DEFINITION OF SOME COMMON TERMS USED IN OFFSHORE DRILLING/PRODUCTION

BIT: The cutting part of the drilling equipment used in drilling bore holes. BLOW OUT: An escape of oil or gas (usually accidental) from a well during the drilling stage. BLOW OUT PREVENTER (BOP): High pressure valve, usually hydraulically operated, fitted to the top of the casing of a drilling well to prevent an accidental blow out of oil or gas. CASING: Steel lining used to prevent caving of the sides of a well, to exclude unwanted fluids and to provide means for the control of well pressures and oil and gas production. CEMENT CASING OF WELLS: Filling part of the space between casing and bore hole wall with cement slurry.. Upon hardening it keeps the casing in the hole stationary and prevents leakage from or to other strata that have been drilled through. Conductor strings are cemented to the surface. CONDUCTOR: The first casing string of a bore hole, also called the surface string. It is secred in the formations by cementing. (see also marine riser). CORE: Cylindrical rock sample taken by means of an annular cutter. CROWN BLOCK: Assemble of sheaves at derrick over which the wire line is reeved. DERRICK: The steel structure used to support the drill pipe and other equipment which has to be raised oe lowered during well drilling operations. DRAW WORKS: The hoisting winch for handling drill pipe, casing and tubing. DRILL COLLAR: length of extra heavy pipe, several of which are placed directly above the drilling bit. They serve to concentrate part of the weight of the drill-string near the bottom of the hole and to exert the necessary pressure on the bit, thereby preventing buckling of the upper part of the string. DRILL PIPE: steel pipe used for carrying and rotating the drilling tools in a well and for permitting the circulation of drilling fluid. DRILL PIPE ELEVATOR: A latched champ, attached to the hoisting gear in a derrick and used to pull the drill- string from the bore- hole. DRILL STRING: The column of drill pipe and drill collars screwed together, at the end of which the bit is screwed.

DRILLING FLUID (MUD): Fluid, commonly consisting may suspended in water, used in drilling wells. It is pumped down through the drill-string to the bottom of the bore-hole, whence it raises to the surface through the apace between drill string and bore-hole wall. (see also baryles). DRILLING PLATFORM: Structure used in offshore drilling to support the drilling rig and to house other facilities and stores. A fixed platform, used for development drilling, rests on piles driven in to the sea bed or is kept in position by its own weight. The former is usually construct from steel, the latter is known as a gravity platform and can be either concrete or steel and concrete hybrid. Both these types of platforms may be so designed and sited as to permit the drilling of a number of wells by using directional drilling. Mobile platforms, usually referred to as mobile rigs and used for exploratory drilling, are of several kinds. Three common kinds are: A) DRILL SHIPS: free floating ship shaped vessels which are kept in position by multiple anchors or by dynamic positioning. B) JACK-UP platforms with retractable legs, which can be lowered to the sea bed and then enable the body (hull) of the platform to be raised to a safe distance above the seas surface. C) SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE with pontoons or floats which are submerged to give the platform stability while floating, and are suitably anchored or dynamically positioned. DYNAMIC POSITIONING: The method of maintaining a floating offshore drilling structure (semi-submersible rig or drillship-see drilling platform) on location over the well by means of computer controlled thruster motors, thus obviating the need for anchors and allowing drilling to take place in water depths too great for anchoring. The motors respond constantly to any changes in the wind, currents, waves, etc. to maintain the rig in a constant position. FISH/FISHING: Fishing is the term used for the operation for recovery of lost tools, or drilling equipment from a well. The piece of equipment so lost is referred to as a fish. KELLY: Hollow, 40 feet long, square or hexagonal pipe attached the top of the drill-string and turned by the rotary table during drilling. It is used to transmit the torque or twisting moment from the rotary machinery to the drill-string and thus to the bit. KILLING A WELL: Overcoming the tendency of a well to flow by filling the well bore with drilling mud of suitable density (see also baryles). LINER: Casing of small diameter extending in to producing sand from just inside the bottom of the last string of casing cemented in a well. LOG: A detailed drilling record which gives the nature, thickness content, etc., of the formations encountered in a well.

