Glossary
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API
American Petroleum Institute
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Appraisal Well
Well drilled in order to assess characteristics (such as flow rate, volume) of a proved hydrocarbon accumulation
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barrel or b or bbl
A stock tank barrel, a standard measure of volume for oil, condensate and natural gas liquids, which equals 42 US gallons
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block
An area of licenced territory comprising one or more licenses
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BPD
Barrels of oil per day
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Brent
A particular type of crude oil that is light, sweet oil produced in the North Sea with most of it being refined in Northwest Europe. Brent is a benchmark oil
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Contingent Resources
Those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from known accumulations by application of development projects, but which are not currently considered to be commercially recoverable due to one or more contingencies
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Crude Oil
unrefined oil
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Deltaic
Related to, or like a river delta and often shaped like the Greek letter ‘r’. A delta is a deposit formed where a river flows into an ocean, sea, desert, lake or estuary. Deltaic sediments have high potential as hydrocarbon reservoirs
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DST
drill stem test
Exploration Well
A well drilled to find hydrocarbons in an unproved area or to extend significantly a known oil or natural gas reservoir
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Field
An area consisting of either a single reservoir or multiple reservoirs, all grouped on or related to the same individual geological structural feature and/or stratigraphic condition
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Formation
A body of rock that is sufficiently distinctive and continuous that it can be mapped
Gross Reserves
The total estimated petroleum to be produced from a field
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KM
kilometer
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KM2
Square Kilometer
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m
Meters
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mbbl
thousand barrels of oil
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mmbbl
million barrels of oil
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Net Pay
net pay represents that portion of the reservoir containing oil and gas reserves that are anticipated to be economically recoverable for the particular reservoir drive mechanism
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NGL
natural gas liquids
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OOIP
original oil in place
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OPEC
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
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Petroleum System
geologic components and processes necessary to generate and store hydrocarbons, including a mature source rock, migration pathway, reservoir rock, trap and seal. Exploration plays and prospects are typically developed in basins or regions in which a complete petroleum system has some likelihood of existing.
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Possible Reserves
those unproved reserves which analysis of geosciences and engineering data indicate are less likely to be recoverable than probable reserves
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PRMS
Petroleum Resources Management System
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Probable Reserves
Those unproved reserves which analysis of geosciences and engineering data indicate are less likely to be recovered than proved reserves but more certain to be recovered than
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Possible Reserves
Production the cumulative quantity of petroleum that has been recovered at a given date.
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Production Well
A well drilled to obtain production from a proved oil or gas field. Production wells may be used either to extract hydrocarbons from a field or to inject water or gas into a reservoir in order to improve production
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Prospect
A project associated with a potential accumulation that is sufficiently well defined to represent a viable drilling target
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Prospective Resources
Those quantities of petroleum which are estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations
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Proved Reserves
Those quantities of petroleum which, by analysis of geological and engineering data, can be estimated with reasonable certainty to be commercially recoverable, from a given date forward, from known reservoirs and under current economic conditions, operating methods, and government regulations
Reservoir
A subsurface body of rock having sufficient porosity and permeability to store and transmit fluids. A reservoir is a critical component of a complete petroleum system
Seismic Survey
A method by which an image of the earth’s subsurface is created through the generation of shockwaves and analysis of their reflection from rock strata. Such surveys can be done in two or three dimensional form
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Upstream
Activities related to the exploration, appraisal, development and extraction of crude oil, condensate and gas
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Urals
A benchmark Russian crude oil (used as a basis for pricing Russian export oil mixture), which trades at a discount to Brent crude, an international benchmark oil blend
2D seismic
geophysical data that depicts the subsurface strata in two dimensions
3D Seismic
Geophysical data that depicts the subsurface strata in three dimensions. 3D seismic typically provides a more detailed and accurate interpretation of the subsurface strata than 2D seismic.
3P
Proved plus probable plus possible reserves accumulation an individual body of movable petroleum. A known accumulation (one determined to contain reserves or contingent resources) must have been penetrated by a well