Technical
Thesaurus oil & gas
F
Fail safe
Equipment or a system so
constructed that, in the event of failure or malfunction of any part of the
system, devices are automatically activated to stabilise or secure the safety
of the operation.
Fairlead
A guide for ropes or lines
on a ship to prevent chaffing; a sheave supported by a bracket protruding from
the cellar deck of a semi-submersible drilling platform over which an anchor
cable runs. Some large floating platforms have anchor lines made up of lengths
of chain and cable.
Fairway
A shipping lane in offshore
waters. Permanent structures such as drilling and production platforms are
prohibited in a fairway which significantly curtails oil activity in some
offshore areas.
Farm in
Where one company acquires
an interest in an exploration or production licence by paying some of the past
or future costs of another company which is relinquishing part of its interest.
Farm out
Where a company
relinquishes part of its interest in an exploration or production licence to
another company in return for part payment.
Fast line
The end of the drilling
line which is fixed to the reel on the drawworks (so called because it travels
with a greater velocity than any other part of the drilling line).
Fault
A fracture in the Earth's
crust along which the rocks on one side are displaced relative to those on the
other.
Fault trap
A trap where a reservoir
layer is faulted and brought against an impervious formation.
Feedstock
The supply of crude oil,
natural gas liquids or natural gas to a refinery or petrochemical plant or the
supply of some refined fraction of intermediate petrochemical to some other
process.
Female connection
A pipe or coupling with the
threads cut on the inside.
Field
A geographical area under
which an oil or gas reservoir lies. See commercial field, marginal field.
Field
A Field is a collection of
Workpacks, each of which represents an inspection of a common structure.
Structures are therefore defined per field.
Fill the hole
To pump drilling fluid into
the well bore while the pipe is being withdrawn in order to ensure that the
well bore remains full of fluid even though the pipe is withdrawn. Filling the
hole lessens the danger of blowout or of caving of the wall of the well bore.
Filter (strainer)
Device used for separating
solids or suspended particles from liquids.
Filter cake
Compacted solid or
semi-solid material remaining on a filter after pressure filtration of mud with
the standard filter press. Thickness of the cake is reported in 30 seconds of
an inch or in millimetres. The layer of concentrated solids from the drilling
mud that forms on the walls of the borehole opposite permeable formations; also
called wall cake or mud cake.
Filtrate
The liquid that is forced
through a porous medium during the filtration process. See fluid loss.
Financing
The process whereby money
is obtained to invest in a project.
Fines
Minute particles of a solid
substance -rock, coal or catalytic material too small to be used or handled
efficiently and must be removed by screening.
Finger board
A rack that supports the
tops of the stands of pipe being stacked in the derrick or mast. It has several
steel finger-like projections that form a series of slots into which the
derrick man can set a stand of drill pipe as it is pulled out of the hole.
Firewall
An earthen dike or concrete
wall built around an oil tank or tanks to contain the oil in the event of tank
ruptures or fire. See bundwall.
Fiscalisation
Reconciliation of
hydrocarbon products, quantities on which financial matters are settled.
Fish
An object accidentally lost
down a well.
Fishing
An attempt to recover tools
or drilling equipment ("fish") lost downhole.
Fishing neck
An inside or outside
shoulder on top of a wireline tool and wireline equipment which will allow the
latching-on of a pulling or fishing tool.
Fishing tool
A tool designed to recover
equipment lost in the well.
FIT (formation interval test)
A device which is lowered
by a wireline to collect samples of the fluids and gases at specific intervals.
The samples are collected in a cylinder(s) which normally has a capacity of six
to
Fix
In navigation, a relatively
accurate position determined without reference to any former position. It may
be classed as visual, celestial, electronic, etc., depending upon the means of
establishing it.
Fix (v.t.)
In hydrographic surveying,
to determine, at regular intervals, the position of ships or boats, while
sailing along a line of sounding. The usual method of fixing hydrographic
surveys within sight of land is the three-point fix method.
Fixing interval
The time or distance
elapsed between two subsequent fixes.
Flame arrestor
A device usually containing
a metallic gauge fitted to vent lines from equipment containing inflammable
gases, vapours or liquids. Should the gas or vapour ignite, the flame arrestor
will prevent the flame from flashing back into the equipment.
Flange
A projecting flat rim or
collar by which pipes are held together.
Flange-up
The act of making the final
connection on a piping system. Also, in oilfield slang, it refers to the
completion of any operation.
Flare
An open flame used to burn
off unwanted gas. See flaring.
