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Process Engineering Term - C
CARRIED WORKING INTEREST - A fractional interest in an oil and gas property conveyed or assigned to another party by the operator or owner of the working interest. In its simplest form, a carried working interest is exempt from all costs of development and operation of the property. However, the carried interest may specify “to casing point”, “to setting of tanks”, or “through well completion”. If the arrangement specifies through well completion, then the carried interest may assume the equivalent fractional interest of operating costs upon completion of the well. There are many different types of carried interests, the details varying considerably from arrangement to arrangement. One authority has observed, “The numerous forms this interest is given from time to time make it apparent the term ‘carried interest’ does not define any specific form of agreement but serves only as a guide in preparing and interpreting instruments”.
CASING - Steel pipe used in oil wells to seal off fluids in the rocks from the bore hole and to prevent the walls of the hole from caving.
CASINGHEAD - The top of the casing set in a well; the part of the casing that protrudes above the surface and to which the control valves and flow pipes are attached.
CASINGHEAD GAS - Gas produced from an oil well as distinguished from gas from a gas well. The casinghead gas is taken off at the top of the well or at the separator.
CASING POINT - A term that designates a time when a decision must be made whether casing is to be run and set or the well abandoned and plugged. In a joint operating agreement, casing point refers to the time when a well has been drilled to objective depth, tests made, and the operator notifies the drilling parties of his recommendation with respect to setting casing and a production string and completing the well. On a marginal well, the decision to set pipe is often difficult. To case a well often costs as much as the drilling. On a very good well there is no hesitation; the operators are glad to run casing and complete the well.
CEMENT - (1) To fix the casing firmly in the hole with cement, which is pumped through the drillpipe to the bottom of the casing and up into the annular space between the casing and the walls of the well bore. After the cement sets (hardens), it is drilled out of the casing. The casing is then perforated to allow oil and gas to enter the well. (2) Sedimentary. Mineral material, usually precipitated chemically, that fills the spaces between individual grains of a consolidated (hard) sedimentary rock; the binding material that holds the grains together. The most common binders are silica, carbonates, and certain iron oxides. Other cements are clay minerals, barite, gypsum, anhydrite, and pyrite.
CHOKE - A type of orifice installed at the surface on the tubing string to adjust and control the amount of oil or gas flowing from a well. It is customary to refer to the production of a well as so many barrels or thousands of cubic feet through a 1/4-inch or 1/2-inch choke, or whatever the size of the opening. The flowing pressure exerted by the well's production give an indication of the strength of the well, and is helpful in determining whether a well is commercial
CHRISTMAS TREE - (1) An assembly of valves mounted on the casinghead through which a well is produced. The Christmas tree also contains valves for testing the well and for shutting it in if necessary. (2) A subsea production system similar to a conventional land tree except it is assembled complete for remote installation on the seafloor with or without diver assistance. The marine tree is installed from the drilling platform; it is lowered into position on guide cables anchored to foundation legs implanted in the ocean floor. The tree is then latched mechanically or hydraulically to the casinghead by remote control.
COMMERCIAL WELL - A well of sufficient net production that it could be expected to pay out in a reasonable time and yield a profit from the operation. A shallow 50-barrel-a-day well in a readily accessible location onshore could be a commercial well. Such a well in virtually any offshore area where enormously expensive producing facilities and pipe lines would have to be constructed would not be considered commercial.
COMPLETED WELL - A well that has been mechanically completed for production or service use. There may be more than one completed zone in the well. (See Active well.)
COMPLETION - To finish a well so that it is ready to produce oil or gas. After reaching total depth (T.D.), casing is run and cemented; casing is perforated opposite the producing zone, tubing is run, and control and flow valves are installed at the wellhead. Well completions vary according to the kind of well, depth, and the formation from which the well is to produce.
