, and weighting materials suspended in fresh water, salt water, or diesel oil.

Migration — The movement of oil and gas through layers of rock deep in the earth.

Mid-continent crude — Oil produced mainly in Kansas, Oklahoma, and North Texas.

MMCF Million cubic feet — The cubic foot is a standard unit of measure for quantities of gas at atmospheric pressure.

Mineral Rights — The ownership of all rights to gas, oil, or other minerals as they naturally occur in place, at or below the surface of a tract of land.

Midstream or Middle distillates — Refinery products in the middle of the distillation range of crude oil, including kerosene, kerosene-based jet fuel, home heating fuel, range oil, stove oil and diesel fuel.

N

Net Revenue Interest (NRI) — The percentage of revenues due an interest holder in a property, net of royalties or other burdens on the property. A landowner leases his mineral rights to an oilman. The landowner retains a royalty of 1/8 (=12.5%); his net revenue interest is 12.5%. The oilman’s net revenue interest would be 87.5% (=100% – 12.5%).

Natural gas — A mixture of hydrocarbon compounds and small amounts of various nonhydrocarbons (such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen) existing in the gaseous phase or in solution with crude oil in natural underground reservoirs.

NGL (natural gas liquids) — Portions of natural gas that are liquefied at the surface in lease separators, field facilities, or gas processing plants, leaving dry natural gas. They include, but are not limited to, ethane, propane, butane, natural gasoline, and condensate.

Naval petroleum reserves — Areas containing proven oil reserves that were set aside for national defense purposes by Congress in 1923 (located in Elk Hills and Buena Vista, California; Teapot Dome, Wyoming; and on the North Slope in Alaska).

Net profits interest — A share of gross production from a property that is carved out of a working interest, and is figured as a function of net profits from operation of the property.

O

Oil in place — The crude oil estimated to exist in a field or a reservoir. Oil in the formation not yet produced.

OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) — An international oil cartel originally formed in 1960 and including in 1983: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Quatar, Libya, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, and Gabon.

Organization costs — Direct costs incurred in the creation of a new business organization such as an oil and gas limited partnership.

Oil pool — An underground reservoir containing oil. An oil field may contain one or more pools, each of which has its own pressure system.

Overthrust belt — A geological system of faults and basins in which geologic forces have thrust layers of older rock above strata of newer rock that might contain oil or natural gas. The Eastern Overthrust Belt runs from eastern Canada through Appalachia into Alabama. The Western Overthrust Belt runs from Alaska through western Canada and the Rocky Mountains into Central America.

Octane — An hydrocarbon of the paraffin series. It is liquid at ordinary atmospheric conditions, although small amounts may be present in the gas associated with petroleum.

Overriding Royalty (ORRI) — A revenue interest in oil and gas, created out of a working interest. Like the lessor’s royalty, it entitles the owner to a share of the proceeds from gross production, free of any operating or production costs.

Outcrop — A portion of bedrock or other stratum protruding through the soil level, indicating a fault or some other oil-bearing formation.

On the pump — A phrase used in reference to a well that no longer flows from natural reservoir energy by is produced by means of a pump.

Oilfield services — Described as service companies that do work in and for the oilfield. These services may include: cementing, perforating, trucking, logging, etc.

Operator — The individual or company responsible for the drilling, completion and production operations of a well, and the physical maintenance of the leased property.

Oil shale — A fine-grained, sedimentary rock that contains kerogen, a partially formed oil. Kerogen can be extracted by heating the shale, but at a very high cost.

OCS (outer continental shelf) — A gently sloping underwater plain that extends seaward from the coast.

Oil run — 1. The production of oil during a specified period of time. 2. A tank of oil gauged, tested, and put on a pipeline.

Offshore platform — A fixed structure from which wells are drilled offshore for the production of oil and natural gas.

Octane number — A performance rating used to classify motor fuels by grading the relative antiknock properties of various gasolines. A high-octane fuel has better antiknock properties than one with a low number.

Oil column — The vertical height (thickness) of an oil accumulation above the oil-water contact.

Oil gravity — The density of liquid hydrocarbons, generally measured in degrees.

