Oil and Gas Terms Beginning with “P” — Page 3

A parasequence set is a succession of genetically related parasequences that display a distinctive stacking pattern reflecting systematic changes in the relative sea level, sediment supply, or accommodation space… Read more →

Completion of or flow from less than the entire producing interval. This situation causes a near-well flow constriction that results in a positive skin effect in a well-test analysis. Read more →

What Is Partial Penetration? Partial penetration (also called limited entry or restricted entry) is a well completion configuration in which the perforated or open interval of the wellbore penetrates only a portion of… Read more →

What Is Participating Interest? Participating interest (commonly abbreviated PI) is the fractional share of working interest owned by a party in a joint operating agreement or production sharing contract that entitles… Read more →

The Particle Plugging Apparatus (PPA stands for Particle Plugging Apparatus) is a specialised laboratory filtration device used in drilling fluid quality assurance and reservoir protection programs to measure the… Read more →

Particle size distribution (PSD) is the statistical characterization of the range and frequency of particle sizes present in a powder, suspension, or granular material, described quantitatively by percentile diameter… Read more →

The Particle Plugging Apparatus (PPA) is a laboratory filtration test device used to evaluate the ability of a drilling fluid, drill-in fluid, or lost circulation material (LCM) slurry to form a low-permeability filter… Read more →

A test performed in a specialized filtration-type apparatus (particle-plugging apparatus) to determine the effectiveness of additives to prevent fluid loss into a permeable medium. Read more →

Particle-size distribution (the hyphenated form of the same term as particle size distribution) is the quantitative characterization of the sizes and relative frequencies of particles in a sample, expressed as a… Read more →

Partitioning in petroleum engineering and geochemistry refers to the distribution of a chemical compound between two or more coexisting phases (oil, gas, water, and rock) according to equilibrium thermodynamics, with… Read more →

A crew that acquires a survey or geophysical data. Read more →

The ultimate leader of a survey crew. Read more →

The actual leader of a survey crew. The party manager reports to the party chief. Read more →

(noun) In production logging, a single traverse of a logging tool through the wellbore, either upward or downward, during which measurements are recorded. Multiple passes at different logging speeds and flow conditions… Read more →

What Is a Passive Margin? Passive margin (also called a rifted margin or Atlantic-type margin) is a tectonically stable continental margin formed by the rifting and separation of a continent, characterized by a thick… Read more →

Pay in oil and gas exploration and production refers to the reservoir rock interval that contains economically producible quantities of hydrocarbons — specifically the formation thickness that meets minimum criteria for… Read more →

The point at which all costs of leasing, exploring, drilling and operating have been recovered from production of a well or wells as defined by contractual agreement. Read more →

Peak, in petroleum engineering and energy economics, most commonly refers to peak oil production — the maximum rate of oil production from a well, a field, a region, a country, or the global petroleum system, reached at… Read more →

A peg-leg multiple (also called a peg-leg reverberant or inter-bed multiple) is a category of seismic noise in which a seismic ray undergoes one or more additional reflections at boundaries within the subsurface before… Read more →

A pendant drop tensiometer is a laboratory optical instrument that measures interfacial tension (IFT) or surface tension between two immiscible fluids by capturing a digital image of a pendant (hanging) drop of one… Read more →

To disperse a substance into a colloidal form or to disperse a clay in water to form a colloidal suspension. Read more →

Peptized clay is a bentonite or other smectite clay that has been chemically treated during manufacturing to break apart aggregated platelets and enhance its dispersion in water, producing a higher yield of viscous… Read more →

A peptizing agent is a chemical additive in drilling fluids that adsorbs onto the surface of clay particles and colloidal solids, imparting electrostatic repulsion (negative surface charge) or steric hindrance that… Read more →

To perforate, in petroleum well completion engineering, is to create a series of holes through the casing, cement sheath, and into the surrounding formation rock at selected depth intervals in a completed wellbore,… Read more →

Perforate overbalanced is a perforating technique in which the wellbore hydrostatic pressure at the depth of the perforating gun exceeds the formation pore pressure at the moment the shaped charges are detonated,… Read more →

What Is Underbalanced Perforating? Underbalanced perforating (also called underbalance perforating or UB perforating) is a perforating technique performed with wellbore pressure below formation pore pressure at the… Read more →

A perforated interval is the section of casing or liner that has been shot with shaped charges to create a series of tunnels (perforations) connecting the wellbore to the producing formation, establishing the primary… Read more →

A perforated liner in oil and gas well completion is a section of steel liner (a casing string that does not extend to the wellhead but is hung from the bottom of the previous casing string using a liner hanger) that… Read more →

Perforating acid is a hydrochloric acid (HCl) or hydrochloric-hydrofluoric acid (HCl-HF) solution pumped into the perforations of a newly perforated wellbore immediately after perforating or as part of the perforation… Read more →

(noun) A shaped explosive device, typically consisting of a metal case, explosive liner, and detonating cord, that is loaded into a perforating gun and detonated downhole to create a high-velocity jet capable of… Read more →