Oil and Gas Terms – Popular Oil and Gas Terminologies

oil and gas terms

Oil and gas terms or terminologies can be confusing, especially for people who are new to the industry workforce. While some terms may seem self-explanatory, others are more bizarre and require a breakdown in order to grasp the basic understanding.

However, knowing the oil and gas terms is not just important for understanding your colleagues in the industry, it is also imperative for ensuring that your work is done safely and well.

What are Oil and Gas Terms?

Oil and gas terms are words or abbreviations that are used as a tool to help someone understand oil and gas industry. These terminologies are used in the petroleum sector to represent units of measure or as short forms of industry jargon.

Oil and gas terms, sometimes referred to as oil and gas glossaries provide a list of terminologies in the hydrocarbon industry.

We would like to help you when making a move into the oil and gas industry.

These oil and gas terms provides help and guidance in your journey to the industry.

Ultimate Guide to Oil and Gas Terminologies

I have created this ultimate guide to oil and gas industry terminologies to help you get familiar with the industry jargon.

If you want to work in oil and gas, get a head start with this guide to the industry lingo.

Top 9 Oil and Gas Terms

  1. Barrel

This is the standard, basic unit for measuring oil and is equivalent to 42 U.S. gallons or 158.9873 litres.

  1. Blowout

A blowout is an uncontrolled flow of gas, oil, or other fluids typically caused by a pressure control system failure.

  1. Boe

This stands for Barrels of Oil Equivalent and is defined as a unit of energy equal to the energy released by burning one barrel of crude oil.

  1. BOEPD

This stands for Barrels of Oil Equivalent Per Day.

  1. BTU

BTU is an acronym for British Thermal Unit, a unit of heat.

  1. Christmas tree

The fittings and valves connected to the top of a well which controls the rate of flow from the well

  1. Crude Oil

This is a naturally occuring and unrefined product of petroleum that can be refined to petrochemicals.

  1. Derrick

The tower-like structure that controls most of the drilling and provides support for equipment being lowered in the well

  1. Derrickman

The title for the third person in command after the driller and the assistant driller.

Discovery

A well from which oil or gas has been recovered.

Dog House

This often refers to a steel-sided room that acts as a communication center for driller and crew.

Downstream

A term that is linked to oil and gas activities, such as refining, that take place away from the source of the supply.

Drill Cuttings

This refers to pieces of rock found in the well after drilling that are then removed and properly disposed of.

E&A

The abbreviation for exploration and appraisal

Fish

Anything that’s fallen down the wellbore by mistake

Frac job

Another term for hydraulic fracturing (when an oil or gas well is stimulated by pumping special fluids into the reservoir)

Grapple

Name of tools used to recover fish from the wellbore

Joint

Refers to the length of a pipe

Motorman

The member of the crew responsible for maintenance of the engines

Top 201 Oil and Gas Terms

The following are some of the basic oil and gas terminologies that you should understand. Learning the meaning of these words will help you as you get into or undertake petroleum career.

Permeability

The degree to which fluids or gas can move through porous material.

Pig

Name of the tool used to clean a pipeline

Reservoir

A general term used to refer to porous and permeable rock containing commercial volumes of oil and gas.

Spudding In

A term that describes the first drilling phase of a new well.

Sour Gas

Natural gas contaminated with chemicals, usually sulfur compounds, that causes a sour odour

TCF

An acronym for Trillion Cubic Feet of natural gas.

Trap

A geological barrier to the upward movement of oil or gas.

Upstream

This term refers to processes in the oil and gas industry, such as exploration and production, that occur near the supply. The first of the three main stages of the oil and gas industry. Upstream involves the initial exploration, drilling and production before the oil refining midstream stages.

Wildcat well

An exploratory well that is drilled in an area that isn’t a known oil field

1P

1P stands for Proven Reserves and refers to known or certain existing quantities of petroleum that are commercially recoverable.

2P

2P stands for Proven and Probable Reserves and includes Proven Reserves plus those that are at least 50% likely to be commercially recoverable.