Offering memorandum — A legal document provided to potential investors in a venture describing the terms under which the investment is being offered.

Offset well — A well drilled near the discovery well. Also a well drilled to prevent oil and gas from draining from one tract of land to another where a well is being drilled or is already producing.

Oil rig — A drilling rig that drills for oil and gas.

P

Plug back — To block off the lower section of the borehole by setting a plug, in order to perform operations in the upper part of the hole.

Pinch out — The disappearance of a porous, permeable formation between two layers of impervious rock over a horizontal distance.

Proved reserves — Estimates of the amount of oil or natural gas believed to be recoverable from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions.

Petroleum geologist — A geologist who specializes in the exploration for, and production of, petroleum.

Proved undeveloped reserves — Estimates of what is recoverable through new wells on undrilled acreage, deepening existing wells, or secondary recovery methods.

Permeability — A measure of the ease with which a fluid such as water or oil moves through a rock when the pores are connected. Geologists express permeability in a unit named the darcy, but oilmen use the millidarcy because most of the rocks they come in contact with are not very permeable.

Petrochemicals — Chemicals derived from crude oil or natural gas, including ammonia, carbon black, and other organic chemicals.

Public Offering — A securities (investment) offering intended for sale to the general public. It must be register with 1) the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Federal government and 2) the securities-regulating agencies of the various states in which it will be offered.

Petroleum — Strictly speaking, crude oil. Also used to refer to all hydrocarbons, including oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and related products.

Pipeline gas — Gas under enough pressure to enter the high-pressure gas lines of a purchaser; gas in which enough liquid hydrocarbons have been removed so that such liquids will not condense in the transmission lines.

Proved developed reserves — Estimates of what is recoverable from existing wells with existing facilities from open, producing payzones.

Pooling — A term frequently used interchangeably with “Unitization” but more properly used to denominate the bringing together of small tracts sufficient for the granting of a well permit under applicable spacing rules.

Porosity — A measure of the number and size of the spaces between each particle in a rock. Porosity affects the amount of liquid and gases, such as natural gas and crude oil, that a given reservoir can contain.

Producing platform — An offshore structure with a platform raised above the water to support a number of producing wells.

Pump — A device that is installed inside or on a production string (tubing) that lifts liquids to the surface.

Plugged & Abandoned (P&A) — This expression refers to setting cement plugs in an unsuccessful well (a dry hole) or a depleted well.

Probable reserves — Areas which are unproven but presumed capable of production because of geological inference, for instance, proximity to proven reserves in the same reservoir.

Producing horizon — Where the well is actually produced, since it may be drilled to a greater depth.

Production test — A test made to determine the daily rate of oil, gas, and water production from a potential pay zone.

Production — A term commonly used to describe taking natural resources out of the ground.

Private Placement Offering — A securities (investment) offering not intended for the general public. By meeting certain criteria, such an offering may qualify for exemptions from registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Federal government.

Primary recovery — Production in which oil moves from the reservoir, into the wellbore, under naturally occurring reservoir pressure.

Pool — 1) (noun) An underground reservoir containing or appearing to contain a common accumulation of oil and natural gas. A zone of a structure which is completely separated from any other zone in the same structure is a pool. 2) (verb) To combine two or more tracts of land into one unit for drilling purposes. This may be accomplished voluntarily, or through compulsion.

Payout — The amount of time it takes to recover the capital investment made on a well or drilling program.

Public lands — Any land or land interest owned by the federal government within the 50 states, not including offshore federal lands or lands held in trust for Native American groups.

Pumping well — A well that does not flow naturally and requires a pump to bring product to the surface.

Perforating gun — An instrument lowered at the end of a wireline into a cased well. It contains explosive charges that can be electronically detonated from the surface.

Primary term — The basic period of time during which a lease is in effect.

Pay zones — The term to describe the reservoir that is producing oil and gas within a given wellbore. Pay zones (or oil reservoirs) can vary in thickness from one foot to several hundred feet.

Plugging a well — Filling the borehole of an abandoned well with mud and cement to prevent the flow of water or oil from one strata to another or to the surface.

Proved behind-pipe reserves — Estimates of the amount of crude oil or natural gas recoverable by recompleting existing wells.