Flare stack
The steel structure on a
rig or platform from which gas is flared. See flaring.
Flaring
Burning off of gas produced
in association with oil which, for technical or economic reasons, cannot be
re-injected or shipped ashore.
Flash calculation
Calculations to determine
the number of separation stages and their operating pressures to obtain maximum
tank-oil yields in oil/gas separation.
Flash off
To vapourise from heated
charge stock; to distil.
Flash point
The lowest temperatures at
which a liquid will generate sufficient vapour to produce a flash when exposed
to a source of ignition.
Flash tank
A separator in which the
separated liquid from the cold separator is, usually after heating, degassed at
normal temperature. Also called stabiliser or classifier.
Flast process/vapourisation
A process whereby the
quantity of vapour and liquid phases is varied while the overall composition of
the system remains constant.
Float collar
A special coupling device,
inserted one or two joints above the bottom of the casing string, that contains
a check valve to permit fluid to pass downward but not upward through the
casing. The float collar prevents drilling mud from entering the casing while
it is being lowered, allowing the casing to float during its descent, which decreases
the load on the derrick. The float collar also prevents a backflow of cement
during the cementing operation.
Flocculation
The process of causing
individual particles in a suspension of solids in water or other aqueous
material to collect together in the form of flocs, or wholly, cloudlike masses.
The larger floc particles then settle, or float, leaving clear fluid.
Flooding
The use of water injected
into a production formation or reservoir to increase oil recovery. See
secondary recovery.
Floor block
A single sheave pulley or
snatch block fixed at or near derrick floor level by means of which the
direction of pull on the hoisting rope can be varied.
Floorman
A member of the drilling
crew whose work station is on the derrick floor.
Flotation collar
The specially designed
raft, which enables steel jacket platforms to be transported from the place of
construction to the oil field in a horizontal position. When over the proposed
offshore location of the platform, the collar's buoyancy compartments are
flooded thereby allowing the platform to swing to a vertical position. When the
platform has been placed on the seabed and secured by piles, the flotation
collar is detached and taken back to the shore.
Flotel
A floating accommodation
rig or barge used as quarters for offshore personnel.
Flow chart
A replaceable, paper chart
on which flow rates are recorded by an actuated arm and pen. Also called
pressure chart or temperature chart.
Flow coupling
A heavy-wall nipple with
full tubing bore, often made of high grade alloy steel, to protect against
possible.
Flow cross
Centre part of a composite
christmas tree to which the master-, swab and two wing valves are, or can be,
connected.
Flow meter
A meter which measures the
quantity of a gas or liquid flowing through a pipe.
Flow sheet
A diagram showing the
principal plant and equipment and their interconnections, represented in
symbolic form, for a particular process of operations.
Flow station
Production installation
designed to receive the production of a group of wells. to separate the
incoming fluid into oil, gas and sometimes water and to transfer the separated
products to their respective collecting or disposal points. Also called block
station. production station satellite station.
Flow tee
Same as a flow cross but
with only one side for connecting a wing valve instead of two.
Fluid
A substance that flows and
yields to any force tending to change its shapes. Liquids and gases are fluids.
Fluid contact
Interface between oil, gas
and water in a reservoir. e.g. oil-water contact, gas-oil contact, gas-water
contact.
Fluid level
The distance between the
wellhead and the point to which the fluid rises in the well.
Fluid loss
Measure of the relative
amount of fluid lost (filtrate) through permeable formations or membranes when
the drilling fluid is subjected to a pressure differential.
Fluorescence
The luminescence of oil and
condensate in well cutting when exposed to ultra-violet light.
Flush production
The high rate of flow of a
well immediately after it is brought into production.
Foam
A mass of stabilised
bubbles in a liquid. e.g. crude oil is believed to be caused by high surface
tension or the presence of finely divided solid partides. Foam can be a
nuisance in processing and may be suppressed by chemical means using anti-foam
agents
Foam drilling
Drilling with the use of
detergent foam as circulating medium. A technique which is usually applied to
the top of the hole.
Foaming agent
A substance that produces
fairly stable bubbles at the air-Iiquid interface due to agitation. aeration.
or ebullition. In air or gas drilling, foaming agents are added to turn water
influx into aerated foam. This is commonly called mist drilling.
Fold
A flexure of rock strata
into arches and troughs, produced by earth movements.
Foot valve
A type of check valve used
on the foot or lower end of a suction-pipe riser to maintain the column of
liquid in the riser when the liquid is being drawn upwards by a pump.
Foreign exchange
Money of a currency other
than that of the company headquarters country.