COMPLETION FUNDS - Completion funds are formed to invest in well completions, to finance the completing and equipping of a potentially productive well. After a well is drilled into a productive formation, there remain the costs of setting pipe, (casing the well); perforating, testing, acidizing, or fracturing the formation; and running production tubing and installing pumping equipment, separators, stock tanks, etc. The operator who drills the well may not have the financial resources to complete the well, so he may sell part or all of his interests to a completion fund. Completion funds are not as risky an investment as drilling funds, but are less certain than income funds and royalty funds.
CONCESSION - Usually used in foreign operations and refers to a large block of acreage granted to the operator by the host government for a certain time and under certain government conditions which allows the operator to conduct exploratory and/or development operations. The Concession Agreement assures the holder of certain rights under the law.
CONDENSATE - A natural gas liquid with a low vapor pressure, compared with natural gasoline and liquified petroleum gas. It is produced from a deep well where the temperature and pressure are high. Gas condenses as it rises up the wellbore and reaches the surface as condensate. Similarly, condensate separates out naturally in pipelines or in a separation plant by the normal process of condensation.
CONTINENTAL MARGIN - A zone separating the emergent continents from the deep sea bottoms.
CONTINENTAL SHELF - A broad, gently sloping, shallow feature extending from the shore to the continental slope.
CONTINENTAL SLOPE - A relatively steep, narrow feature paralleling the continental shelf; the region in which the steepest descent of the ocean bottom occurs.
CORE SAMPLE - A solid column of rock, usually from 2 - 4 inches in diameter, taken from the bottom of a well bore as a sample of an underground formation. Cores are also taken in geological studies of an area to determine the oil and gas prospects.
CRUDE OIL - Oil as it comes from the well; unrefined petroleum.
CASING - Steel pipe used in oil wells to seal off fluids in the rocks from the bore hole and to prevent the walls of the hole from caving.
CASINGHEAD - The top of the casing set in a well; the part of the casing that protrudes above the surface and to which the control valves and flow pipes are attached.
CASINGHEAD GAS - Gas produced from an oil well as distinguished from gas from a gas well. The casinghead gas is taken off at the top of the well or at the separator.
CASING POINT - A term that designates a time when a decision must be made whether casing is to be run and set or the well abandoned and plugged. In a joint operating agreement, casing point refers to the time when a well has been drilled to objective depth, tests made, and the operator notifies the drilling parties of his recommendation with respect to setting casing and a production string and completing the well. On a marginal well, the decision to set pipe is often difficult. To case a well often costs as much as the drilling. On a very good well there is no hesitation; the operators are glad to run casing and complete the well.
CEMENT - (1) To fix the casing firmly in the hole with cement, which is pumped through the drillpipe to the bottom of the casing and up into the annular space between the casing and the walls of the well bore. After the cement sets (hardens), it is drilled out of the casing. The casing is then perforated to allow oil and gas to enter the well. (2) Sedimentary. Mineral material, usually precipitated chemically, that fills the spaces between individual grains of a consolidated (hard) sedimentary rock; the binding material that holds the grains together. The most common binders are silica, carbonates, and certain iron oxides. Other cements are clay minerals, barite, gypsum, anhydrite, and pyrite.
CHOKE - A type of orifice installed at the surface on the tubing string to adjust and control the amount of oil or gas flowing from a well. It is customary to refer to the production of a well as so many barrels or thousands of cubic feet through a 1/4-inch or 1/2-inch choke, or whatever the size of the opening. The flowing pressure exerted by the well's production give an indication of the strength of the well, and is helpful in determining whether a well is commercial
CHRISTMAS TREE - (1) An assembly of valves mounted on the casinghead through which a well is produced. The Christmas tree also contains valves for testing the well and for shutting it in if necessary. (2) A subsea production system similar to a conventional land tree except it is assembled complete for remote installation on the seafloor with or without diver assistance. The marine tree is installed from the drilling platform; it is lowered into position on guide cables anchored to foundation legs implanted in the ocean floor. The tree is then latched mechanically or hydraulically to the casinghead by remote control.
COMMERCIAL WELL - A well of sufficient net production that it could be expected to pay out in a reasonable time and yield a profit from the operation. A shallow 50-barrel-a-day well in a readily accessible location onshore could be a commercial well. Such a well in virtually any offshore area where enormously expensive producing facilities and pipe lines would have to be constructed would not be considered commercial.