Present net value — The present value of the dollars (income, or stream of income) to be received at some specified time in the future, discounted back to the present at a specified interest rate.

Prospect — A lease or group of leases on which an operator intends to drill.

Packer — A flexible rubber sleeve that is part of a special joint of pipe.

Possible reserves — Areas in which production of crude oil is presumed possible owing to geological inference of a strongly speculative nature.

Petroleum engineer — A term including three areas of specialization: 1) Drilling engineers specialize in the drilling, workover, and completion operations, 2) Production engineers specialize in studying a well’s characteristics and using various chemical and mechanical procedures to maximize the recovery from the well, 3) Reservoir engineers design and execute the planned development of a reservoir. Many U.S. universities offer BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in petroleum engineering.

Payoff — The time when a well’s production begins to bring in revenues.

Pipeline — A tube or system of tubes used for the transportation of oil or gas. Types of oil pipelines include: lead lines, form pumping well to a storage tank; flow lines, from flowing well to a storage tank; lease lines, extending from the wells to lease tanks; gathering lines, extending from lease tanks to a central accumulation point; feeder lines, extending from leases to trunk lines; and trunk lines, extending from a producing area to refineries or terminals.

Perforation — A method of making holes through the casing opposite the producing formation to allow the oil or gas to flow into the well. See the Gun perforation.

Proppants — Materials used in hydraulic fracturing for holding open the cracks made in the formation by the fracturing process. Proppants may consist of sand grains, beads, or other small pellets suspended in fracturing fluid.

Pump off — To pump a well so rapidly that the oil level falls below the pump’s standing valve, rendering the well temporarily dry.

Q

Quitclaim deed — A document by which one party (grantor) conveys title to a property, by giving up any claim which he may have to title (although he does not profess that claim is necessarily valid).

Quad — One Quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) Btus

R

Royalty Funds — Generally speaking, a royalty fund is when royalty interests are being bought, sold and held by the funds sponsors. In nearly all leasing situations, once a lease has been developed, it provides a revenue stream. A portion of the revenue stream is set aside for royalty which generally amounts to 12.5% and overriding royalty &/or carried working interest of 2-5%. In a royalty fund the objective of the fund is to generate it’s revenue from royalties that are held from different producing fields throughout the country. The main feature to owning a percentage of a royalty fund is that with an oil royalty the royalty owner (or interest owner) pays no percentage of operating or developmental costs associated with the production of the oil or gas. Royalty programs generally offer a low risk factor along with a relatively low return. However, their main feature is that these types of programs last for many many years.

Refiner — A person or company that has any part in the control or management of any operation by which the physical or chemical characteristics of petroleum or petroleum products are changed.

Reserve — That portion of the identified resource from which a usable mineral and energy commodity can be economically and legally extracted at the time of determination.

Roughnecks — Members of the drilling crew.

Reamer — A tool used to enlarge or straighten a borehole.

Reservoir — A porous, permeable sedimentary rock formation containing quantities of oil and/or gas enclosed or surrounded by layers of less permeable or impervious rock. Also called a “horizon.”

Roof rock — A layer of impervious rock above a porous and permeable formation that contains oil or gas.

Relief well — A well drilled in a high-pressure formation to control a blowout.

Refining — Manufacturing petroleum products by a series of processes that separate crude oil into its major components and blend or convert these components into a wide range of finished products, such as gasoline or jet fuel.

Risk — The possibility of loss or injury. A level of uncertainty is associated with the various possible outcomes of the undertaking. Risk usually refers to a numerical estimate of the likelihood of the occurrence to these various possible outcomes.

Run ticket — A record of the oil run from a lease tank into a connecting pipeline. An invoice for oil delivered.

Round trip — Pulling the drillpipe from the hole to change the bit, then running the drillpipe and new bit back in the hole.

R&D — Research and development.

Ram — A closure mechanism on a blowout-preventer stack.

Running the tools — Putting the drillpipe, with the bit attached, into the hole in preparation for drilling.