MARIEN RISER: Tube running from the blow-out preventer, which is situated on the sea bed, to the drilling rig at the surface, enabling drilling fluid to be returned to the surface in a well. PLUGGING A WELL: When a well is abandoned for any reason, either temporarily or permanently, it must be sealed off to ensure that no escape of any kind can occur. This sealing off is generally accomplished by insertion of a plug of cement. FLOW- LINE: A small diameter pipeline taking oil from a single well or series of wells to a gathering center. GAS INJECTION: Injection of a gas in to a reservoir to maintain the pressure in the producing formation or to produce artificial gas drive in a depleted reservoir. It is one of the main methods of secondary recovery. GO-DEVIL: Scraper with self adjusting spring blades which is carried by a fluid through a pipeline to clear away accumulations of rust, wax or other deposits. GRAVITY PALTFORM: See drilling platform. GUN PERFORATOR: Device used to perforate casing and cement in a well by shooting steel bullets or shaped (explosive) charges through them with a view to admitting oil in to the borehole. JACKET: The term used to describe the support structure (basically fixed to the sea bed by piling and then the superstructure consisting of all the equipment modules are mounted on it. LAY BARGE: Specialized barge used for submarine pipe-lines. It may be designed on the semisubmersible principle. MANIFLOD CENTRE: An arrangement whereby production from several wells may be combined in any way desired for forwarding through one or more pipelines. They are commonly used offshore in order to minimize the length of individual well flow lines while permitting the selection of individual wells for resting, segregation of different types of oil, or other purposes. MODULE: The box or package containing equipment for installation on a production platform. These modules, which may weigh up to 2,000 tons each, are constructed ashore and installed as self-contained units on the jacket or concrete gravity structure , each one serving a specific purpose, e.g., a crew module, control module, generator module, etc. MULTIPHASE FLOW: Simultaneously flow of two or more fluid phase) e.g.: gas, oil, water) in the same flow channel, whether pipe-line, well tubing or reservoir rock. Because of the pseudoelastic interfaces between phases, multiphase flow is relatively inefficient, e.g with a given pipe and pressure difference, the flow rate of a mixture of oil and water is less than it would be with either alone )assuming similar viscosities).

MULTIPLE COMPLETION: Well in which production can be taken separately and simultaneously from more than two reservoirs an extension of dual completion. PIPE-COATING: Pipe line has to be coated in concrete or other material to give added weight, to prevent corrosion, and afford protection from ships anchors, trawl-boards, etc. This operation is done onshore and the coated pipe then transported by supply vessel or specialized pipe-hauling vessel to the lay barge. PRIMARY RECOVERY: Extraction of oil using only the natural forces associated with the accumulation to cause flow in the reservoir rock. RECYCLING: In a gas condensate reservoir, it is necessary to maintain the reservoir pressure in order to prevent condensate forming (i.e some of the gas liquefying) and soaking into the reservoir rock, where it would be irretrievable. Condensate is removed from produced wet gas, and residual dry gas is recycled injected back in to the reservoir) in order to maintain pressure. When condensate recovery is complete, the reservoir is blown down to recover the dry gas. RE-ENTRY: The process of opening up a previously plugged well for further drilling. SINGLE BUOY MOORING (SBM): SBM used for loading oil in to tankers in the open sea. Also sometimes called single point mooring (SPM). The principle is that the tanker can moor to load oil whatever the direction of wind or current and swing at its mooring to present the least resistance to the prevailing conditions. EXPOSED LOCATION SINGLE BUOY MOORING (ELSBS): Specially designed for exposed locations. SECONDARY RECOVERY: Production of oil by methods applied to an oil reservoir after there has been considerable oil extraction and pressure decline, in order to increase the economic ultimate recovery beyond that expected from primary recovery alone. It should be noted, however, that techniques involving fluid injection to increase recovery and rate of recovery are now, in some cases, being used much earlier in the lives of oilfields, thus curtailing, and to some degree blurring the distinction between primary and secondary recovery (see pressure maintenance). S.P.A.R: A type of single buoy mooring developed by shell, incorporating storage facilities, so that in the event of weather conditions temporarily preventing tanker loading, production need not be shut off. STRINGER: Flexible or rigid support attached to the stern of a pipe laying barge, which controls the bending of the pipe as it leaves the large to enter the water and thus prevents buckling of the pipe.

