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A - C | D - G | H - L
| M - P | Q - S | T - Z M - P
M
Mid-continent crude - Oil produced mainly
in Kansas, Oklahoma, and North Texas.
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.
Migration - The movement of oil and gas
through layers of rock deep in the earth.
Milling - Cutting a "window" in a well's
casing with a tool lowered into the hole on the drillstring.
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.
MMCF Million cubic feet. - The cubic foot
is a standard unit of measure for quantities of gas at atmospheric
pressure.
Monocline - A geologic formation in which
all the strata are inclined in the same direction.
Mud - A fluid mixture of clay, chemicals,
and weighting materials suspended in fresh water, salt water, or diesel
oil.
Mud engineer - A technician responsible
for proper maintenance of the mud system.
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).
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.
N
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.
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.
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%).
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.
O
OCS (outer continental shelf) - A gently
sloping underwater plain that extends seaward from the coast.
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.
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.
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.
Offshore platform - A fixed structure from
which wells are drilled offshore for the production of oil and natural
gas.
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.
Oil in place - The crude oil estimated to
exist in a field or a reservoir. Oil in the formation not yet
produced.
Oil pool - An underground reservoir
containing oil. An oil field may contain one or more pools, each of which has
its own pressure system.
Oil rig - A drilling rig that drills for
oil and gas.
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.
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.
Oilfield services - Described as service
companies that do work in and for the oilfield. These services may include:
cementing, perforating, trucking, logging, etc.
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.
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.
Operator - The individual or company
responsible for the drilling, completion and production operations of a well,
and the physical maintenance of the leased property.
Organization costs - Direct costs incurred
in the creation of a new business organization such as an oil and gas limited
partnership.
Outcrop - A portion of bedrock or other
stratum protruding through the soil level, indicating a fault or some other
oil-bearing formation.
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.
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.
P
Packer - A flexible rubber sleeve that is
part of a special joint of pipe.
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.
Payoff - The time when a well's production
begins to bring in revenues.
Payout - The amount of time it takes to
recover the capital investment made on a well or drilling program.
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.
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.
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.
Petroleum - Strictly speaking, crude oil.
Also used to refer to all hydrocarbons, including oil, natural gas, natural gas
liquids, and related products.
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.
Petroleum geologist - A geologist who
specializes in the exploration for, and production of, petroleum.
Pinch out - The disappearance of a porous,
permeable formation between two layers of impervious rock over a horizontal
distance.
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.
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.
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.
Plugged & Abandoned (P&A) - This
expression refers to setting cement plugs in an unsuccessful well (a dry hole)
or a depleted well.
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.
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.
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.
Possible reserves - Areas in which
production of crude oil is presumed possible owing to geological inference of a
strongly speculative nature.
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.
Primary recovery - Production in which oil
moves from the reservoir, into the wellbore, under naturally occurring reservoir
pressure.
Primary term - The basic period of time
during which a lease is in effect.
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.
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.
Producing platform - An offshore structure
with a platform raised above the water to support a number of producing
wells.
Production - A term commonly used to
describe taking natural resources out of the ground.
Production test - A test made to determine
the daily rate of oil, gas, and water production from a potential pay
zone.
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.
Prospect - A lease or group of leases on
which an operator intends to drill.
Proved behind-pipe reserves - Estimates of
the amount of crude oil or natural gas recoverable by recompleting existing
wells.
Proved developed reserves - Estimates of
what is recoverable from existing wells with existing facilities from open,
producing payzones.
Proved reserves - Estimates of the amount
of oil or natural gas believed to be recoverable from known reservoirs under
existing economic and operating conditions.
Proved undeveloped reserves - Estimates of
what is recoverable through new wells on undrilled acreage, deepening existing
wells, or secondary recovery methods.
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.
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.
Pump - A device that is installed inside
or on a production string (tubing) that lifts liquids to the surface.
Pump off - To pump a well so rapidly that
the oil level falls below the pump's standing valve, rendering the well
temporarily dry.
Pumping well - A well that does not flow
naturally and requires a pump to bring product to the surface.
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