|
Abandoned Well: |
Converting a
drilled well to a condition that can be left indefinitely without further
attention and which will not damage fresh water supplies or potential
petroleum reservoirs. |
|
Accord Implementation Acts: |
The Canada-Nova
Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act, S.C. 1988,
c.28 and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord
Implementation (Nova Scotia) Act, S.N.S. 1987, c.3. The federal and
provincial "mirror" legislation implements the provisions of the
1986 Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord and governs all
petroleum activities that take place in the offshore area. |
|
Authigenic: |
Refers to
rocks/minerals which were formed or were generated in place. |
|
Bcf (Billion Cubic Feet): |
A volume
measurement of natural gas measured in billions of cubic feet. |
|
Bitumen: |
Petroleum in
semi-solid or solid forms. |
|
Board: |
The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board. |
|
BOP/BOP Stack: |
Blowout
preventers/blowout preventer stack - an assembly of heavy-duty valves
attached to the wellhead to control well pressure and prevent a blowout. |
|
Capillary Pressure: |
A type of
pressure data used to determine water saturation in a reservoir. |
|
Casing: |
Steel pipe set in
a well to prevent the hole from sloughing or caving and to enable formations
to be isolated (there may be several strings of casing in a well, one inside
the other). |
|
Cementing: |
Pumping a liquid
slurry of cement, water and other additives behind a string of casing to
isolate formations. |
|
Certificate of Fitness: |
A certificate
issued by a certifying authority stating that a design, plan or facility
complies with the relevant regulations or requirements, is fit for purpose,
and can be operated safely and without posing a threat to the environment. |
|
Certifying Authorities: |
Organizations
designated under the Nova Scotia Offshore Certificate of Fitness Regulations
to conduct examinations of designs, plans and facilities and to issue
Certificates of Fitness. |
|
Chlorite: |
A commonly
occurring clay mineral. |
|
CNSOPB: |
The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board. |
|
Commingled Production: |
Production of
petroleum from more than one pool through a common wellbore or flowline
without separate measurement of the petroleum. |
|
Completion: |
The activities
necessary to prepare a well for the production of oil or gas. |
|
Condensate: |
The liquid
resulting when a vapour is subjected to cooling or application of pressure. Also, liquid
hydrocarbons condensed from gas and oil wells. |
|
Conventional Crude Oil: |
Petroleum found
in liquid form, flowing naturally or capable of being pumped without further
processing or dilution. |
|
Core: |
A cylindrical
sample taken from a formation for geological analysis. Usually a conventional
core barrel is substituted for the bit and procures a sample as it penetrates
the formation. |
|
Cubic Foot: |
A unit of
measurement for volume. It represents a volume one foot long, by one foot
wide, by one foot deep. Natural gas is measured in cubic feet, but the
measurements are usually expressed in terms of Bcf, Tcf, Mcf, or Quads. |
|
Cuttings: |
Chips and small
fragments of rock produced by drilling that are circulated up from the drill
bit to the surface by drilling mud. |
|
Delineation Well: |
Well drilled
after a discovery well to determine the areal extent of a reservoir. |
|
Density: |
The gravity of
crude oil, indicating the proportion of large, carbon-rich molecules,
generally measured in kilograms per cubic metre or degrees on the American
Petroleum Institute (API) gravity scale. |
|
Depositional Facies: |
A three dimensional
body of rock that is differentiated from others by its unique physical
attributes such as rock type(s), fossils, bedding structures, position in the
rock layers, the manner in which it was deposited and the like. |
|
Development Well: |
A well drilled
for natural gas (or crude oil) within a proven field or area for the purpose
of completing the desired pattern of production. |
|
Directional Drilling: |
Intentional
deviation of a wellbore from the vertical to reach target areas laterally displaced
from the point where the drill bit enters the earth. |
|
Discovery Well: |
The first well
drilled on a geologic structure which discovers significant quantities of
hydrocarbons. |
|
Drill Cores, Cores: |
A cylindrical
sample of rock obtained by drilling with a hollow donut-shaped bit and pipe. |
|
Drill Pipe: |
Steel pipe
sections, approximately 9 metres long, that are screwed together to form a
continuous pipe extending from the drilling rig to the drilling bit at the
bottom of the hole. Rotation of the drill pipe and bit causes the bit to bore
through the rock. |
|
Drill String: |
A string of
individual joints of drill pipe that extend from the bit to the kelly pipe. The
drill string carries the mud down to, and rotates, the drill bit. |
|
Drilling Fluid: |
Fluids
continuously circulated down the wellbore, to cool and lubricate the drill
bit, lubricate the drill pipe, carry rock cuttings to the surface and control
down hole pressure. |
|
Drilling Mud: |
A common term for
drilling fluids. |
|
Dry Hole: |
A well that does
not yield sufficient volumes of gas and/or oil to support commercial
production. |
|
DST: |
Drill Stem Test.