SUB SEA COMPLECTION (SEA BED COMPLECTION): A method of completing a well or wells whereby equipment controlling oil flow, normally mounted in a surface platform, is housed in a special construction on the sea floor (see also manifold centre and well head cellar). TUBING PRESSURE: Pressure measured at the top of a well in the tubing through which oil and gas flow in the course of production. ULTRA LARGE CRUDE CARRIER (U.L.C.C): i.e . Tanker over 3,20,000 dwt. VERY LARGE CRUDE CARRIER (V.L.C.C.): i.e. tanker between 1,60,000 and 3,19,999 dwt. WATER FLOODING: A method of pressure maintenance and secondary recovery in, which water is injected through input (injection) wells to drive oil to the production wells. WORKOVER: Reentry in to completed well for modification or repair work. WELL HEAD CELLAR: In sea bed completions, a dry, steel structure enclosing the well head. The inside of the structure is at atmospheric pressure. To service the equipment, engineers are lowered in a capsule from a support vessel. (Capsule also at atmospheric pressure), which docks with the cellar. The engineers can work in the cellar in shirt sleeve conditions with fresh air and electrical power supplied by umbilical cord from the support vessel. ROCK BIT: A drilling bit used for hard formations. ROTARY TABLE: Chain or gear driven circular unit, mounted in the derrick floor which rotates the drill pipe and bit. ROUND TRIP: The complete process of pulling out and running in the drill string, for instance to replace a worn bit. SHALE SHAKER: Vibrating screen over which the drilling fluid is conducted. The drill cuttings are retained on the screen, while the fluid passes through the meshes. SLUSH PUMP: Pump used in rotary drilling for circulating the drilling fluid. SWIVEL: A tool which is the connection between the hoisting gear in a derrick and the rotary hose in a drill string. The weight of the string rests on heavy roller bearings in the body of the swivel. Drilling fluid is forced in to the hollow kelly via the rotary hose which connects the slush pump with this body. TOOL JOINT: Coupling with conical thread, used for making a tight, leak proof connection between two joints of drill pipe. WHIPSTOCK: Wedge shaped device used to deflect and guide the bit away from the vertical.

BOOSTER PLATFORM: Intermediate platform installed on a gas or oil pipeline to facilitate the transmission of the gas or oil along the pipeline by increasing-boosting-pipeline pressure using pumps or compressors. BOTTOM HOLE PRESSURE: The pressure measured at the bottom of an oil well. Monitoring of bottom hole pressure gives an indication of the period during which the well will flow naturally. If the well is flowing the flowing bottom-hole pressure will be obtained; if the well is not and has not producing for a sufficient time, the pressure will the fully built-up or static bottom-hole pressure. DERRICK BARGE: A crane barge used in the offshore construction industry, suitable for working in rough seas. These barges are equipped with cranes of varying capabilities up to 3,000 tons. DEVELOPMENT WELLS: Wells which are drilled within the producing oil and /or gas. They are drilled within the productive area defined by appraisal and step- out wells after an oil or gas accumulation has proved sufficiently large for exploitation. DIRECTIONAL DRILLING: A method of drilling, also called deviated drilling, where by a well is not drilled vertically. This is a technique used extensively in offshore drilling, where a number of widely spaced development wells must drilled from a single platform. DUAL COMPLETION: Mechanical arrangement within a well so that production can be taken separately and simultaneously from two reservoirs. Often two strings of tubing are run within one production string of casing to provide production outlets from two perforated intervals separated by packers. EXPLOITATION: The development or drilling-up and producing phase of an oilfield, following the exploration phase. FLARE: A device for the safe disposal of oil and/ or gas by burning. Fluids produced in well tests are usually flared because of a lack of storage. FLOTATION BARGE: specialized barge equipped with ballast tanks on which a steel platform jacket may be floated to location from the fabrication yard. On arrival at location, the barge is sunk to a vertical position by controlled ballasting, so that the jacket rests in its final vertical position on the sea-bed. The barge is than recovered for re-use. FIELD: Is an area below which there are one or more reservoirs of commercially valuable oil or gas or both. POOL: A single reservoir or a group of reservoirs which cannot be separated from one another wells are dug for each pool. DEVELOPMENT: Includes the location, drilling, completion equipment of wells necessary to produce the commercially recoverable oil and gas in the fields.