Technical Thesaurus oil & gas
Letter
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bore while the pipe is being withdrawn in order to ensure that the well bore
remains full of fluid even though the pipe is withdrawn.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.
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