Formation
A homogeneous body of rock.
Formation damage
Damage to the productivity
of a well resulting from invasion into the formation by mud particles or mud
filtrates. Asphalt from crude oil will also damage some formations.
Formation fracturing
A method of stimulating
production by increasing the permeability of the producing formation. Under
extremely high hydraulic pressure, a fluid (as water, oil, alcohol, diluted
hydrochloric acid, liquefied petroleum gas, or foam) is pumped downward through
tubing or drill pipe and forced into the perforations in the casing. The fluid
enters the formation and parts or fractures it. Sand grains, aluminium pellets,
glass beads, or similar materials are carried in suspension by the fluid into
the fractures. These are called propping agents or proppants. When the pressure
is released at the surface, the fracturing fluid returns to the well, and the
fractures partially close on the proppants, leaving channels for oil to flow
through them to the well. This process is often called a frac job. See propping
agent
Formation pressure
The force exerted by fluids
in a formation, recorded in the hole at the level of the formation with the
well shut-in. See reservoir pressure and shut-in bottomhole pressure.
Formation testing
The gathering of data on a
formation to determine its potential productivity before installing casing in a
well. The conventional method is the drill stem test. Incorporated in the drill
stem testing tool are a packer, valves or ports that may be opened and closed
from the surface, and a pressure-recording device. Tool is lowered to bottom on
a string of drill pipe and the packer set, isolating the formation to be tested
from the formations above and supporting the fluid column above the packer. A
port on the tool is opened to allow the trapped pressure below the packer to
bleed off into the drill pipe, gradually exposing the formation to atmospheric
pressure and allowing the well to produce to the surface, where the well fluids
may be sampled and inspected. From a record of the pressure readings, a number
of facts about the formation may be inferred.
Formation water
Water occupying pore space
in rock formations.
Fossil energy
Energy derived from crude
oil, natural gas and coal.
Fourble
A section of drill pipe,
casing or tubing consisting of four joints screwed together. Compare double and
thribble. See joint.
Fourble board
The name used for the
working platform of the derrick man, or monkeyboard, when it is located at a
height in the derrick equal to approximately four lengths of pipe joined
together. Compare double board and thribble board. See monkeyboard.
Fraction
A mixture of liquid
hydrocarbons with a given boiling range that is produced during the process of
fractional distillation.
Fractional
A process of distillation
in which the distillate is condensed and collected as several separate
fractions or 'cuts' each having a specified boiling raf.
Fractionating column
A tall tower, fitted with
perforated trays, in which fractional distillation of crude oil or its products
is carried out.
Fractionating distillation
The process whereby crude
oil or one of its components is split into liquids of different boiling ranges
(fractions) by distillation; the basic process that takes place in an oil
refinery.
Fracture pressure
The amount of pressure
which is required to "crack" or "split" the rock at a
particular depth so that fluid can enter it.
Fracturing
Shortened form of formation
fracturing. See formation fracturing.
FRC/FRB
Fast Rescue Craft or Boat.
These vessels are used as a rapid response to incidents around platforms such
as man-overboard or helicopter ditching. Normally situated on the support
vessels.
Free on board (FOB)
The type of contract in
which the buy provides the ship and the seller provides the cargo at port of
loading. See Incoterms.
Free water knockout
Vessel with internal
baffles used to remove free water from a crude oil stream.
Freezing point
The temperature at which
crystals first appear when a liquid is cooled under specified conditions.
Freezing point is an important characteristic of aviation fuels.
Freight rate
The charge for transporting
goods.
Freon
A trademark applied to a
group of halogenated hydrocarbons having one or more fluorine atoms in the
molecule; a refrigerant.
Frequency
The number of vibrations or
cycles in unit time.
Frequency (natural)
The lowest resonant
frequency of a body or system
Frequency (resonant)
Any frequency at which a
body or system vibrates more readily.
Friction wrench
A wrench without jaws or
teeth but heaving smooth, flexible sections which can be clamped around a pipe
or a rod without denting it. By tightening the sections the turning force is
applied by friction only. See barrel wrench.
Fuel oils
The heavy distillates from
the oil refining process; used as fuel for power stations, industry, marine
boilers, etc.
Full bore
Designation of a valve, ram
or other fitting whose opening is at least as large in cross section as the
pipe. casing or tubing it is mounted on.
Fusible plug
A fail-safe device; a plug
in a service line equipped with a seal that will melt at a predetermined
temperature releasing pressure that actuates shut-down devices; a meltable
plug.