Technical
Thesaurus oil & gas
R
Racking board
A platform high in the
derrick on well-service rigs, where the derrick man stands when racking tubing
being pulled from the well.
Racking pipe
The act of placing lengths
of pipe in an orderly arrangement in the derrick.
Radioactivity well logging
The recording of the
natural or induced radioactive characteristics of subsurface formations. A
radioactivity log, also known as a radiation log, normally consists of two
recorded curves: a gamma-ray curve and a neutron curve. Both indicate the types
of rocks in the formation and the types of fluids contained in the rocks. The
two logs may be run simultaneously in conjunction with a collar locator in a
cased or uncased hole.
Ram
The closing and sealing component
on a blowout preventer. One of three types -blind, pipe, or shear -may be
installed in several preventers mounted in a stack on top of the well bore.
Blind rams, when closed, form a seal on a hole that has no drill pipe in it;
pipe rams, when closed, seal around the pipe; shear rams cut through drill pipe
and then form a seal. See blind ram, pipe ram, and shear ram.
Ram blowout preventer
A blowout preventer that
uses rams to seal off pressure on a hole that is with or without pipe. It is
also called a ram preventer. See blowout preventer and ram.
Range/bearing
One of the methods that
some positioning systems operate in. A single station that provides a range and
also a bearing relative to another known station or trig (e.g. Artemis,
Polarfix).
Range/range
One of the several modes of
offshore navigation, requiring at least two beacons (e.g. Syledis is often used
this way).
Rat hole
See mouse hole.
Rate of penetration (ROP)
The depth of hole drilled
in a specified time; usually given in feet per hour.
Raw material
One of the chemical
ingredients of a process. Basic raw materials are those which are present
wholly or in part in the product; that is, they have reacted chemically. Often
referred to as feedstock.
Reaction
Any process involving chemical
change by which new chemical products are formed.
Realtime
Applies to data available
to the operator as it is being obtained, as opposed to data recorded for later
analysis. Onboard data processing and sophisticated display units increase the
realtime information available, facilitate decision making and increase survey
efficiency (e.g. in a survey vessel: a back plot is out put in realtime to help
surveyors navigate the vessel).
Reamer
A tool used to enlarge or
straighten a bore hole; a milling tool used to cut the casing downhole. Reamers
are run on the drill string and are built with cutting blades or wheels that
can be expanded against the walls of the hole.
Reboiler
Equipment provided with a
heating medium for vaporising liquid at the bottom of a distillation tower.
Receiver
Any vessel or container
which receives materials or process liquids from another piece of equipment.
Reciprocal
Acting with a backward and
forward movement, as in reciprocating pumps.
Recorder
Any device for storage or
display of information: examples are: sweep recorders for analogue paper
records; seismic recorders writing to digital tape.
Recoverable reserves
That proportion of the oil
and/or gas in a reservoir that can be removed using currently available techniques.
Recovery factor
The percentage of oil that
can be ultimately withdrawn from the reservoir rock. It is an important factor
for calculating oil reserves i.e. the total volume of oil that should be
recoverable.
Recycling
In a gas condensate reservoir,
it is necessary to maintain the reservoir pressure in order to prevent
condensate forming (i.e. some of the gas liquefying) and soaking into the
reservoir rock, where it would be irretrievable. Condensate is removed from
produced wet gas, and residual dry gas is injected back into the reservoir in
order to maintain pressure.
Reduction of soundings
The correction of the
observed depths, for the height of tide above or below the plane of reference
at the time of sounding. Usually the term reduction of soundings does not cover
corrections other than those due to tide. See correction of soundings.
Reduction of tides
The processing of observed
tidal data to obtain mean values of tidal constants.
Reduction to sea level
A reduction applied to a
measured horizontal length on the Earth's surface to reduce it to the surface
of the sea level datum of the reference spheroid.