Roustabout — A semi-skilled hand who looks after producing wells and production facilities. Royalty

Reservoir pressure — The pressure at the face of the producing formation when the well is shut-in. It equals the shut in pressure at the wellhead plus the weight of the column of oil in the hole.

Rotary drilling — A method of well-drilling that employs a rotating bit and drilling mud to cut through rock formations.

Reef — A buildup of limestone formed by skeletal remains of marine organisms. It often makes an excellent reservoir for petroleum.

Re-entry — A well was abandoned, but subsequent drilling and production in the area suggests that a potential pay zone in the well was missed or passed over.

Reversionary interest — An interest in a well or property that becomes effective at a specified time in the future or on the occurrence of a specified future event.

Retained Interest — A fractional interest reserved by the owner of a whole interest when the balance of the whole interest is transferred to another party.

Reserve (pool) — A porous and permeable underground formation of producible oil and/or natural gas, confined by impermeable rock or water barriers, and characterized by a single natural pressure system.

Recoverable resources — An estimate of resources, including oil and/or natural gas, both proved and undiscovered, that would be economically extractable under specified price-cost relationships and technological conditions.

Reclamation — The restoration of land to its original condition by regrading contours and replanting after the land has been mined, drilled, or otherwise has undergone alteration from its original state.

S

Surface rights — Surface ownership of a tract of land from which the mineral rights have been severed.

Skidding the rig — Moving a derrick from one location to another on skids and rollers.

Synthetic crude oil (syncrude) — A crude oil derived from processing carbonaceous material such as shale oil or unrefined oil in coal conversion processes.

Shoestring sands — Narrow strands of saturated formation that have retained the shape of the stream bed that formed them. In the United States, such a formation is located in Kansas.

Spacing unit — The size (amount of surface area) of a parcel of land on which only one producing well is permitted to be drilled to a specific reservoir.

Scout — An individual who observes and reports on competitor’s leasing and drilling activities.

Service well — A well drilled in a known oil or natural gas field to inject liquids that enhance recovery or dispose of salt water.

Structure — Subsurface folds or fractures of strata that form a reservoir capable of holding oil or gas.

Selling Expenses — Expenses incurred in marketing interests in securities and commonly paid out of the investor’s capital investment.

Securities — Securities are commonly thought of as stocks and bonds. As defined by the Securities Act of 1933, however, securities include any certificate of interest or participation in any profit sharing agreement, investment contract, or fractional undivided interest in oil, gas, or other mineral rights.

Source rock — Sedimentary rock, usually shale containing organic carbon in concentrations as high as 5-10% by weight.

Side track — When fishing operations have been unable to recover an object in the hole that prevents drilling ahead, the borehole can often be drilled around the obstacle in the original hole.

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 — Established the Securities and Exchange Commission which regulates the activities of securities markets. Sedimentary basin

Sandstone — Rock composed mainly of sand-sized particles or fragments of the mineral quartz.

Stipper oil well — An oil well capable of producing no more than 10 barrels of oil per day.

Solution gas — Natural gas that is dissolved in the crude oil in a reservoir.

Structural trap — A reservoir created by some cataclysmic geologic event that creates a barrier and prevents further migration. The most common structural traps are anticlines, in which at lease 80 percent of the world’s oil and gas have been discovered.

Syncline — A downfold in stratified rock that looks like an upright bowl. Unfavorable to the accumulation of oil and gas.

Sweet crude — Crude oil with low sulfur content which is less corrosive, burns cleaner, and requires less processing to yield valuable products.

Set casing — To cement casing in the well hole, usually in preparation for producing a commercial well.

Show — An indication of oil or gas observed and recorded during the drilling of a well.

Shut-in Royalty — A special type of royalty negotiated in the leasing of a property.

Squeeze — The procedure of pumping a slurry of cement into a particular space in the borehole (often the annulus between the borehole and the casing), so that the cement will solidify to form a seal.

Sedimentary rock — Rock formed by the deposition of sediment, usually in a marine environment.

Syndication expenses — Expenditures incurred by a partnership in connection with issuing and marketing its interests to investors: legal fees of the issuer for securities and tax advice, accounting fees for audits and other representations included in the offering memorandum. Synfuels

Spot market — A short-term contract (typically 30 days) for the sale or purchase of a specified quantity of oil or gas at a specified price.