A downhole test of the productive capacity of a well through drill pipe up to
the surface to obtain samples of gases and fluids and determine their rate of
sustained flow. |
|
E9M3: |
Billion cubic metres. |
|
Exploratory Well: |
A well in an area
where petroleum has not been previously found or one targeted for formations
above or below known reservoirs. |
|
Fault: |
In a geological
sense, a break or fracture zone along which there has been movement that
results in the displacement of one side relative to the other. |
|
Fish: |
An object lost
(or stuck) in the wellbore obstructing operations. |
|
Fishing: |
Operations to
recover a fish. |
|
Flow Line: |
Subsea pipeline
connecting satellite wells and/or platforms to a central production platform.
|
|
Formation: |
The term for the
primary unit in stratigraphy consisting of a succession of strata useful for
mapping or description which possesses certain distinctive lithologic and
other features, i.e. the Mississauga Formation. |
|
Gas Reservoir: |
A rock stratum
that forms a trap for the accumulation of crude oil and natural gas. |
|
Geophysical Survey: |
Searching and
mapping the subsurface structure of the earth’s crust using geophysical
methods (e.g. seismic) to locate probable reservoir structures capable of
producing commercial quantities of natural gas and/or crude oil. |
|
Gully, the: |
A major submarine
canyon indenting the seaward edge of the Scotian Shelf, which separates
Banquereau and Sable Island Banks. |
|
Helideck: |
A landing area
for helicopters. |
|
Hydrocarbon: |
An organic
compound containing only carbon and hydrogen. Hydrocarbons often occur in
petroleum products, natural gas, and coals. |
|
Hydropressure: |
The pressure on
any rock at a given depth based on a hydrostatic head. |
|
Injecting: |
Injecting water
or gas into the reservoir for the purpose of maintaining reservoir pressure,
maximizing oil recovery and conserving resources. |
|
Injection: |
The process of
pumping gas or water into an oil-producing reservoir to provide a driving
mechanism for increased oil production. |
|
Irreducible Water Saturation: |
In a sufficiently
thick and homogenous hydrocarbon reservoir this represents the minimum
possible water saturation. |
|
Jacket: |
Offshore platform
consisting of a framework of tubular members with a deck (or decks) on top
and piles driven through the framework to fix the structure to the sea bed. |
|
Kh: |
This symbol is
used in petrophysical and reserves calculations to represent the maximum
permeability of a rock formation. |
|
Liner: |
A length of
casing suspended from the base of a previously installed casing string (a
liner does not extend back to the surface of the well). |
|
Lithologic, lithology: |
The physical
character of a rock. |
|
Logging: |
The systematic
recording of data obtained from the driller’s log and mud log at the surface,
and electrical and radioactive logs obtained from instrumentation lowered
into and retrieved from the drill hole after drilling. |
|
Manifold: |
A piping
arrangement containing valves to combine several flows, or re-route a flow to
one of several possible destinations. |
|
Mcf (Thousand Cubic Feet): |
Mcf stands for
one thousand cubic feet. It is a unit of measure that is more commonly used
in the low volume sectors of the gas industry such as stripper well
production. |
|
Mud Filtrate: |
The fluid
component of drilling mud which penetrates into a formation. |
|
Mud: |
see "Drilling Fluid" |
|
MWD: |
Measurement While
Drilling. A technique to determine the real-time position of the drill bit in
a directionally drilled well during the drilling process using
instrumentation placed near the bit. |
|
Natural Gas Liquids: |
Liquids obtained
during natural gas production, including ethane, propane, butanes, and
condensate. |
|
NEB: |
National Energy Board |
|
Net Pay Cutoffs: |
Specified limits
of porosity, permeability, water saturation and shale volume below which a
formation would be unable to achieve or sustain commercial production. |
|
Net Pay Map: |
A contour map
depicting net thickness’ of hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs. |
|
Net Pay: |
Refers to the sum
of the productive intervals of a reservoir and is determined by the
application of cutoffs. |
|
Offshore Area: |
The area offshore
Nova Scotia under the Board’s jurisdiction as defined in Schedule 1 of the
Accord Implementation Acts. |
|
OGIP: |
Original Gas In
Place. The total quantity of trapped gas believed to exist in a geologic
feature or structure, based on the analysis of well information, geological,
geophysical and petrophysical data. |
|
Oil Based Mud: |
Drilling mud in
which mineral oil is the continuous phase. |
|
Operator: |
The holder of an
authorization to conduct petroleum activities in the offshore area. |
|
Overpressure: |
Formation
pressure in excess of hydropressure. |
|
Pay Zone: |
The producing
part of a formation. |
|
Perforate/Perforating: |
Piercing the
casing and cement using shaped explosive charges to provide a flow path for
formation fluids. |
|
Permeability: |
The measure of a
formation’s ability to transmit fluids and/or gases. |
|
Person-years: |
The equivalent of
one person working a full year, or 2,080 hours. |
|
Petroleum: |
A naturally