Reef effect
The process where an
offshore structure provides a favourable ecological niche for marine life, thus
usually increasing fish population in the area.
Reeve
To pass (as the end of a
rope) through a hole or opening in a block or similar device.
Reeve the line
To string a wire-rope
drilling line through the sheaves of the travelling and crown blocks to the
hoisting drum.
Reference fuel
A standard fuel with which
other fuels can be compared in measuring such things as octane number.
Refinery
A plant used to separate
the various components present in crude oil and convert them into usable
products or feedstock for other processes.
Reflux
The distillate which is
pumped back into the top of the distillation tower to control temperature and
increase efficiency.
Refractory
Materials which can stand
high temperatures and resist corrosion and abrasion. Particularly used for furnace
linings.
Relative permeability
A measure of the ability of
two or more fluids etc, to flow through the pore spaces of rock due to an
external pressure.
Relief valve
A device for relieving
excess pressure in a system, e.g. a rupture disc or piston shear pin valve.
Relief well
Directional well, drilled
to intersect a well that is flowing wild, through which heavy drilling fluid is
pumped down to kill the blow-out well.
Relinquishment requirement
An agreement whereby oil
companies give up their licence rights in unexplored concessions after a given
period of time.
Remotely operated vehicle (
An unmanned submersible
craft which can be used either for observation purposes or to perform
hydrographic surveys, or for working purposes. Also called remotely controlled
vehicle (RCV).
Rental payment
An annual payment made by
an oil company to a State in order to retain rights in a particular concession.
Repeatability
A quality desirable in a
positioning system, namely the ability to assign the same coordinates to the
same spot after some time has elapsed; the other criterion for a positioning
system is absolute accuracy.
Report Export Template
Inspection Manager Eventing
Module can output reports to numerous third party applications through Export
Templates. Templates are not an integral part of the Inspection Manager
Eventing Module application and may be 'plugged in. when required. e.g.
Inspecion Manger Eventing Module currently provides Export Templates for
Microsoft Word. Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access. More Templates are being
written.
Report Plug-ln
Inspection Manager Eventing
Module has a variety of standard reports. each of which may be exported to a
third party application via a Report Export Template. e.g. Some of the Reports.
which come with Inspection Manager Eventing Module. are: Default Event
Template. Structure/Event Pivot Table. Structure/Event Pivot Table and Regular
Report.
Reserve pit
1. (obsolete) a mud pit in
which a supply of drilling fluid was stored.
Reserves (gas)
The portion of recoverable
non-associated and associated gas (excluding NGL), that can be recovered with
existing development techniques under the present economic conditions, and
which is committed to a sales contract.
Reserves (oil)
The portion of oil that can
be recovered with existing development techniques under present economic
conditions.
Reservoir
A stratum in which oil or
gas is present.
Reservoir pressure
The pressure at the face of
the producing formation when the well is shut-in. It is equal to the closed-in
pressure (at the wellhead) plus the pressure of the fluid column in the hole.
Reservoir rock
A geological term used to
denote a porous and permeable rock, such as sandstone which contains or is
capable of containing. significant accumulations of oil or gas.
Residual fuel oil
Very heavy fuel oils
produced from the residue from the fractional distillation process rather than
from the distilled fractions.
Residue
The non-volatile components
of crude oil which flow out of the bottom of a fractionating column during
fractional distillation.
Resin
A solid or semi-solid
mixture of organic substances of complex composition having no definite melting
point. as in plastic resins made from hydrocarbon feedstocks.
Retort
Container with a long neck
to allow vapour to escape for collection; used in the distillation process.
Retort solids
Amount of solids by volume
in the drilling mud determined by distillation using a retort.
Return on assets (ROA)
The net profit after tax
expressed as a percentage of the total assets employed in an enterprise.
Return on investment (ROI)
The net profit after tax
expressed as a percentage of the total money invested in an enterprise.
Revenue
The gross income from the
sale of products produced.