Section — A square tract of land having an area of one square mile (=640 acres). There are 36 sections in a township.

Supervisory fee — Analogous to a management fee in an oil and gas limited partnership, it is paid by the partnership to the general partner for direct supervision of mechanical operations at the well site.

Seismic exploration — A method of prospecting for oil or gas by sending shock waves into the earth. Different rocks transmit, reflect, or refract sound waves at different speeds, so when vibrations at the surface send sound waves into the earth in all directions, they reflect to the surface at a distance and angle from the sound source that indicates the depth of the interface. These reflections are recorded and analyzed to map underground formations.

Sample — Cuttings of a rock formation broken up by the drill bit and brought to the surface by the drilling mud. These are examined by geologists to identify the formation and type of rock being drilled.

Shut-in — To stop a producing oil and gas well from producing.

Sour Crude or Gas — Oil or natural gas containing sulfur compounds, notably hydrogen sulfide a poisonous gas.

Severance tax — Tax paid to the state government by producers of oil or gas in the state. Shale

Substructure — A platform upon which a derrick is erected.

Submersible drilling barge — A vessel capable of drilling in deep water. The hull is flooded to sink the barge beneath the water level, and a drilling platform is jacked up above the surface.

Subscription — The manner by which an investor participates in a limited partnership through investment.

Submersible pump — A bottom-hole pump for use in an oil well when a large volume of fluid is to be lifted.

Shut-in pressure — The pressure at the wellhead when valves are closed. 

Salt dome — A subsurface mound or dome of salt.

Schlumberger (pronounced “slumber-jay”) — The founder of electrical well logging, now the name for any electrical well log.

Securities Act of 1933 — Establishes requirements for the disclosure of information for any interstate offering and sale of securities.

Shale shaker — A vibrating screen or sieve that strains cuttings out of the mud before the mud is pumped back down into the borehole.

Shoot a well — A technique that stimulates production of a tight formation by setting off charges downhole that crack open the formation. The early wells were shot with nitroglycerin; then dynamite was used. The nitro man has been replaced today by acidizers and frac trucks.

Spud — To spud a well means to start the initial drilling operations.

Saturation — 1. The extent to which the pore space in a formation contains hydrocarbons or connate water. 2. The extent to which gas is dissolved in the liquid hydrocarbons in a formation.

Separator — A pressure vessel used to separate well fluids into gases and liquids.

Seismograph — A device that records natural or manmade vibrations from the earth. Geologists read what it has recorded to evaluate the oil potential of underground formations.

Steel reef — Refers to the artificial reefs formed by the substructures of offshore drilling and production platforms which are inhabited by a rich variety of marine life. Step-out well

Sample log — A record of rock cuttings made as a well is being drilled. A record is then kept that shows the characteristics of the various strata drilled through.

Swab — A hollow rubber cylinder with a flap (check valve) on the bottom surface. It is lowered below the fluid level in the well. This opens the check valve allowing fluid into the cylinder. The check valve flap closes as the swab is pulled back up, lifting oil to the surface.

Sharing arrangement — An arrangement whereby a party contributes to the acquisition, or exploration and development, of an oil and gas property, and receives as compensation, a fractional interest in that property.

Synthetic gas — Gas produced from solid hydrocarbons such as coal, oil shale, or tar sands.

Shut-down well/shut-in well — A well is shut down when initial drilling ceases for one reason or another. A well is shut in when the wellhead valves are closed, shutting off production, often while waiting for transportation or for the market to improve.

Stratigraphic trap — A porous section of rock surrounded by nonporous layers, holding oil or gas. They are usually very difficult to locate, although oilmen believe that most of the oil yet to be discovered will be found in these traps.

Salt-bed storage — Storage of petroleum products in underground formations of salt whose cavities have been mined or leached out with superheated water.

Severance — The owner of all rights to a tract of land can sever the rights to his land (vertically or horizontally). In horizontal severance, for example, if he chooses to sell all or part of the mineral rights, two distinct estates are created: the surface rights to the tract of land and the mineral rights to the same tract. The two estates may change hands independently of each other.

