Oil and Gas Terms Beginning with “P” — Page 6

Pertaining to a material that can deform permanently without rupturing. Read more →

Permanent mechanical or physical alteration that does not include rupture. Plastic deformation of rocks typically occurs at high temperatures and pressures, conditions under which rocks become relatively viscous. Read more →

A fluid in which the shear force is not proportional to the shear rate (non-Newtonian) and that requires a finite shear stress to start and maintain flow. Most drilling muds are characterized as either plastic or… Read more →

A parameter of the Bingham plastic model. PV is the slope of the shear stress/shear rate line above the yield point. PV represents the viscosity of a mud when extrapolated to infinite shear rate on the basis of the… Read more →

To stay on the surface of the formation or a perforation tunnel. When, for example, bead tracers are injected into a well, they will be carried by the injection fluid. Instead of entering the formation with the fluid,… Read more →

What Is Plate Tectonics? Plate tectonics is the unifying theory of Earth science that explains the structure, movement, and geological history of the Earth's surface through the motion of rigid lithospheric plates —… Read more →

A topographic feature consisting of a large flat area at a relatively high elevation with steep sides. Read more →

A relatively flat, nearly level area of sedimentary rocks in a continent that overlies or abuts the basement rocks of a craton. Read more →

To pursue hydrocarbon accumulations of a given type. Read more →

A log that has been generated from digital data some time after the actual acquisition of the data. It is distinct from the acquisition log. Some of the parameters for processing the log may or may not be different from… Read more →

To prepare a wellbore to be shut in and permanently isolated. There are typically regulatory requirements associated with the P&A process to ensure that strata, particularly freshwater aquifers, are adequately isolated.… Read more →

A multiphase flow regime in pipes in which most of the gas moves as large bubbles dispersed within a continuous liquid. The bubbles may span much of the pipe. There are also small bubbles within the liquid, but many of… Read more →

A solid or gel in a workover or drilling fluid that blocks off permeable zones to prevent loss of fluid into those permeable zones or to protect those zones from damage. The plugging may be temporary or permanent. Read more →

The angle between a linear feature and a horizontal line in a vertical plane containing both lines. Read more →

What Is Plunger Lift? Plunger lift is a low-cost artificial lift method that uses a free-traveling cylindrical plunger inside the production tubing to create a mechanical interface between the accumulated casing annulus… Read more →

(noun) The additional stroke distance beyond the designed plunger travel in a sucker rod pumping system, occurring when the pump plunger descends past its normal bottom position due to rod stretch or fluid pound.… Read more →

An arcuate deposit of sediment, usually sand, that occurs along the convex inner edges of the meanders of channels and builds outward as the stream channel migrates. Read more →

A term used to describe the beginning of thickening of a cementslurry during the thickening-time test, often abbreviated as POD. For some slurries, the POD is used as the thickening time. Read more →

In chemistry, referring to a compound in which electrons are not shared equally in the chemical bond, resulting in partial electrical charges. The best example is water, H2O, where the oxygen atom "pulls" the electrons… Read more →

A compound whose electrons are not shared equally in chemical bonds. A polar compound is not necessarily ionized. Water is a polar compound. Polymers can have ionizing polar groups on their complex structures. Read more →

The nature of the positive and negative portions of the seismic wavelet, the positive and negative aspects of electrical equipment, or the north and south orientations of magnets and the Earth's magnetic field. Read more →

The convention adopted by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) for the display of zero-phaseseismic data. If the signal arises from a reflection that indicates an increase in acoustic impedance, the polarity… Read more →

The effect on a propagation resistivity or induction log of charge buildup at the boundary between two formation layers with different dielectric properties. In a vertical well with horizontal layers, the current loops… Read more →

The time allotted for the alignment of hydrogen atoms with the static magnetic field during a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurement. The alignment of hydrogen atoms follows an exponential rule such that after a… Read more →

A generic term for a completion component that has been polished or prepared to enable an efficient hydraulic seal. The polished joint may have an internal or external polished surface and is typically configured in a… Read more →

The uppermost joint in the string of sucker rods used in a rod pump artificial-lift system. The polished rod enables an efficient hydraulic seal to be made around the reciprocating rod string. Read more →

A polymer with a high molecular weight. The basic repeating unit or monomer of polyacrylamide is a combination of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Polyacrylamides increase the viscosity of the water slug that… Read more →

A polymer or copolymer of an alkalene oxide, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), a polymer of ethylene oxide with general formula HO(CH2CH2O)nH, or polypropylene glycol (PPG), which is a polymer of propylene oxide. PAGs… Read more →

One of the synthetic hydrocarbon liquids manufactured from the monomer ethylene, H2C=CH2. Polyalphaolefins have a complex branched structure with an olefin bond in the alpha position of one of the branches. Hydrogenated… Read more →

A cellulose derivative similar in structure, properties and usage in drilling fluids to carboxymethylcellulose. PAC is considered to be a premium product because it typically has a higher degree of carboxymethyl… Read more →