Reverse circulation
The return of drilling
fluid through the drill stem. The normal course of drilling fluid circulation
is downward through the drill stem and upward through the annular space
surrounding the drill stem. For special problems, normal circulation is
sometimes reversed, and the fluid returns to the surface through the drill
stem, or tubing, after being pumped down the annulus.
Rig
See exploration rig.
Rig down
To dismantle the drilling
rig and auxiliary equipment following the completion of drilling operations;
also called tear down.
Rig floor
See derrick floor.
Rig move
Rig emplacement offshore;
uses surveyors and navigation/positioning equipment; carried out by most survey
companies (drilling rig).
Rig up
To prepare the drilling rig
for making hole; to install tools and machinery before drilling is started.
Rigging up
The operation whereby
tools, machinery, fuel, water supplies, etc. are installed on a rig before
drilling commences.
Ring fence
A fiscal procedure whereby
taxable profits from oil or gas production cannot be offset against other
losses made by the company involved.
Riser
See marginal riser.
Riser pipeline
A pipe that connects a
platform to a subsea wellhead or spur line.
Risk capital
Equity capital raised to
finance a development that has technical, economic and other risks attached to
it and thus cannot guarantee a return on the investment.
RMSE
Root Mean Square Error. The
square root of the arithmetic mean of squared deviations from the mean. Also
called standard deviation, when the deviations do not represent errors.
Rock a well
To agitate a
"dead" well by alternately bleeding and shutting in the pressure on
the casing or tubing so that the well will start to flow.
Roller cone bit
A drilling bit made of two,
three, or four cones, or cutters, that are mounted on extremely rugged
bearings. Also called rock bits. The surface of each cone is made up of rows of
steel teeth or rows of tungsten carbide inserts. See bit.
Rollover
Where repayment of a loan
on which interest is accumulating is held over for a specific time period.
Rope socket
A device for securing the
end of a steel cable into a connecting piece -a clevis, hook or chain. A metal
cup or socket {like a whip socket) into which the cable end is inserted and
which then is filled with molten lead or babbitt, or in the case of piano wire
fastened with a special knot.
Rotameter
Instrument used for
measuring the flow rate of a liquid or gas in a pipe.
Rotary bushing
See master bushing.
Rotary drilling
Drilling in which the
entire drill string and bit are rotated, as opposed to turbine drilling.
Rotary helper
A worker on a drilling rig,
subordinate to the driller; sometimes called a roughneck, fioorman, or rig
crewman.
Rotary hose
The flexible hose that
transfers the drilling mud from the stand pipe to the top of the drill string
via a swivel coupling.
Rotary RPM
The number of revolutions
per minute of the drilling table, i.e. the angular velocity of the drilling bit
during rotary drilling.
Rotary table
The principal component of
a rotary, or rotary machine, used to turn the drill stem and support the
drilling assembly. It has a bevelled gear arrangement to create the rotational
motion and an opening into which bushings are fitted to drive and support the
drilling assembly.
Rotliegendes
Formations laid down during
the first part of the Permian Period in which natural gas fields are sometimes
found.
Roughneck
One of the assistants to a
driller; a labourer who works on the actual derrick floor of an offshore rig or
platform.
Round trip
The process which occurs
every time a drill bit has to be replaced, whereby the entire drill string is
removed from the hole in roughly 90- foot sections and is then returned with
anew bit on the end; also described as making a trip.
Roustabout
A general labourer in an
oil drilling and/or production operation.
Royalty
Usually a fixed percentage
of a specified crude or gas value per unit produced, to be paid to the host
government. It is a fixed charge independent of profit or loss.
Run in
To go into the hole with
tubing drill pipe, and so forth.
Runline
A line that a survey vessel
is to surveyor has surveyed.
Rupture disk
A thin, metal plug or
membrane in a fitting on a pressure vessel or line made so as to blowout or
rupture when the pressure exceeds a predetermined level; a safety plug