3P

3P is short for Proven, Probable, and Possible Reserves and includes Proven and Probable Reserves as well as those that are at least 10% likely to be commercially recoverable.

Appraisal Wells

These wells are drilled to determine the reserves and to estimate the likely production rate of a field.

Availability Factor

This equals the percentage of time that an electricity generating plant can operate at full production.

Barrel

This is the standard, basic unit for measuring oil and is equivalent to 42 U.S. gallons or 158.9873 litres.

Base Load

This refers to the minimum load on an electricity supply system that runs 24 hours a day.

BBL

A barrel of oil.

Bcf

Billion cubic feet of gas.

Big Bear

This term is sometimes used to refer to a long period of work that lasts at least fifty consecutive days.

Biofuels

These are liquid fuels produced from biomass.

Biogas

This is gas captured from garbage landfill sites, sewage treatment plants, and livestock feedlots.

Biomass

Biomass refers to animal and vegetable derived organic materials.

Blowout

A blowout is an uncontrolled flow of gas, oil, or other fluids typically caused by a pressure control system failure.

Boe

This stands for Barrels of Oil Equivalent and is defined as a unit of energy equal to the energy released by burning one barrel of crude oil.

BOEPD

This stands for Barrels of Oil Equivalent Per Day.

BTU

BTU is an acronym for British Thermal Unit, a unit of heat.

Capacity Factor

This is the amount of electricity that a plant produces over a certain period divided by the amount of electricity it had the capacity to produce if it had operated at full power over that same period.

CF

CF stands for Cubic Feet and is a unit of measurement used for large volumes of natural gas.

Chainhand

A chainhand is an experienced worker who can maintain most of the rig including the motors.

Christmas Tree

This term is used to refer to an assembly of pipes and valves that control the flow of oil and gas from the casinghead.

Co2-E

This stands for Carbon Dioxide Equivalent and is used to compare the emissions of greenhouse gases based upon their global warming potential.

Cogeneration

This is the simultaneous conduction of electricity and heat in one fuel combustion process.

Core Sample

A core sample is a sample section of substance obtained by drilling with a core drill.

Crude Oil

This is a naturally occuring and unrefined product of petroleum that can be refined to petrochemicals.

CSG

This is an acronym for Coal Seam Gas, a natural gas composed mostly of methane and found in coal seams.

Derrickman

The title for the third person in command after the driller and the assistant driller.

Discovery

A well from which oil or gas has been recovered.

Distillate Fuel Oils

These are fuel oils that are products of distillation.

Dog House

This often refers to a steel-sided room that acts as a communication center for driller and crew.

Doglegs

A crooked section of a well created intentionally or unintentionally.

Drill Cuttings

This refers to pieces of rock found in the well after drilling that are then removed and properly disposed of.

Driller

The title given to the supervisor of a crew on a drilling rig.

Dry Hole

A dry hole is a well which no longer produces sufficient oil or gas.

Exploration

The search for oil and gas through surveys, studies, and testing.

Fish

A term that is given to items that become lost in the wellbore.

Fracking

Fracking or fracturing is a process in which fluids are pumped into the reservoir to stimulate the oil or gas well.

Hitch

A work period of any given number of days.

Intelligent Well

An oil or gas well that is equipped with monitoring equipment and other technology that optimizes production or allows for remote operation.

JORC Code

The Australian code for reporting exploration results, mineral resources, and ore reserves.

Kick

An intrusion of pressurized gas into the wellbore that sometimes precedes a blowout.

LNG

This is an acronym for Liquefied Natural Gas.

Load Factor

The ratio of the actual number of kilowatt-hours delivered on a system in a period of time to the total possible kilowatt-hours that could be delivered on the system during that same period.

MCF

This represents a thousand cubic feet and is the standard unit for measuring the volume of natural gas.

Mtpa

This stands for Million Tonnes Per Annum (of LNG).

Payzone

A reservoir or part of a reservoir that contains a profitable quantity of oil and gas.

Peak Load

This refers to the period of the heaviest use of electricity.