occurring mixture of hydrocarbons in gaseous, liquid or solid form. |
|
Petrophysics: |
Study of
reservoir properties based on the data obtained from various logging tools
and methods, and from drill cores. |
|
Pool: |
A natural
underground reservoir containing, or appearing to contain, an accumulation of
petroleum. |
|
Porosity: |
The volume of the
pore space expressed as a percent of the total volume of the rock mass. |
|
Produced Water: |
Water associated
with oil and gas reservoirs that is produced along with the oil and gas. |
|
Producing/Production: |
Flowing oil
and/or gas from a well to the production systems. |
|
Production Platform: |
An offshore
structure equipped to produce and process oil and gas. |
|
Production Tree: |
An arrangement of heavy duty valves and fittings installed
on the wellhead to control flow from the well and/or to facilitate injection
operations. |
|
Production Well: |
A well drilled and completed for the purpose of
producing crude oil or natural gas. |
|
Project Sands: |
The Proponents term for those reservoir zones that they
recognize as having sufficient gas volumes and producibility to form the
basis of the production forecast. |
|
Proponents: |
The parties proposing to carry out SOEP; specifically,
Mobil Oil Canada Properties, Lead Operator, Shell Canada Limited, Joint
Operator, Imperial Oil Resources Limited and Nova Scotia Resources Limited. |
|
Reaming: |
An operation to restore a wellbore to its original
diameter (occasionally, a wellbore will cave in). |
|
Recoverable Reserves: |
That part of the hydrocarbon volumes in a reservoir
that can be economically produced. |
|
Recovery Factor: |
The percentage of total hydrocarbons expected to be
produced from a reservoir, well or field over its entire production lifespan.
|
|
Reservoir Pressure: |
The pressure of fluids and/or gases in a reservoir. |
|
Reservoir: |
A porous, permeable rock formation in which
hydrocarbons have accumulated. |
|
Resistivity: |
The electrical resistance of a formation. |
|
RFT: |
Repeat Formation Tester. A high resolution down hole
logging tool which records reservoir pressures at multiple points in a well
and may on occasion be configured to obtain several small samples of gas, oil
and/or other fluids over a reservoir interval. |
|
Rt: |
This symbol is used in petrophysical calculations to
represent the true electrical resistivity of a formation. |
|
Rw: |
This symbol is used in petrophysical calculations to
represent the electrical resistivity of formation water. |
|
Sandstone: |
A compacted sedimentary rock composed of detrital
grains of sand, mostly quartz. If the void spaces between the grains are open
and free of other minerals, it may become a reservoir for oil or gas. |
|
Satellite Wells: |
Subsea wells
located remote from the production facility and connected to the facility by
flowlines. |
|
Scour: |
Erosion of the
seabed caused by the action of waves and currents. |
|
Sedimentary Basin: |
A geographical
area, such as Scotian Basin, where much of the rock is sedimentary (as
opposed to igneous or metamorphic) and therefore likely to contain
hydrocarbons. |
|
Shale: |
A compacted
sedimentary rock composed of detrital grains of clay and silt, finer than
sandstone. Because they are tightly compacted and have virtually no
permeability, shales may act as seals to prevent the migration, and permit
the entrapment of, hydrocarbons. |
|
Shut-in: |
A well in which
the valves in the production tree have been closed to cease production or
injection operations on a well. |
|
Sidetracking: |
The operation of
deviating a well around a fish. |
|
SOEP: |
Sable Offshore Energy Project |
|
Spud: |
To start the
drilling of a well. |
|
Storage Facilities: |
Facilities used
for storing natural gas. They generally come in two forms: gaseous storage
facilities and liquified natural gas (LNG) storage facilities. Gaseous
storage facilities are usually salt caverns or depleted natural gas or crude
oil reservoirs. |
|
Suspension/Suspend: |
The temporary
cessation of drilling or production operations in a well. |
|
Sweet Oil and Gas: |
Petroleum
containing little or no hydrogen sulphide. |
|
Tcf (Trillium Cubic Feet): |
A volume
measurement of natural gas, approximately equivalent to one Quad. |
|
Tight Hole: |
A well about
which information is restricted for security or competitive reasons and such
information given only to those authorized to receive it. |
|
Toxicity: |
The degree to
which a toxin is harmful. |
|
Toxin: |
Any substance,
which in sufficient quantity is harmful to biota. |
|
Viscosity: |
The resistance to
flow, or "stickiness," of a fluid. |
|
Water Saturation: |
The percentage of
pore space in a formation occupied by water. |
|
Water-based Mud: |
A drilling mud in
which the continuous phase is water. |
|
Well Workover: |
A program of work
performed on an existing well. |
|
Wellbore: |
The hole drilled
by the drill bit. |
|
Wellhead: |
Steel equipment
installed at the surface of the well containing an assembly of heavy duty
hangars and seals (the wellhead is used to support the weight of casing
strings hung from it and to contain well pressure). |
|
Workover: |
Operations on a
producing well to restore or increase production. |
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