COMPLETED WELL - A well that has been mechanically completed for production or service use. There may be more than one completed zone in the well. (See Active well.)
COMPLETION - To finish a well so that it is ready to produce oil or gas. After reaching total depth (T.D.), casing is run and cemented; casing is perforated opposite the producing zone, tubing is run, and control and flow valves are installed at the wellhead. Well completions vary according to the kind of well, depth, and the formation from which the well is to produce.
COMPLETION FUNDS - Completion funds are formed to invest in well completions, to finance the completing and equipping of a potentially productive well. After a well is drilled into a productive formation, there remain the costs of setting pipe, (casing the well); perforating, testing, acidizing, or fracturing the formation; and running production tubing and installing pumping equipment, separators, stock tanks, etc. The operator who drills the well may not have the financial resources to complete the well, so he may sell part or all of his interests to a completion fund. Completion funds are not as risky an investment as drilling funds, but are less certain than income funds and royalty funds.
CONCESSION - Usually used in foreign operations and refers to a large block of acreage granted to the operator by the host government for a certain time and under certain government conditions which allows the operator to conduct exploratory and/or development operations. The Concession Agreement assures the holder of certain rights under the law.
CONDENSATE - A natural gas liquid with a low vapor pressure, compared with natural gasoline and liquified petroleum gas. It is produced from a deep well where the temperature and pressure are high. Gas condenses as it rises up the wellbore and reaches the surface as condensate. Similarly, condensate separates out naturally in pipelines or in a separation plant by the normal process of condensation.
CONTINENTAL MARGIN - A zone separating the emergent continents from the deep sea bottoms.
CONTINENTAL SHELF - A broad, gently sloping, shallow feature extending from the shore to the continental slope.
CONTINENTAL SLOPE - A relatively steep, narrow feature paralleling the continental shelf; the region in which the steepest descent of the ocean bottom occurs.
CORE SAMPLE - A solid column of rock, usually from 2 - 4 inches in diameter, taken from the bottom of a well bore as a sample of an underground formation. Cores are also taken in geological studies of an area to determine the oil and gas prospects.
CRUDE OIL - Oil as it comes from the well; unrefined petroleum.
Process Engineering Term - D
DEMONSTRATED RESERVES (API) - A collective term for the sum of proved and indicated reserves. Proved reserves are estimated with reasonable certainty to be recovered under current economic conditions. Indicated reserves are economic reserves in known productive reservoirs in existing fields expected to respond to improved recovery techniques where (1) an improved technique has been installed but its effect cannot yet be fully evaluated, or (2) an improved technique has not been installed but knowledge of reservoir characteristics and the results of a known technique installed in a similar situation are available for use in the estimating procedure.
DEPOSIT - An accumulation of oil or gas capable of being produced commercially.
DERRICK - A wooden or steel structure built over a wellsite to provide support for drilling equipment and a tall mast for raising and lowering drillpipe and casing; a drilling rig.
DEVELOPMENT WELLS - Wells drilled in an area already proved to be productive.
DIAPIR - A mass of rock, usually salt, which has come from a slightly deeper part of the earth's surface by piercing through overlying layers of sediment through a zone of weakness.
DIRECTIONAL DRILLING - The technique of drilling at an angle from the vertical by deflecting the drill bit. Directional wells are drilled to develop an offshore lease from one drilling platform; to reach a pay zone where drilling cannot be done, such as beneath a shipping lane.
DISCOVERY WELL - An exploratory well that encounters a new and previously untapped petroleum deposit; a successful wildcat well. A discovery well may also open a new horizon in an established field.
DOME - A roughly symmetrical upfold of the layers of rock in which the beds dip in all directions more or less equally from a common point; any deformation characterized by local uplift and approximately circular in outline; e.g. the salt domes of Louisiana and Texas.
DOWNHOLE - A term to describe tools, equipment, and instruments used in the well bore; also conditions or techniques applying to the well bore.