Permeability

The degree to which fluids or gas can move through porous material.

Pig

A term given to a cleaning device that is used inside a pipe.

Plugged And Abandoned

This refers to when all of the reservoirs in a well are sealed with cement so that no fluid can exit.

Primary Recovery

This refers to the extraction of petroleum from reservoirs using the natural energy available in the reservoirs to move fluids through to points of recovery.

PRRT

An acronym that stands for Petroleum Resource Rent Tax.

Reservoir

A general term used to refer to porous and permeable rock containing commercial volumes of oil and gas.

RET

An acronym that stands for Renewable Energy Target, an Australian plan designed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in the electricity sector.

Shut In

The temporary shut down of a producing well for cleanup or repairs.

Sour Gas

Natural gas that is contaminated with chemical impurities which may cause a bad odour. Spudding In – A term that describes the first drilling phase of a new well.

TCF

An acronym for Trillion Cubic Feet of natural gas.

Trap

A geological barrier to the upward movement of oil or gas.

Wildcat Well

This term refers an exploratory well being drilled in an unproven area or zone with no production.

Oil and Gas Terms or Terminologies Used in Petroleum Sector

Abandonment

Decommissioning an oil well – including plugging, removal of well equipment, production tanks and associated installations. Also surface remediation.

ASME

American Society of Mechanical Engineers. ASME develops codes and standards associated with the art, science, and practice of mechanical engineering that are accepted in more than 100 countries. For example, ASME B16.5 standards covers steel pipe flanges and flanged fittings including pressure-temperature ratings, materials, dimensions, tolerances, marking and testing.

API

American Petroleum Institute. The largest U.S. trade association for the oil and natural gas industry.

Barrel

The basic unit for measuring oil. A barrel is equal to 42 U.S. gallons.

Big Bear

A big bear is a hitch (a period of work on an oil rig) that lasts a minimum of 50 straight days.

BOPD

Barrels of oil produced per day.

Bean Choke

A bean choke or fixed choke is used to control the flow of fluids and is usually mounted onto or close to a Christmas tree.

Blow out Preventer

Pronounced “B-O-P”, not “bop”, a device connected to the wellhead to control and prevent blowouts.

Compliant Tower

A type of oil rig that uses a fixed tower connected to the sea bed for depths up to 3000 feet.

Casing

A hollow steel pipe cemented into position that is used to line a wellbore.

Condensate

Liquid hydrocarbons recovered by surface separators from natural gas. It is also referred to as natural gasoline and distillate.

Crude Oil

The basic oil in its raw state as it comes out of the ground.

Clamshell

A clamshell or clamshell cutter is a portable machine tool which clamps around pipework to either cut or bevel the pipe.

Drill String

A column, or string of pipe that transmits drilling fluid (via the mud pumps) and torque to the drill bit.

Derrick

A tapering tower, usually of open steel framework, used in the drilling of oil and gas wells as support for the equipment lowered into the well.

Dry Hole

A well which has been drilled where no significant oil has been found.

Downstream

The downstream industry is the third stage in the oil and gas sector (upstream, midstream, downstream). It covers processing at refineries, petrochemical plants and distribution. A term that is linked to oil and gas activities, such as refining, that take place in the oil and gas value chain.

DWS

A diamond wire saw used for subsea decommissioning

Elephant

An elephant is an oil field that contains more than 100 million recoverable barrels of oil.

Fixed Platform

A type of oil platform similar to a compliant tower, but for shallower depths of up to 1500 feet.

Finger

A Finger is a person that has been in the field long enough to no longer be a worm but is not smart enough to be considered a Hand. i.e. Drill Finger, Frac Finger.

Flange Facing

Machining a spiral groove surface finish on to a flange to ensure the flange joint is secure.

FPSO

Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel. Designed to receive oil produced by itself or from nearby platforms or subsea template. Then to process and store oil until it can be offloaded onto a tanker.

Fish

An item accidently left in the wellbore such as a tool, junk metal or a drill collar.

