Oil and Gas Terms Beginning with “S”

What Is an S-Wave? An S-wave (shear wave) propagates by oscillating rock particles perpendicular to the direction of travel, cannot pass through liquids or gases, and travels at roughly half the velocity of a P-wave in… Read more →

What Is SAGD? SAGD (Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage) is a thermal in-situ oil recovery method used to produce heavy oil and bitumen from reservoirs too deep to mine. Two parallel horizontal wells are drilled one above… Read more →

SAPP is the field abbreviation for sodium acid pyrophosphate, a polyphosphate compound with the formula Na2H2P2O7 that serves two closely related jobs in water-based drilling fluids: it sequesters calcium ions released… Read more →

SARA analysis is a standardized method for characterizing crude oils and heavy petroleum fractions by separating them into four chemical groups: Saturates, Aromatics, Resins, and Asphaltenes. Each fraction is defined by… Read more →

SBR (synthetic/brine ratio) is the volumetric ratio of the synthetic base fluid (internal olefin, linear alpha olefin, ester, poly-alpha olefin, or other synthetic liquid hydrocarbon) to the brine (emulsified water… Read more →

Special core analysis laboratory. Read more →

(noun) Abbreviation for Statistical Curvature Analysis Technique. A directional survey analysis method used in wellbore trajectory planning and evaluation to identify systematic errors in directional survey measurements… Read more →

SCC is the abbreviation for stress corrosion cracking, a failure mechanism in which a susceptible metal exposed to a specific corrosive environment while under sustained tensile stress develops cracks that propagate… Read more →

A shear wave that is polarized so that its particle motion and direction of propagation are contained in a horizontal plane. Read more →

Shut-in bottomhole pressure (SIBHP) is the static reservoir pressure measured at the depth of the producing formation in a well that has been shut in (all flow stopped at surface) for a sufficient period to allow the… Read more →

Shut-in bottomhole pressure (SIBHP) is the static reservoir pressure measured at the depth of the producing formation in a well that has been shut in (all flow stopped at surface) for a sufficient period to allow the… Read more →

Shut-in pressure (SIP) is the wellbore pressure measured after a producing or injecting well is closed at surface (shut in) and allowed to stabilize, with the well valves closed so that no fluid is flowing either into… Read more →

Abbreviation for synthetic natural gas Read more →

An abbreviation of spontaneous potential. Read more →

What Is SPA? SPA (Spontaneous Potential Analysis) is an analytical workflow applied to the spontaneous potential wireline log that extracts formation water resistivity (Rw) by interpreting the electrochemical potential… Read more →

What Are Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria (SRB)? Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are anaerobic microorganisms that use sulfate (SO₄²⁻) as a terminal electron acceptor in their metabolism, reducing it to hydrogen sulfide (H₂S)… Read more →

SSMA is the abbreviation for sulfonated polystyrene-maleic anhydride copolymer, a synthetic anionic polymer deflocculant used in high-temperature, high-pressure (HTHP) water-based drilling fluids to disperse clay… Read more →

SSMA copolymer is an alternate name for sulfonated polystyrene-maleic anhydride copolymer, a synthetic anionic polymer deflocculant used in high-temperature, high-pressure water-based drilling fluids to control clay… Read more →

A mnemonic for the static spontaneous potential. Read more →

Abbreviation for stock tank barrel. Read more →

A shear wave that is polarized so that its particle motion and direction of propagation occur in a vertical plane. Read more →

The synthetic-water ratio (SWR) is the recipe number that tells a drilling crew what fraction of their drilling mud is synthetic base fluid and what fraction is water. It is written as two numbers separated by a slash,… Read more →

A steel cable that has a clip on one end and a loop on the other, threaded through hanging equipment for security. Read more →

The Sierpinski gasket is a classic fractal object built from an equilateral triangle by recursively removing the central inverted triangle from every remaining triangle, repeated to infinity. The result is a… Read more →

Single-azimuth towed-streamer acquisition (SAZ, also called narrow-azimuth or NAZ acquisition) is the conventional marine seismic data acquisition method in which a single seismic vessel tows multiple parallel… Read more →

What Is Snell's Law? Snell's law states that the ray parameter p = sin(θ)/V is conserved as a seismic wave crosses an interface between two formations with different velocities, governing how P-waves and S-waves… Read more →

Solar terrestrial rhythms in petroleum geology and sedimentology refer to the periodic cyclicity observed in sedimentary rock sequences that is attributed to astronomically driven variations in solar radiation reaching… Read more →

A Soxhlet extractor is a laboratory apparatus used to continuously extract a soluble component (typically crude oil, bitumen, organic carbon, or specific hydrocarbon fractions) from a solid sample matrix using a solvent… Read more →

A device used during making up a string of pipe to align pin to box threads and prevent face damage. Read more →

A component of the Bottom Hole Assembly that helps keep the bit drilling straight through different rock formations. Read more →