DRILL CUTTINGS - Chips and small fragments of drilled rock that are brought to the surface by the flow of the drilling mud as it is circulated.
DRILL PIPE - Heavy, thich walled, hollow steel pipe used in rotary drilling to turn the drill bit and to provide a conduit for the drilling mud.
DRILLING CONTRACTOR - A person or company whose business is drilling wells. Wells are drilled on several contract specifications: per foot, day rate, or turnkey (that is, upon completion). Most major oil companies do not own drilling rigs. Exploration and development drilling is contracted. Personnel manning the rigs work for the contractor.
DRILLING MUD - A special mixture of clay, water, or refined oil, and chemical additives pumped downhole through the drill pipe and drill bit. The mud cools the rapidly rotating bit; lubricates the drill pipe as it turns in the well bore; carries rock cuttings to the surface; serves as a plaster to prevent the wall of the borehole from crumbling or collapsing; and provides the weight or hydrostatic head to prevent extraneous fluids from entering the well bore and to control downhole pressures that may be encountered.
DRY HOLE - A well drilled to a certain depth without finding commercially exploitable hydrocarbons.
DRILLING PERMIT - In states that regulate well spacing, a drilling permit is the authorization to drill at a specified location; a well permit.
DRY GAS - A natural gas from the well free of liquid hydrocarbons; gas that has been treated to remove all liquids; pipeline gas.
DEPOSIT - An accumulation of oil or gas capable of being produced commercially.
DERRICK - A wooden or steel structure built over a wellsite to provide support for drilling equipment and a tall mast for raising and lowering drillpipe and casing; a drilling rig.
DEVELOPMENT WELLS - Wells drilled in an area already proved to be productive.
DIAPIR - A mass of rock, usually salt, which has come from a slightly deeper part of the earth's surface by piercing through overlying layers of sediment through a zone of weakness.
DIRECTIONAL DRILLING - The technique of drilling at an angle from the vertical by deflecting the drill bit. Directional wells are drilled to develop an offshore lease from one drilling platform; to reach a pay zone where drilling cannot be done, such as beneath a shipping lane.
DISCOVERY WELL - An exploratory well that encounters a new and previously untapped petroleum deposit; a successful wildcat well. A discovery well may also open a new horizon in an established field.
DOME - A roughly symmetrical upfold of the layers of rock in which the beds dip in all directions more or less equally from a common point; any deformation characterized by local uplift and approximately circular in outline; e.g. the salt domes of Louisiana and Texas.
DOWNHOLE - A term to describe tools, equipment, and instruments used in the well bore; also conditions or techniques applying to the well bore.
DRILL CUTTINGS - Chips and small fragments of drilled rock that are brought to the surface by the flow of the drilling mud as it is circulated.
DRILL PIPE - Heavy, thich walled, hollow steel pipe used in rotary drilling to turn the drill bit and to provide a conduit for the drilling mud.
DRILLING CONTRACTOR - A person or company whose business is drilling wells. Wells are drilled on several contract specifications: per foot, day rate, or turnkey (that is, upon completion). Most major oil companies do not own drilling rigs. Exploration and development drilling is contracted. Personnel manning the rigs work for the contractor.
DRILLING MUD - A special mixture of clay, water, or refined oil, and chemical additives pumped downhole through the drill pipe and drill bit. The mud cools the rapidly rotating bit; lubricates the drill pipe as it turns in the well bore; carries rock cuttings to the surface; serves as a plaster to prevent the wall of the borehole from crumbling or collapsing; and provides the weight or hydrostatic head to prevent extraneous fluids from entering the well bore and to control downhole pressures that may be encountered.
DRY HOLE - A well drilled to a certain depth without finding commercially exploitable hydrocarbons.
DRILLING PERMIT - In states that regulate well spacing, a drilling permit is the authorization to drill at a specified location; a well permit.
DRY GAS - A natural gas from the well free of liquid hydrocarbons; gas that has been treated to remove all liquids; pipeline gas.
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