Flowlines

These are pipes connecting a wellhead to a manifold. These are the before the risers which transport the product upwards towards the platform.

Gusher

An oil well with so much pressure that oil flows out of the well head into the air. Now less common thanks to improved drilling methods.

G&P

Gathering and Processing

Ginzel

Slang term for a worker of the lowest “rank”, often a new starter with no oilfield experience whatsoever.

Hydrocarbons

A naturally occurring organic compound comprising hydrogen and carbon which can occur as gases, liquids or solids. Some examples include; Methane, Ethane, Propane, Butane, Pentane, Hexane, Coal, Bitumen and Asphalt.

HPU

Hydraulic Power Unit. One example is a unit used to power in-situ machining equipment such as a clamshell casing cutter or flange facing machine.

Hot Tapping

Tapping into a pipeline to add a new section of pipe, a branch, valve or pump. This is achieved using a hot tapping machine and a line stop actuator which allows the operation to be carried out without disrupting the flow of product through the pipe.

Hitch

Rig employees refer to their work period as a ‘hitch.’ A typical hitch is 20 days on, followed by 10 days off.

Intelligent Well

A well equipped with monitoring equipment and completion components that can be adjusted to optimize production, either automatically or with some operator intervention.

Intermediate Casing

A casing string set in place after the surface casing and before the production casing. The intermediate casing string provides protection against caving of weak or abnormally pressured formations and enables the use of drilling fluids of different density necessary for the control of lower formations.

Jacket

The steel frame supporting the deck and the topsides in a fixed offshore platform

Junk Basket

A large, rectangular steel box, usually with sides made of expanded metal to allow you to see what’s inside. The junk basket is used by the rig crew to store an assortment of relatively small parts of the drilling rig, ranging from drill bits to crossover subs to lifting subs.

Kelly Drive

A type of well drilling device using a section of pipe with a (three-, four-, six-, or eight-sided) or splined outer surface, which passes through the matching bushing and rotary table.

Kill

The act of stopping a well from flowing

Kill-weight Mud

A substance used to avoid loss of control of the well or a blowout. Usually made by weighting up some of the mud in the system by adding barite or hematite.

LNG

Abbreviation of Liquefied Natural Gas, which is one of the basic oil and gas terms. This is mainly methane and ethane, which has been liquefied at an extremely low temperature and a pressure near atmospheric pressure. The reason for doing this is when a pipeline is not available to transport gas to a marketplace, such as in remote regions.

Mud

Slang term for drilling fluid. Used for most fluids used in hydrocarbon drilling operations, especially fluids that contain significant amounts of suspended solids, emulsified water or oil.

Midstream

One of the three major stages of oil and gas industry operations. (Upstream, Midstream, Downstream) This includes processing, storing and transporting oil and natural gas before it is refined at a petrochemicals plant.

Natural Gas

We’ve all heard of it – but what does it contain? Essentially it’s a naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbon gases that is highly compressible and expansible. Methane is the main constituent of most natural gases (as much as 85%). Also present is lesser amounts of ethane, propane, butane and pentane. Impurities can also be present in large proportions, including carbon dioxide, helium, nitrogen and hydrogen sulphide.

Overboard Water

A name for produced water, or brine produced from oil and gas wells.

Pig

A device inserted into a pipeline for cleaning purposes. The act of using a pig is called pigging.

Play

A group of oil fields in the same area which are controlled by the same set or geological circumstances. For example, the North Sea can be divided into six ‘plays’

Petroleum

The word petroleum is a one of the basic oil and gas terms which means ‘rock oil’. It is a broad category that includes both crude oil and petroleum products. The terms oil and petroleum are sometimes used interchangeably.

Platform

The whole offshore rig structure which includes the drilling, extraction, storage and some processing. It also includes the accommodation for the workforce. This is one of the oil and gas terms you should learn.

Quat amine

Used as oil-wetting agents, corrosion and shale inhibitors and bactericide.

Roughneck

Also known as floor hands. These are the crew members on offshore oil or gas rigs. They do the hard manual labour and semi-skilled work, mostly on the drilling operation and under the supervision of a driller.