Stocktank barrel — A barrel of oil at the earth’s surface.

Secondary recovery — The introduction of water or gas into a well to supplement the natural reservoir drive and force additional oil to the producing wells.

Stratigraphic test — A hole drilled to gather information about rock strata in an area. 

T

TCF — Trillion cubic feet.

Transfer rule — When an interest in an oil and gas property already proven to be capable of commercial production is transferred, the transferee taxpayer is generally not entitled to percentage depletion, although he may still be entitled to cost depletion, in computing his depletion allowance deduction from gross income.

Take-or-pay contract — A (long-term) contract between a gas producer and a gas purchaser, such as a pipeline transmission company.

Time value of money — The concept that a dollar in hand today is worth more than a dollar that will be received in some future year.

Tender — 1. A permit issued by a regulatory body for the transportation of oil or gas. 2. A barge or small ship that serves as a supply ship and/or storage facility for an offshore rig.

Tar sands — Rocks (other than coal or oil shale) that contain highly viscous hydrocarbons that are unrecoverable by primary production methods.

Trip — Making a “trip” is the procedure of pulling the entire string of drill pipe out of the borehole and then running the entire length of drill pipe back in the hole.

Tight sand — A formation with low permeability. Gas produced from a formation so designated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission qualifies for a higher market price.

Tool pusher — The supervisor of drilling rig operations.

Tight formation — A sedimentary layer of rock cemented together in a manner that greatly hinders the flow of any gas through the rock.

Tubing — Small diameter pipe, threaded at both ends, that is lowered into a completed well. Oil and gas are produced through a string of tubing.

Tank bottoms — A mixture of oil, water, and other foreign matter that collects in the bottoms of stock tanks and large crude storage tanks and must be cleaned or pumped out on a regular basis.

Tertiary recovery — The recovery of oil that involves complex and very expensive methods such as the injection of steam, chemicals, gases, or heat, as compared to primary recovery, which involves depleting a naturally flowing reservoir, or secondary recovery, which usually involves repressuring or waterflooding. Therm

Tar sand — A sandstone in which the spaces between grains are filled with a highly viscous tar.

Total depth (TD) — The maximum depth of a borehole.

Tight hole — A well about which the operator keeps all information secret.

Top lease — A (conditional) type of lease that may be granted by the mineral-rights owner of a property while an pre-existing recorded lease of that property is nearing expiration, but nonetheless is still in effect. The top lease would become effective only if and when the existing lease expires (or is terminated).

Third for a quarter — Sometimes also known as a “quarter for a third”. A widely used arrangement for promoting an oil deal to another party.

Tectonic map — A geologic map showing the structure of the earth’s crust.

Tax preference items — Certain items of income, or special deductions from gross income which are given favored treatment under Federal tax law.

Trap — A natural configuration of layers of rock where non-porous or impermeable rocks acts as a barrier, blocking the natural upward flow of hydrocarbons.

Tanker — An ocean going ship which hauls crude oil.

Township — A square tract of land six miles on a side, it consists of 36 sections of one square mile each.

Turnkey — A drilling contract that calls for a drilling contractor to drill a well, for a fixed price, to a specified depth. The purpose of drilling a well by turnkey contract may be related to the timing of Federal income tax deductions. For income tax purposes, expenses are deductible from gross income as they are incurred. When a turnkey contract is entered into toward the end of the current tax year, the drilling costs may be pre-paid at that time. The idea is to give a working interest owner (or investor) in the well, the opportunity to deduct the intangible drilling costs from his gross income in the current tax year.

Title — The combination of factors that, together, constitute legal ownership of a property.
W | X | Y | Z | Other

U

Undiscovered recoverable resources — Resources outside of known fields, estimated from broad geologic knowledge and theory.

Underwriter — One who guarantees the sale of securities to investors. He is at risk to the extent he assumes the responsibility of paying the net purchase price to the seller at a pre-determined price. He charges a fee for this service.

Updip well — A well located high on a structure where the oil-bearing formation is found at a shallower depth.

ULCC (Ultralarge crude carrier) — A large tanker built especially to carry 500,000 dwt and up of crude oil.

