Oil and Gas Terms Beginning with “S” — Page 13

Simultaneously constant pressure (wellhead or bottomhole) and flow rate. This behavior can result when there is pressure support, either naturally through an aquifer or gas-cap drive, or artificially through water or… Read more →

A two-phase mixture of liquid water and steam produced from a generator. The latent heat of vaporization for steam is very high, and when the steam condenses in the reservoir a significant amount of heat is transferred… Read more →

The volume of reservoir in which mobile steam exists for an extended period of time. Within the steam chamber, rock temperature rises to the point where steam vapor can be sustained at reservoir pressure conditions. The… Read more →

The overall heat and fuel management for a steam injection process. It includes economically efficient use of fuel consumed to generate steam, minimization of heat losses in surface steam-distribution lines, proper… Read more →

Crude oils with high viscosity (typically above 10 cP), and gravity lower than 22.3° API are classified as heavy oils. These crudes generally require special producing techniques to overcome their high viscosity. This… Read more →

A barrier or resistance to the flow of injected steam formed by a volume around a producing well in a steamflood that contains high oil and liquid water saturation. This is typically maintained by choking the production… Read more →

A thermal production method for heavy oil that pairs a high-angle injection well with a nearby production well drilled along a parallel trajectory. The pair of high-angle wells is drilled with a vertical separation of… Read more →

Parameter used to monitor the efficiency of oil production processes based on steam injection. Commonly abbreviated as SOR, it measures the volume of steam required to produce one unit volume of oil. Typical values of… Read more →

A method of thermal recovery in which steam generated at surface is injected into the reservoir through specially distributed injection wells.When steam enters the reservoir, it heats up the crude oil and reduces its… Read more →

A mud motor incorporating a bent housing that may be stabilized like a rotary bottomhole assembly. A steerable motor can be used to steer the wellbore without drillstring rotation in directional drilling operations, or… Read more →

The weight bar used in slickline operations to overcome the effects of wellheadpressure and friction at the surface seal where the wire enters the wellbore. In addition to a solid steel stem, a special high-density stem… Read more →

With reference to invasion, an abrupt change from the flushed zone to the undisturbed zone, with no transition zone or annulus. This simple model is used most commonly in connection with older resistivity logs since it… Read more →

A test performed in preparation for a hydraulic fracturing treatment in which an injection fluid is injected for a defined period in a series of increasing pump rates. The resulting data are used to identify key… Read more →

The irregular movement of a logging tool up a well due to it being stuck at some point and then being released. In normal operation, the cable is pulled smoothly out of the well and the logging tool follows. However,… Read more →

What Is Well Stimulation? Well stimulation is any treatment applied to a producing or injecting well to restore or enhance its productive capacity by improving the flow of reservoir fluids to the wellbore. Stimulation… Read more →

A compound formed by a secondary reaction of stimulation fluids with fluids or solids present in the reservoirmatrix. The most damaging stimulation byproducts are the insoluble precipitates that can form when the pH of… Read more →

A treatment fluid prepared for stimulation purposes, although the term most commonly is applied to matrix stimulation fluids. Most matrix stimulation fluids are acid or solvent-based, with hydrochloric acid being the… Read more →

An analysis related to a process involving a randomly determined sequence of observations, each of which is considered as a sample of one element from a probabilitydistribution. Read more →

(noun) Statistical and probabilistic techniques used in reservoir modelling and geostatistics to generate multiple equally probable realisations of reservoir properties (such as porosity, permeability, and facies… Read more →

The production of a model of a reservoir or field by using stochastic methods to interpolate between data measurements (usually wells). Read more →

A storage tank for oil production after the oil has been treated. Read more →

A measure of the volume of treated oil stored in stock tanks. A stock tank barrel is commonly abbreviated as STB. Read more →

A downhole valve that operates by fluid velocity and closes when the fluid flow from the well exceeds preset limits. The forerunner to modern subsurface controlled safety valves, storm chokes were used in offshore… Read more →

A heavy-duty retrievable packer assembly that can be run in to isolate the wellbore of a new well in the event of suspended activities, for example, during a severe storm. An on-off disconnect feature enables the storm… Read more →

The permanent deformation evident in rocks and other solid bodies that have experienced a sufficiently high applied stress. A change in shape, such as folding, faulting, fracturing, or change, generally a reduction, in… Read more →

A device used to catch and hold the debris flowing in pipelines. Such foreign materials can cause severe damage to meters or other surface equipment. Read more →

To measure the dimensions of an oil tank, such as external diameter and height, using a steel tape. Once the measurements are recorded, they may be used to prepare tank tables, which describe tank capacity. Read more →

(noun) The process of calibrating the volume of a storage tank by measuring its internal dimensions at regular intervals and constructing a strapping table that relates the liquid level (gauge height) to the contained… Read more →

A graduated tape use to measure, or strap, producing tanks. The measurements are used to generate a tank table, which describes tank capacity. Read more →

A multiphase-flow regime in horizontal or near-horizontal wells in which the fluids are separated into different layers, with lighter fluids flowing above heavier fluids. Stratified flow is more likely to occur at low… Read more →