Refinery

This is where the crude oil is processed into more useful products such as petrol, diesel, olefins, petroleum naphtha, asphalt base, LNG and jet fuel. In general, a petrochemicals plant will refine the products further to change them into products including cosmetics, detergents, plastics.

Riser

A riser is a long metal or plastic pipe that transports oil from the sea floor to the production facility above.

Roustabout

Any unskilled manual labourer on the oil rig who carries out work that would otherwise distract more skilled workers.

Strings

The drill string provides drilling fluid via the mud pumps to the drill bit. The fluid can be pumped down through the string and back up through the annulus which is the void between the drill string and casing.

Sour Gas

Sour gas is natural gas or any other gas containing significant amounts of hydrogen sulphide (H2S). It is extremely poisonous, highly corrosive, explosive, colourless, and foul smelling. The higher the sulphide content, the more the processing steps required during refining. Sweet crude generally has very little or trace amounts of the sulphide, whilst sour crude has higher sulphide content.

Sea Star

A semi-submersible type of oil rig used for depths of up to 3500 feet. The oil rig rests on hollow barges in a star configuration which is attached to the sea bed with tension legs that allow for a bit of movement due to rough weather.

Spar Platform

A type of floating oil platform used for very deep waters which incorporates a large vertical cylinder bearing the topside equipment. Like an iceberg, the majority of a spar facility is beneath the water’s surface, providing the facility increased stability. Mooring is only required to attach the structure is moored to the sea bed. Not to keep it upright.

Topside

The ‘topside’ of an oil rig encompasses the surface deck of a platform, which includes all equipment for drilling, production and processing.  The topside operation can include oil and gas treatment, storage and offloading, process support systems, as well as the living quarters for those that work on the rig.

Tension Leg Platform

A type of floating oil platform where the topside structure is normally supported by four large diameter legs which are fixed to the sea bed using a complex mooring system. This allows horizontal movement but nor vertical ‘bobbing’. Because of their stability these are a popular choice in hurricane prone regions such as in the Gulf of Mexico.

UKCS

This is part of oil and gas terms or an abbreviation of the ‘United Kingdom Continental Shelf’ in the North Sea. It is located between the UK and Norway.

Vee Door

An opening at the floor level on one side of the Derrick. It is used to move in equipment and tools such as casings and drill pipe. The vee-door is really an opening and has no true door that can be closed or locked. New and inexperienced workers to are sometimes asked by the rig crew to find the key to the vee-door as a joke!

Wellhead

A term sometimes defined as being at the ‘Christmas Tree’ but in some exceptions may be defined as located at some other place.

Wet Gas

Natural gas containing liquid hydrocarbons in solution, which may be removed by a reduction of temperature and pressure or by a relatively simple extraction process.

Well Logging

Also known as borehole logging. Making a detailed record (well log) of the geologic formations penetrated by a borehole.

XOM

Abbreviation of the oil company Exxon Mobil. XOM is one of the popular oil and gas terms given the popularity of the company.

Yoke

The part of a gate valve that serves as a spacer between the bonnet and the operator or actuator.

ZLD

Abbreviation of Zero Liquid Discharge

Best Oil and Gas Terms or Terminologies for Beginners

Barrel

The basic unit for measuring oil. A barrel is equal to 42 U.S gallons. A popular oil and gas terms you should know about.

Bit

A drilling tool that cuts the hole. Bits are designed on tow basic and different principle. The cable tool bit moves up and down to pulverize. The rotary bit revolves to grind.

Blow Out Preventer

A heavy casing head control, filled with special gates or rams, which can be closed around the drill pipe or which completely closes the top of the casing.

Boyle’s Law

A law of physics stating that when gas is subject to compression and kept at a constant temperature, the product of the pressure and volume is a constant quantity, which means that the volume is inversely proportional to the pressure.

BTU

British Thermal Unit, a generalized measure of heating value, also used to compare energy potential in different types of fuels.

