Abnormal pressure

A subsurface condition in which the pore pressure of a geologic formation exceeds or is less than the
expected, or normal, formation pressure. When impermeable rocks such as shales are compacted
rapidly, their pore fluids cannot always escape and must then support the total overlying rock
column, leading to abnormally high formation pressures. Excess pressure, called overpressure or
geopressure, can cause a well to blowout or become uncontrollable during drilling. Severe
underpressure can cause the drillpipe to stick to the underpressured formation.

Annular blow out preventer

A large valve used to control wellbore fluids. In this type of valve, the sealing element resembles a
large rubber doughnut that is mechanically squeezed inward to seal on either pipe (drill collar,
drillpipe, casing, or tubing) or the openhole. The ability to seal on a variety of pipe sizes is one
advantage the annular blowout preventer has over the ram blowout preventer. Most blowout
preventer (BOP) stacks contain at least one annular BOP at the top of the BOP stack, and one or
more ram-type preventers below. While not considered as reliable in sealing over the openhole as
around tubulars, the elastomeric sealing doughnut is required by API specifications to seal
adequately over the openhole as part of its certification process.

Aquifer
Any water-bearing formation encountered while drilling. Drillers often are concerned about aquifers
and are required to take special precautions in the design and execution of the well plan to protect
fresh water aquifers from contamination by wellbore fluids. Water in aquifers can flow into the
wellbore, contaminate drilling fluids and cause well control problems.

Annulus
The space between two concentric objects, such as between the wellbore and casing or between
casing and tubing, where fluid can flow. Pipe may consist of drill collars, drillpipe, casing or tubing.

BHA
The lower portion of the drillstring, consisting of (from the bottom up in a vertical well) the bit, bit
sub, a mud motor (in certain cases), stabilizers, drill collar, heavy-weight drillpipe, jarring devices
("jars") and crossovers for various threadforms. The bottomhole assembly must provide force for the
bit to break the rock (weight on bit), survive a hostile mechanical environment and provide the
driller with directional control of the well. Oftentimes the assembly includes a mud motor,
directional drilling and measuring equipment, measurements-while-drilling tools, logging-while-
drilling tools and other specialized devices. A simple BHA consisting of a bit, various crossovers, and
drill collars may be relatively inexpensive (less than $100,000 US in 1999), while a complex one may
cost ten or more times that amount.

BHP
The pressure, usually measured in pounds per square inch (psi), at the bottom of the hole. This
pressure may be calculated in a static, fluid-filled wellbore with the equation: BHP = MW * Depth *
0.052

BIT
The tool used to crush or cut rock. Everything on a drilling rig directly or indirectly assists the bit in
crushing or cutting the rock. The bit is on the bottom of the drillstring and must be changed when it
becomes excessively dull or stops making progress

Bit Nozzle
The part of the bit that includes a hole or opening for drilling fluid to exit. The hole is usually small
(around 0.25 in. in diameter) and the pressure of the fluid inside the bit is usually high, leading to a
high exit velocity through the nozzles that creates a high-velocity jet below the nozzles

Blind Ram
A thick, heavy steel component of a conventional ram blowout preventer. In a normal pipe ram, the
two blocks of steel that meet in the center of the wellbore to seal the well have a hole (one-half of
the hole on each piece) through which the pipe fits. The blind ram has no space for pipe and is
instead blanked off in order to be able to close over a well that does not contain a drillstring

Blind shear ram

A blowout preventer (BOP) closing element fitted with hardened tool steel blades designed to cut
the drillpipe or tubing when the BOP is closed, and then fully close to provide isolation or sealing of
the wellbore

Blow out
An uncontrolled flow of reservoir fluids into the wellbore, and sometimes catastrophically to the
surface. A blowout may consist of salt water, oil, gas or a mixture of these
Borehole
The wellbore itself, including the openhole or uncased portion of the well. Borehole may refer to the
inside diameter of the wellbore wall, the rock face that bounds the drilled hole.

Caliper log
A representation of the measured diameter of a borehole along its depth. Caliper logs are usually
measured mechanically, with only a few using sonic devices. The tools measure diameter at a
specific chord across the well

Casing
Large-diameter pipe lowered into an openhole and cemented in place. The well designer must
design casing to withstand a variety of forces, such as collapse, burst, and tensile failure, as well as
chemically aggressive brines

Casing centralizer
A mechanical device that keeps casing from contacting the wellbore wall. A continuous 360-degree
annular space around casing allows cement to completely seal the casing to the borehole wall.

Casing collar
The threaded collar used to connect two joints of casing. The resulting connection must provide
adequate mechanical strength to enable the casing string to be run and cemented in place

Casing Grade
A system of identifying and categorizing the strength of casing materials. Since most oilfield casing is
of approximately the same chemistry (typically steel), and differs only in the heat treatment applied,
the grading system provides for standardized strengths of casing to be manufactured and used in
wellbores

Casing shoe
The bottom of the casing string, including the cement around it, or the equipment run at the bottom
of the casing string. A short assembly, typically manufactured from a heavy steel collar and profiled
cement interior, that is screwed to the bottom of a casing string.
Cement bond log
A log that uses the variations in amplitude of an acoustic signal traveling down the casing wall
between a transmitter and receiver to determine the quality of cement bond on the exterior casing
wall

Casing head
The adapter between the first casing string and either the BOP stack (during drilling) or the wellhead
(after completion). This adapter may be threaded or welded onto the casing, and may have a flanged
or clamped connection to match the BOP stack or wellhead.

