Oil and Gas Terms Beginning with “P” — Page 5

A pH indicator that is clear below pH 8.3 and red above 8.3. It is the indicator used in various alkalinity titrations. Read more →

What Is a Phosphate Salt in Drilling Fluids? A phosphate salt is an inorganic additive used as a deflocculating thinner in freshwater and lightly saline water-based drilling muds that reduces mud viscosity and gel… Read more →

The photoelectric effect in well logging is the gamma ray interaction mechanism in which a low-energy gamma ray photon (below approximately 100 keV) collides with a bound inner-shell electron of an atom in the… Read more →

A photon log (also called a compensated neutron log or thermal neutron log in some usage contexts, though the term "photon log" most specifically refers to a gamma-gamma density tool variant or an early generation of… Read more →

To interpret data, such as seismic sections, by selecting and tracking marker beds or other events. Read more →

Pick up in wireline logging operations refers to the specific depth at which the logging tool string is lifted off the bottom of the borehole at the start of a logging run, establishing the deepest point of the log and… Read more →

A pickle in wireline operations is the head assembly at the top of a wireline tool string — the mechanical and electrical connector that joins the wireline cable (the armored conductor that provides power, data… Read more →

To run a scraper, or pig, through a pipeline for cleaning purposes. Read more →

The trip of a pig through a pipeline for cleaning purposes. Read more →

What Is Pigging in Oil and Gas? Pigging is the practice of forcing a device called a pig — a plug-shaped tool sized to fit the internal diameter of a pipeline — through the pipe bore using differential pressure from the… Read more →

A pill is a small, discrete batch of specially formulated drilling fluid or treatment fluid that is mixed at the surface and pumped down the drillstring to address a specific downhole problem — distinguished from a… Read more →

A pilot mill in oil and gas well operations is a downhole milling tool designed with a leading pilot section (also called a guide or stabilizer nose) of smaller diameter than the main milling body, where the pilot… Read more →

What Is a Pilot Test in Oil and Gas? A pilot test in oil and gas is a controlled, small-scale field trial of an enhanced recovery method, improved completion technique, or production process conducted in a defined… Read more →

Relating to the male threadform, as in the "pin end of the pipe." Read more →

(verb) To progressively thin and terminate laterally, as when a geological formation, reservoir sand, or coal seam tapers to zero thickness against an unconformity, fault, or facies change. Pinch-out geometries can form… Read more →

A reduction in bed thickness resulting from onlapping stratigraphic sequences. Read more →

Pipe dope (also called thread compound, pipe thread compound, or thread lubricant) is a viscous paste or grease applied to the threaded connections of drill pipe, casing, tubing, and other oilfield tubulars before… Read more →

A pipe rack is the elevated horizontal framework of structural steel members located adjacent to the drilling rig floor that serves as the staging area and temporary storage for drill pipe, drill collars, heavyweight… Read more →

A pipe ram is a specific type of sealing element used in high-pressure split-seal blowout preventers (BOPs), manufactured with a half-circle hole on the inside edge that mates with the matching half-circle on a… Read more →

Pipe stretch is the increase in length of a drillstring, casing string, or tubing string that results from the forces acting on it inside the wellbore. The main contributors to stretch are tensile load (the weight of… Read more →

A tube or system of tubes used for transporting crude oil and natural gas from the field or gathering system to the refinery. Read more →

Pipeline capacity is the maximum sustained volumetric flow rate that a pipeline system can transport under specified operating conditions (inlet pressure, outlet pressure, fluid properties, and ambient temperature),… Read more →

A sufficiently dry gas that will not drop out natural gas liquids (NGL) when entering the gas pipeline; also, gas with enough pressure to enter high-pressure gas pipelines. Read more →

Oil whose free water, sediment and emulsion content (BS&W) is sufficiently low to be acceptable for pipeline shipment. Read more →

An inspection of a pipeline to check for leaks, washouts or other abnormal conditions. A pipeline patrol is commonly performed using airplanes. Read more →

Pitting is a form of localized corrosion that produces small, discrete cavities or holes (pits) on the surface of a metal component, progressing preferentially at points where the passive oxide film that protects the… Read more →

A plane table is a portable surveying and mapping instrument consisting of a flat drawing board mounted level on a tripod, used together with an alidade to construct topographic, geologic, or planimetric maps directly… Read more →

A plane wave is a wave whose wavefronts are flat (planar) surfaces, meaning that at any instant in time, all points on a given wavefront are at the same phase of the wave cycle. This is the simplest possible wave… Read more →

Plankton, in the context of petroleum geology and geochemistry, refers to the vast and diverse assemblage of microscopic to small aquatic organisms (both phytoplankton, the photosynthetic algae and cyanobacteria, and… Read more →

To place seismometers on the ground. The seismometer should be firmly stuck or planted in the ground in the proper location and orientation for optimal seismic acquisition. Read more →