Casing

Heavy steel pipe used to seal off fluids from the hole or to keep the hole from caving in.

Casing Head Gas

Gas produced with oil in oil wells. The gas is taken from the well through the casing head at the top of the well

Catalytic Cracking

A refining process for breaking down large, complex hydrocarbon molecules into smaller ones. A catalyst is used to accelerate the chemical reactions in the cracking process.

Christmas Tree

The assembly of valves, pipes and fittings used to control the flow of oil and gas from the casinghead. As one of the oil and gas terms, this is important to understand.

Derrick

A tapering tower, usually of open steel framework, used in the drilling of oil and gas wells as support for the equipment lowered into the well.

Distillate Fuel Oils

Fuel oils which are products of distillation. They include fuels used for diesel fuel and space heating.

Directional Drilling

The drilling of a well that departs materially from the vertical direction.

Drilling Fluids

Special chemical fluids, usually called mud, introduced into the hole to lubricate the action of a rotary bit, to remove the cuttings and to prevent blowouts.

Dry Gas

Natural gas which does not contain dissolved liquid hydrocarbons.

Dry Hole

A completed well which is not productive of oil and/or gas or which is not productive of oil or gas in paying quantities.

Enhanced Recovery

The increased recovery from an oil pool achieved by artificial means or by the application of outside energy sources to the pool.

Equivalent Barrels

Quantities of natural gas and natural gas liquids translated into barrels of oil based on equal energy content. The energy content of six thousand cubic feet of gas (6 MCF) is the rough equivalent of one barrel of oil.

Exploration

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

Fault Trap

A structural trap in the earth, favorable for the retention of petroleum, formed by the cracking and breaking of a rock plane.

Gusher

An oil well that comes in with such great pressure that oil flows out of the well head into the air. Such wells used to be commonplace, but with improved drilling methods, notably the use of drilling mud, gushers are a rarity today.

Horizontal Drilling

A method of drilling where the drill bit is turned in a horizontal direction in an effort to produce hydrocarbons from a number of areas located at the same approximate depth.

Independent

A company involved only in the exploration and production of oil and gas and possibly in the transportation. An independent will not be involved in the refining of oil.

Injection Well

A well employed for the introduction into an underground stratum of water or gas under pressure. Injection wells are employed for the disposal of produced water from oil and gas wells.

Integrated Company

A company involved in virtually all aspects of the oil and gas industry including exploration, production, transportation, refining and marketing. These companies are also referred to as major oil companies.

Lease

The instrument by which a leaseholder or working interest is created in minerals.

LNG

Liquefied natural gas. Natural gas becomes a liquid at a temperature of minus 258 degrees F and may be stored and transported in the liquid state.

MCF

Thousand Cubic Feet. The standard unit for measuring the volume of natural gas.

Natural Gas

Hydrocarbons, which at atmospheric conditions of temperatures and pressure, are in a gaseous phase.

Natural Gas Liquids

Hydrocarbons found in natural gas which may be extracted or isolated as liquefied petroleum gas and natural gasoline.

OCS

The Outer Continental Shelf. Generally the area outside the territorial boundaries of the coastal state over which the federal government exercises control.

Oil Field

An area which is underlain by one or more reservoirs containing oil.

Oil Pool

An underground reservoir or trap containing oil.

Overboard Water

Another name for produced water or brine produced from oil and gas wells.

Platform

Structure used in offshore drilling on which the drilling rig, crew quarters and other related items are located.

Plugging of Well

The sealing off of the fluids in the stratum penetrated by a well so that the fluid from one stratum will not escape into another or to the surface.

Probable Reserves

An estimate of reserves taking into consideration known geology, previous experience with similar types of reservoirs and seismic data, if available.

Processing Plant

A plant to remove liquefiable hydrocarbons from wet gas or casinghead gas. This process yields the propanes, butanes and other products taken from natural gas.

Produced Water

Water that comes up a well with the oil and gas. Produced water is usually high in salinity. It is often the force that drives the oil and gas to the surface. After leaving the well, the produced water is separated from the oil and gas. Also referred to as overboard water, formation water, saltwater and oilfield brine.