Unassociated gas — Natural gas that occurs alone, not in solution or as free gas with oil or condensate.

Upstream — Activities concerned with finding petroleum and producing it, compared to downstream which are all the operations that take place after production.

V

VLCC (very large crude carrier) — A tanker built to carry 200,000 to 350,000 dwt of crude oil.

Vapor pressure — The pressure exerted by a vapor held in equilibrium with its solid or liquid state.

Viscosity — A fluid’s resistance to flowing.

W

Workover — To clean out or work on a well to restore or increase production.

Wellhead — A device on the surface used to hold the tubing in the well. The wellhead is the originating point of the producing well at the top of the ground.

Wasting assets — Assets that will eventually lose their value.

Whipstock — A steel blocking device place in a borehole. As drilling is resumed, the whipstock forces the drill bit to veer off at a slight angle.

Write-off — In common usage: a reduction in taxable income that results when allowable deductions are subtracted from gross income.

Workover rig — The rig used when oilmen try to restore or increase a well’s production.

Well platform — An offshore structure that supports a well’s surface controls and flow piping.

Water drive — The most efficient driving mechanism to force oil and gas out of the reservoir.

Wall sticking — A condition in which a section of the drillstring becomes stuck on deposits of filter cake on the wall of the borehole in a well.

Wellbore — Physically, wellbore refers to a borehole, in other words a completed well.

Wildcat — An exploration well drilled to a reservoir, from which no oil or gas has previously been produced in the nearby surrounding area. Wildcatter

Waterflooding — A secondary recovery method in which water is injected into a reservoir to force additional oil into the wells.

Wet — A reservoir rock is said to be “wet” when it contains water but no hydrocarbons.

Working interest — An interest created by the execution of an oil and gas lease.

Wet gas — Natural gas containing liquid hydrocarbons – commonly condensate.

West Texas Intermediate — Refers to a grade of crude oil produced in the Permian and Midland basin areas of west Texas. The price paid for crude oil varies according to quality.

Well program — The procedure for drilling, casing, and completing a well.

Water-drive reservoir — A reservoir in which the pressure that forces the oil to the surface is exerted by edge or bottom water in the field.

W

Workover — To clean out or work on a well to restore or increase production.

Wellhead — A device on the surface used to hold the tubing in the well. The wellhead is the originating point of the producing well at the top of the ground.

Wasting assets — Assets that will eventually lose their value.

Whipstock — A steel blocking device place in a borehole. As drilling is resumed, the whipstock forces the drill bit to veer off at a slight angle.

Write-off — In common usage: a reduction in taxable income that results when allowable deductions are subtracted from gross income.

Workover rig — The rig used when oilmen try to restore or increase a well’s production.

Well platform — An offshore structure that supports a well’s surface controls and flow piping.

Water drive — The most efficient driving mechanism to force oil and gas out of the reservoir.

Wall sticking — A condition in which a section of the drillstring becomes stuck on deposits of filter cake on the wall of the borehole in a well.

Wellbore — Physically, wellbore refers to a borehole, in other words a completed well.

Wildcat — An exploration well drilled to a reservoir, from which no oil or gas has previously been produced in the nearby surrounding area. Wildcatter

Waterflooding — A secondary recovery method in which water is injected into a reservoir to force additional oil into the wells.

Wet — A reservoir rock is said to be “wet” when it contains water but no hydrocarbons.

Working interest — An interest created by the execution of an oil and gas lease.

Wet gas — Natural gas containing liquid hydrocarbons – commonly condensate.

West Texas Intermediate — Refers to a grade of crude oil produced in the Permian and Midland basin areas of west Texas. The price paid for crude oil varies according to quality.

Well program — The procedure for drilling, casing, and completing a well.

Water-drive reservoir — A reservoir in which the pressure that forces the oil to the surface is exerted by edge or bottom water in the field.

Z

Zone isolation — Sealing off a producing formation while a hole is being deepened. A special sealant is injected into the formation, where it hardens long enough for the hole to be drilled. Afterward, the substance again turns to liquid, unblocking the formation.

Zone — A specific interval of rock strata containing one or more reservoirs, used interchangeably with “formation.”