Oilfield Terminology (Part 1)

So we are making an effort to give the general population a better understanding of what value Laversab brings to society. And it'd make sense to start by listing and defining some basic terms - to familiarize everyone with the oilfield terminology. The oil industry is an incredibly demanding and exciting industry which employs among the most sophisticated technology around. Who would have thought that the oil industry would get so technologically advanced? If you weren't cognizant of this, no worries, you are not in the minority. Most likely, the technological advances in the oil industry wouldn't be all that you weren't cognizant of, and so, it is our goal to make the discipline much easier to apprehend. We will try and meet that goal by going over some of the core concepts that those in the oil industry must have a firm understanding of.

Let us start by making explicit what we mean by oilfield terminology. Oilfield terminology encompasses those jargon terms which are used by folks working in the upstream segment of the petroleum industry. It includes terms describing equipent, professions, and procedures specific to the industry. Some of these terms are formal terms with formal definitions - made official by leaders in the industry. Others are slang terms that have become popular over time - many of them used by oilfield workers long before being considered terms worth referencing.

Petroleum Engineering

Petroleum Engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the development and exploitation of crude oil and natural gas fields. It also includes the technical analysis and forecasting of their future performance. A petroleum engineer aims to extract gaseous and liquid hydrocarbon products from the earth. Everything from dilling, to producing, to processing, and to transporting these products falls under the petroleum engineer's job responsibility.

Natural gas

Natural gas is a fossil fuel that is formed when layers of buried plants, animals, and gases are exposed to intense heat and pressure over thousands and thousands of years. Plants obtain energy from the sun, and that energy is stored in the form of chemical bonds in natural gas. Because natural gas cannot be replenished on a human time frame, it is a nonrenewable resource. It is a hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting mostly of methane. Natural gas is an energy source that is very valuable when it comes to electricity generation. Also, when it comes to fueling vehicles, natural gas is by far one of the most efficient energy sources. Natural gas is most often found deep into the ground - in underground rock formations.

Hydrocarbon

A hydrocarbon is any of a class of organic compounds consisting entirely of both hydrogen and carbon. Most hydrocarbons that are found on earth naturally occur in crude oil. Decomposed organic matter provides a great deal of carbon and hydrogen, which can lead to an endless chain of when bonded.

Petroleum

Petroleum is a naturally occurring, oily, thick, typically dark-colored liquid that is a mixture of various hydrocarbons, occurring naturally in many different places in the world. It is commonly obtained by drilling and it is used either in a natural state or a refined state as fuel. It is most commonly separated by distillation into gasoline, and in lesser cases, benzene, kerosene, naphtha and paraffin. The term petroleum covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil and petroleum products that are made up of refined crude oil. Petroleum is recovered mainly via oil drilling.

Gasoline

Gasoline is a clear liquid derived from petroleum. It is mainly used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. Gasoline consists mostly of organic compounds that are obtained by the fractional distillation of petroluem. Fractional distillation is the separation of a mixture into its component parts. Without it, gasoline could not be produced.

Reservoir

A reservoir is a subsurface rock formation that contains one or more than one individual and and separate natural accumulations of moveable petroleum, confined by rock that is impermeable and characterized by a single pressure system.

Drilling Rig

A drilling rig is a machine that is used to create large holes in the ground. They can be massive structures - used not just for oil wells or natural gas extraction wells, but for water wells as well. In the case of an oil or natural gas drilling rig, the sizes vary, but they are mostly very large in size. They are used to identify geologic reservoirs, as well as to create holes that allow the extraction of oil or natural gas from those reservoirs.