Proration

The restriction of production by a state regulatory commission, usually on the basis of market demand. In Louisiana the proration of natural gas is allowed to prevent physical and economic waste and to protect correlative rights.

Proven Reserves

Oil which is still in the ground, but which has been located and determined to be recoverable.

Quad

A quadrillion of BTU’s. This unit of measurement is used in connection with energy consumption. A barrel of crude oil contains 5.8 million BTU’s. Natural gas contains about one million BTU’s per MCF.

Recomplete

To move the primary completion from one zone to another. May involve reperforating, running other tubulars or setting a new packer.

Redrill Footage

Occasionally, a hole is lost or junked and a second hole may be drilled from the surface in close proximity to the first. Footage drilled for the second hole is defined as “redrill footage.” Under these circumstances, the first hole is reported as a dry hole (explanatory or developmental) and the total footage is reported as dry hole footage. The second hole is reported as an oil well, gas well, or dry hole according to the result. The redrill footage is included in the appropriate classification of total footage, but is not reported as a separate classification.

Refinery

The facility where the characteristics of petroleum or petroleum products are changed.

Reservoir

A porous and permeable sedimentary rock containing commercial quantities of oil and gas. Three types of reservoirs are encountered including structural traps, stratigraphic traps and combination traps.

Rig

The structures and equipment used in drilling an oil and gas well including the derrick, engine, engine house and other equipment.

Roughneck

A driller’s helper and general worker on a drilling rig.

Roustabout

A common labourer around a drilling or a producing well. If you are starting in petroleum sector, it is one of the oil and gas terms you should know.

Royalty

The landowner’s share of production, before the expenses of production.

Severance Tax

A tax on the removal of minerals from the ground. The tax can be levied either as a tax on volume or a tax on value. In Louisiana oil is taxed at 12.5 percent of value. Natural gas is taxed at 7 cents per MCF with the rate adjusted annually to reflect the changes in the spot market price of gas sold in Louisiana.

Shut In

To close down a producing well temporarily for repairs, cleaning out, building up reservoir pressure, lack of market, etc.

Sour Gas

Natural gas contaminated with chemical impurities, notably hydrogen sulfide or other sulfur compounds, which cause a foul odor.

Specific Gravity

In the case of liquids, the ratio between the weight of equal volumes of water and another substance, measured at standard temperature and where the weight of the water is assigned a value of 1. However, the specific gravity of oil is normally expressed in the industry in degrees of API gravity.

Spudding In

The first boring of the hole in the drilling of an oil well.

Stripper Production

The final stage of production in the life of an oil well or oil field. This stage is characterized by low rates of production, sometimes no more than a barrel of oil per day.

Tension Leg Platform

A type of platform generally used in deep waters. Instead of a stationary platform attached to the ocean floor, the surface platform is tethered to a templet on the ocean floor by flexible steel tendons.

Well

A hole drilled in the earth for the purpose of finding or producing crude oil or natural gas or providing services related to the production of crude oil or natural gas.

Wellhead

A term usually defined as being at the Christmas Tree but, which under exceptional circumstances, may be defined as located at some other place.

Wellhead Revenues

The total dollar value of crude oil and natural gas at the wellhead. Wellhead revenues are calculated, based on the production volumes of crude oil and natural gas, multiplied by their respective average wellhead price.

Wet Gas

Natural gas containing liquid hydrocarbons in solution, which may be removed by a reduction of temperature and pressure or by a relatively simple extraction process.

Wildcat Well

An exploratory well being drilled in unproven territory, that is, in a horizon from which there is no production in the general area.

Work Overs

Operations on a producing well to restore or increase production. A typical work over is cleaning out a well that has sanded up.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the above oil and gas terms will give you an idea, and a foothold into the oil and gas industry.

You are now up to speed on the important oil and gas industry jargon.

As an oil and gas beginner, it is important to learn and understand the basic oil and gas terms that you will come across in your petroleum journey.