Oil and Gas Terms Beginning with “F” — Page 7

What Is Formation Factor? The formation factor (F) is a dimensionless petrophysical parameter that relates the electrical resistivity of a fully water-saturated rock to the resistivity of the water it contains: F = R₀ /… Read more →

Formation fluid is any naturally occurring fluid that occupies the pore space of a subsurface rock formation in its undisturbed reservoir state, encompassing the entire range of fluid types found in petroleum-bearing… Read more →

What Is Formation Fracture Pressure? Formation fracture pressure (also called fracture initiation pressure or breakdown pressure ) is the minimum fluid pressure required to overcome the in-situ minimum horizontal stress… Read more →

The pressure within the reservoirrock. The formation pressure value can be further categorized as relating to flowing well or shut-in conditions. Read more →

What Is Formation Water? Formation water occupies the pore spaces of a reservoir rock as naturally occurring brine, representing the connate water that saturated the formation before and after hydrocarbon migration. Its… Read more →

Formic acid (HCOOH, also written as CH2O2) is the simplest carboxylic acid — a colorless, pungent liquid with a flash point of 69 degrees Celsius and a boiling point of 100.8 degrees Celsius at atmospheric pressure —… Read more →

Forward modeling in petroleum geoscience is the process of constructing a synthetic representation of a geophysical measurement — seismic response, well log, or electromagnetic signal — from an assumed subsurface model,… Read more →

A forward multiple-contact test is a laboratory PVT (pressure-volume-temperature) experiment used to determine the phase behavior between a lean injection gas and a reservoir oil under conditions simulating… Read more →

The forward problem in geophysics and petroleum engineering is the mathematical procedure of computing the observable responses (seismic traveltimes, gravity anomalies, electromagnetic signals, well log readings,… Read more →

Preserved remnants of plants or animals, such as skeletons, shells, casts or molds, tracks or borings, and feces. Read more →

Four-component seismic data (4C seismic) refers to ocean-bottom cable (OBC) or ocean-bottom node (OBN) seismic acquisition in which each receiver station records four independent signals simultaneously: three orthogonal… Read more →

Four-dimensional seismic data (4D seismic), also called time-lapse seismic, refers to the acquisition and comparison of multiple 3D seismic surveys over the same area at different points in time — typically before… Read more →

A frac crew (also called a hydraulic fracturing crew, pumping crew, or stimulation crew) is the team of personnel and the associated fleet of specialized equipment that executes hydraulic fracturing operations at the… Read more →

Frac gel is a viscous fluid used as the primary carrier fluid in a hydraulic fracturing treatment. It is made by dissolving a polymer (most commonly guar gum or a derivative such as hydroxypropyl guar, HPG) in water and… Read more →

What Is Frac Gradient? Frac gradient (also called fracture gradient ) is the fluid pressure gradient — expressed in pounds per square inch per foot (psi/ft) of true vertical depth or as an equivalent mud weight in… Read more →

A frac gun (also called a fracturing perforating gun or stimulation perforating gun) is a specialized perforating gun system designed specifically for use in hydraulic fracturing completions, containing shaped charges… Read more →

A high-pressure, high-volume pump used in hydraulic fracturing treatments. Read more →

A high-pressure isolation valve fitted to the top of the wellhead on a well that is about to be hydraulically fractured. The frac valve can be closed to isolate the treating equipment from the wellbore. Read more →

In petroleum reservoir characterization and geophysics, a fractal is a geometric or statistical structure exhibiting self-similar patterns across a range of length scales, characterized quantitatively by a non-integer… Read more →

Analysis of a geometrical system using fractal mathematics. This analysis is sometimes used in geostatistics to describe depositional systems and other geological phenomena. Read more →

Networks that are described using the mathematics of fractals. These are useful for describing certain types of fracture systems. Read more →

What Is Fracture Acidizing? Fracture acidizing is a well-stimulation technique that injects acid, typically hydrochloric acid, into a carbonate formation at pressures exceeding the fracture gradient, creating hydraulic… Read more →

What Is Fracture Conductivity? Fracture conductivity is the capacity of a propped hydraulic fracture to transmit reservoir fluids from the formation to the wellbore, quantified as the product of fracture permeability (k… Read more →

What Is Fracture Gradient? The fracture gradient is the minimum wellbore pressure — expressed as an equivalent fluid density gradient (psi/ft or lb/gal EMW) — required to initiate or propagate a hydraulic fracture in a… Read more →

What Is Fracture Half-Length? Fracture half-length (symbol x f ) is the distance from the wellbore to the tip of one wing of a hydraulic fracture, assuming a symmetric bi-wing fracture geometry in which two fracture… Read more →

Fracture networks in petroleum geology and reservoir engineering are the interconnected systems of multiple natural or induced fractures that intersect and connect to form a permeable pathway through otherwise tight or… Read more →

Fracture permeability is the part of a reservoir's total flow capacity that comes from open natural cracks in the rock, rather than from the connected pore space inside the rock matrix. In a dual-porosity reservoir, oil… Read more →

Fracture porosity is the component of total reservoir porosity attributable to open fractures, joints, and faults that provide void space within the rock mass, as distinct from matrix porosity (the intergranular or… Read more →

Fractured well analysis is the set of reservoir engineering methods used to characterize the properties of hydraulically fractured or naturally fractured wells — including fracture half-length, fracture conductivity,… Read more →

What Is a Fracturing Fluid? Fracturing fluid (also called frac fluid or stimulation fluid) is the liquid system pumped into a wellbore at pressures exceeding the formation fracture gradient to initiate and propagate… Read more →