Oil & Gas Glossary 1.0

A small mud tank with a capacity of 10 to 15 barrels, usually with 1-barrel or H-barrel divisions, used to ascertain the amount of mud necessary to keep the wellbore full with the exact amount of mud that is displaced by drill pipe. When the bit comes out of the hole, a volume of mud equal to that which the drill pipe occupied while in the hole must be pumped into the hole to replace the pipe. When the bit goes back in the hole, the drill pipe displaces a certain amount of mud, and a trip tank can be used again to keep track of this volume.

A tank used in the field to receive crude oil as it comes from the well. Also called a flow tank or lease tank.

The operation of hoisting the drill stem from and returning it to the wellbore. v: shortened form of "make a trip."

Oil as it exists at atmospheric conditions in a stock tank. Stock tank oil lacks much of the dissolved gas present at reservoir pressure and temperatures.

The action of pull out and subsequently running back into the hole a string of drill pipe or tubing. Making a round trip is also called tripping.

The mud tank adjacent to the shake shaker, usually the first tank in to which mud flows after returning from the hole. Also called a shaker pit.

The small amount of additional mud weight carried over that needed to balance formation pressure to overcome the pressure-reduction effects caused by swabbing when a trip out of the hole is made.

A hole in the side of a tank through which a man can enter the tank, also the cleanout plate.

A small section of pipe in the top of a tank through which a tank may be gaged.

The person who measures a tank to determine the volume it holds at 1/4" intervals of height.

A tank or enclosure filled with hay-like materials used to filter oil out of water.

A lease storage tank to which produced oil is run.

2. a large pipe connected to a process tank to provide a statis head that can absorb surges of fluid from the process tank.

A wall of earth built around an oil tank to hold the oil if the tank breaks or burns.

The mud tank from which mud is picked up by the suction of the mud pumps. Also called a suction pit.

Process of separating, or breaking down, an emulsion into oil and water in a vessel or tank on a continuous basis (i.e., no interruption of flow of emulsion into the tank or vessel). Compare batch treating.

A tool that goes downhole and is not retrievable.

A complete trip from the bottom of the wellbore to the top

Also called a suction tank, sump pit, or mud suction pit. See suction tank.

The operation of hoisting the drill stem out of and returning it to the wellbore. See make a trip.

A spherical object used to pump down the drill string or tubing to trip, release, or otherwise operate certain hydraulic-type tools.

Running of a gauge on tubing or slickline to verify casing dimensions.

A sub with a ball seat run on top of a hydraulically set packer to set the packer.

See shaker tank

An opening into a tank, usually through the top deck.

The narrow walkway on top of a tank battery.

A kind of tank of filter used to separate oil and water.

A definite amount of oil, mud, acid, or other liquid in a tank or pipe.

To make repairs or modifications on a tank, pipeline, or installation without shutting down operations.

A group of production tanks located in a field to store crude oil.

See trip margin

The connected joints of pipe racked in the derrick or mast during a trip. The usual stand is about 90 feet long (about 27 meters), which is three lengths of drill pipe screwed together (a thribble).

2. a device fitted to the gauging hatch on a pressure tank that enables manual dipping and sampling without loss of vapor.

To hoist the drill stem out of the wellbore to perform one of a number of operations such as changing bits, taking a core, and so forth, and then to return the drill stem to the wellbore.

To pull the drill stem out of the wellbore to change the bit, to change from a core barrel to the bit, to run electric logs, to prepare for a drill stem test, to run casing, and so on. Also called trip out.

Gas that enters the wellbore when the mud pump is shut down and pipe is being pulled from the wellbore. The gas may enter because of the reduction in bottomhole pressure when the pump is shut down, because of swabbing, or because of both.

A pipe through which pressure is bled, as from a pressurized tank, vessel, or other pipe.

The flow lines which run from several wells to a single tank battery.

The component in a blowout preventer that cuts, or shears, through drill pipe and forms a seal against well pressure. Shear rams are used in floating offshore drilling operations to provide a quick method of moving the rig away from the hole when there is no time to trip the drill stem out of the hole.

The process by which a single quantity of crude oil emulsion is broken into oil and water. The emulsion is gathered and stored in a tank or container prior to treating.

1. to assemble and join parts to form a complete unit (e.g., to make up a string of casing). 2. to screw together two threaded pieces. 3. to mix or prepare (e.g., to make up a tank of mud). 4. to compensate for (e.g., to make up for lost time).

1. an installation of identical or nearly identical pieces of equipment (such as a tank battery or a battery of meters).

See shaker tank

The force that a fluid (liquid or gas) exerts uniformly in all directions within a vessel, pipe, hole in the ground, and so forth, such as that exerted against the inner wall of a tank or that exerted on the bottom of the wellbore by a fluid. Pressure is expressed in terms of force exerted per unit of area, as pounds per square inch, or in kilopascals.

A device that prevents leakage along a piston, rod, propeller shaft, or other moving part that passes through a hole in a cylinder or vessel. It consists of a box or chamber made by enlarging the hole and a gland containing compressed packing. On a well being artificially lifted by means of a sucker rod pump, the polished rod operates through a stuffing box, preventing escape of oil and diverting it into a side outlet to which is connected the flow line leading to the oil and gas separator or to the field storage tank. For a bottomhole pressure test, the wireline goes through a stuffing box and lubricator, allowing the gauge to be raised and lowered against well pressure. The lubricator provides a pressure-tight grease seal in the stuffing box.