LEXICON
of TERMS
Learn
how to talk like an Oilman
Over 400 Oil & Gas and
related investment terms defined |
|
T-Z |
T
Take-or-pay
contract - A (long-term) contract between a gas producer
and a gas purchaser, such as a pipeline transmission company.
Tank
bottoms - A mixture of oil, water, and other foreign
matter that collects in the bottoms of stock tanks and large
crude storage tanks and must be cleaned or pumped out on a regular
basis.
Tanker
- An ocean going ship which hauls crude oil.
Tar
sand - A sandstone in which the spaces between grains
are filled with a highly viscous tar.
Tar
sands - Rocks (other than coal or oil shale) that contain
highly viscous hydrocarbons that are unrecoverable by primary
production methods.
Tax
preference items - Certain items of income, or special
deductions from gross income which are given favored treatment
under Federal tax law.
TCF
- Trillion cubic feet.
Tectonic
map - A geologic map showing the structure of the earth's
crust.
Tender
- 1. A permit issued by a regulatory body for the transportation
of oil or gas. 2. A barge or small ship that serves as a supply
ship and/or storage facility for an offshore rig.
Tertiary
recovery - The recovery of oil that involves complex
and very expensive methods such as the injection of steam, chemicals,
gases, or heat, as compared to primary recovery, which involves
depleting a naturally flowing reservoir, or secondary recovery,
which usually involves repressuring or waterflooding.
Therm
- A measure of heat content. One therm equals 100,000
Btus.
Third
for a quarter - Sometimes also known as a "quarter
for a third". A widely used arrangement for promoting an
oil deal to another party.
Tight
formation - A sedimentary layer of rock cemented together
in a manner that greatly hinders the flow of any gas through
the rock.
Tight
hole - A well about which the operator keeps all information
secret.
Tight
sand - A formation with low permeability. Gas produced
from a formation so designated by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission qualifies for a higher market price.
Time
value of money - The concept that a dollar in hand
today is worth more than a dollar that will be received in some
future year.
Title
- The combination of factors that, together, constitute
legal ownership of a property.
Tool
pusher - The supervisor of drilling rig operations.
Top
lease - A (conditional) type of lease that may be granted
by the mineral-rights owner of a property while an pre-existing
recorded lease of that property is nearing expiration, but nonetheless
is still in effect. The top lease would become effective only
if and when the existing lease expires (or is terminated).
Total
depth (TD) - The maximum depth of a borehole.
Township
- A square tract of land six miles on a side, it consists
of 36 sections of one square mile each.
Transfer
rule - When an interest in an oil and gas property
already proven to be capable of commercial production is transferred,
the transferee taxpayer is generally not entitled to percentage
depletion, although he may still be entitled to cost depletion,
in computing his depletion allowance deduction from gross income.
Trap
- A natural configuration of layers of rock where non-porous
or impermeable rocks acts as a barrier, blocking the natural
upward flow of hydrocarbons.
Trip
- Making a "trip" is the procedure of pulling
the entire string of drill pipe out of the borehole and then
running the entire length of drill pipe back in the hole.
Tubing
- Small diameter pipe, threaded at both ends, that
is lowered into a completed well. Oil and gas are produced through
a string of tubing.
Turnkey
- A drilling contract that calls for a drilling contractor
to drill a well, for a fixed price, to a specified depth. The
purpose of drilling a well by turnkey contract may be related
to the timing of Federal income tax deductions. For income tax
purposes, expenses are deductible from gross income as they
are incurred. When a turnkey contract is entered into toward
the end of the current tax year, the drilling costs may be pre-paid
at that time. The idea is to give a working interest owner (or
investor) in the well, the opportunity to deduct the intangible
drilling costs from his gross income in the current tax year.
ULCC
(Ultralarge crude carrier) - A large tanker built especially
to carry 500,000 dwt and up of crude oil.
Unassociated
gas - Natural gas that occurs alone, not in solution
or as free gas with oil or condensate.
Underwriter
- One who guarantees the sale of securities to investors.
He is at risk to the extent he assumes the responsibility of
paying the net purchase price to the seller at a pre-determined
price. He charges a fee for this service.
Undiscovered
recoverable resources - Resources outside of known
fields, estimated from broad geologic knowledge and theory.
Updip
well - A well located high on a structure where the
oil-bearing formation is found at a shallower depth.
Upstream
- Activities concerned with finding petroleum and producing
it, compared to downstream which are all the operations that
take place after production.
Vapor
pressure - The pressure exerted by a vapor held in
equilibrium with its solid or liquid state.
Viscosity
- A fluid's resistance to flowing.
VLCC
(very large crude carrier) - A tanker built to carry
200,000 to 350,000 dwt of crude oil.
Wall
sticking - A condition in which a section of the drillstring
becomes stuck on deposits of filter cake on the wall of the
borehole in a well.
Wasting
assets - Assets that will eventually lose their value.
Water
drive - The most efficient driving mechanism to force
oil and gas out of the reservoir.
Water-drive
reservoir - A reservoir in which the pressure that
forces the oil to the surface is exerted by edge or bottom water
in the field.
Waterflooding
- A secondary recovery method in which water is injected
into a reservoir to force additional oil into the wells.
Well
platform - An offshore structure that supports a well's
surface controls and flow piping.
Well
program - The procedure for drilling, casing, and completing
a well.
Wellbore
- Physically, wellbore refers to a borehole, in other
words a completed well.
Wellhead
- A device on the surface used to hold the tubing in
the well. The wellhead is the originating point of the producing
well at the top of the ground.
West
Texas Intermediate - Refers to a grade of crude oil
produced in the Permian and Midland basin areas of west Texas.
The price paid for crude oil varies according to quality.
Wet
- A reservoir rock is said to be "wet" when
it contains water but no hydrocarbons.
Wet
gas - Natural gas containing liquid hydrocarbons -
commonly condensate.
Whipstock
- A steel blocking device place in a borehole. As drilling
is resumed, the whipstock forces the drill bit to veer off at
a slight angle.
Wildcat
- An exploration well drilled to a reservoir, from
which no oil or gas has previously been produced in the nearby
surrounding area.
Wildcatter
- An operator who drills the first well in unproven
territory.
Working
interest - An interest created by the execution of
an oil and gas lease.
Workover
- To clean out or work on a well to restore or increase
production.
Workover
rig - The rig used when oilmen try to restore or increase
a well's production.
Write-off
- In common usage: a reduction in taxable income that
results when allowable deductions are subtracted from gross
income.
Zone
- A specific interval of rock strata containing one or more
reservoirs, used interchangeably with "formation."
Zone
isolation - Sealing off a producing formation while
a hole is being deepened. A special sealant is injected into
the formation, where it hardens long enough for the hole to
be drilled. Afterward, the substance again turns to liquid,
unblocking the formation.