Cementing plug
A rubber plug used to separate the cement slurry from other fluids, reducing contamination and
maintaining predictable slurry performance.

Chrismas tree
The set of valves, spools and fittings connected to the top of a well to direct and control the flow of
formation fluids from the well.

Choke manifold
A set of high-pressure valves and associated piping that usually includes at least two adjustable
chokes, arranged such that one adjustable choke may be isolated and taken out of service for repair
and refurbishment while well flow is directed through the other one.

Company man
The representative of the oil company or operator on a drilling location. For land operations, the
company man is responsible for operational issues on the location, including the safety and
efficiency of the project.

Completion
A generic term used to describe the events and equipment necessary to bring a wellbore into
production once drilling operations have been concluded, including but not limited to the assembly
of downhole tubulars and equipment required to enable safe and efficient production from an oil or
gas well
Cuttings
Small pieces of rock that break away due to the action of the bit teeth. Cuttings are screened out of
the liquid mud system at the shale shakers and are monitored for composition, size, shape, color,
texture, hydrocarbon content and other properties by the mud engineer, the mud logger and other
on-site personnel.

Degasser
A device that removes air or gases (methane, H2S, CO2 and others) from drilling liquids. There are
two generic types that work by both expanding the size of the gas bubbles entrained in the mud (by
pulling a vacuum on the mud) and by increasing the surface area available to the mud so that
bubbles escape (through the use of various cascading baffle plates)

Derrick
The structure used to support the crown blocks and the drillstring of a drilling rig. Derricks are
usually pyramidal in shape, and offer a good strength-to-weight ratio

Derrick floor
The relatively small work area in which the rig crew conducts operations, usually adding or removing
drillpipe to or from the drillstring.

Derrick man
One of the rig crew members who gets his name from the fact that he works on a platform attached
to the derrick or mast, typically 85 ft [26 m] above the rig floor, during trips.

Desander
A hydrocyclone device that removes large drill solids from the whole mud system. The desander
should be located downstream of the shale shakers and degassers, but before the desilters or mud
cleaners.

Desilter
A hydrocyclone much like a desander except that its design incorporates a greater number of smaller
cones. As with the desander, its purpose is to remove unwanted solids from the mud system.
Diamond bit
A tool for drilling rock that works by scraping industrial grade diamonds against the bottom of the
hole. The diamonds are embedded into the metal structure (usually a sintered or powdered carbide
base matrix) during the manufacture of the bit. The bit designer has virtually unlimited combinations
of bit shape, the placement of hydraulic jetting ports, the amount of diamonds and the size of the
diamonds used (usually expressed as diamonds per carat).

Directional drilling
The intentional deviation of a wellbore from the path it would naturally take. This is accomplished
through the use of whipstocks, bottomhole assembly (BHA) configurations, instruments to measure
the path of the wellbore in three-dimensional space, data links to communicate measurements
taken downhole to the surface, mud motors and special BHA components and drill bits, including
rotary steerable systems, and drill bits

Directional well
A wellbore that requires the use of special tools or techniques to ensure that the wellbore path hits a
particular subsurface target, typically located away from (as opposed to directly under) the surface
location of the well.

Dog house
The steel-sided room adjacent to the rig floor, usually having an access door close to the driller's
controls. This general-purpose shelter is a combination tool shed, office, communications center,
coffee room, lunchroom and general meeting place for the driller and his crew.

Dog leg
A particularly crooked place in a wellbore where the trajectory of the wellbore in three-dimensional
space changes rapidly. While a dogleg is sometimes created intentionally by directional drillers, the
term more commonly refers to a section of the hole that changes direction faster than anticipated or
desired, usually with harmful side effects. In surveying wellbore trajectories, a standard calculation
of dogleg severity is made, usually expressed in two-dimensional degrees per 100 feet [degrees per
30 m] of wellbore length.
Drawworks
The machine on the rig consisting of a large-diameter steel spool, brakes, a power source and
assorted auxiliary devices. The primary function of the drawworks is to reel out and reel in the
drilling line, a large diameter wire rope, in a controlled fashion

Drag bit
A drilling tool that uses polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) cutters to shear rock with a
continuous scraping motion. These cutters are synthetic diamond disks about 1/8-in. thick and about
1/2 to 1 in. in diameter. PDC bits are effective at drilling shale formations, especially when used in
combination with oil-base muds.

Drill collar
A component of a drillstring that provides weight on bit for drilling

Drill pipe
Tubular steel conduit fitted with special threaded ends called tool joints. The drillpipe connects the
rig surface equipment with the bottomhole assembly and the bit, both to pump drilling fluid to the
bit and to be able to raise, lower and rotate the bottomhole assembly and bit.

Drill ship
A maritime vessel modified to include a drilling rig and special station-keeping equipment. The vessel
is typically capable of operating in deep water

Drill string
The combination of the drillpipe, the bottomhole assembly and any other tools used to make the
drill bit turn at the bottom of the wellbore.

Drilling crew
Personnel who operate the drilling rig. The crew typically consists of roustabouts, roughnecks, floor
hands, lead tong operators, motormen, derrickmen, assistant drillers, and the driller. Since drilling
rigs operate around the clock, there are at least two crews (twelve hour work shifts called tours,
more common when operating offshore), or three crews (eight hour tours, more common onshore)
Dry hole
A wellbore that has not encountered hydrocarbons in economically producible quantities. Most
wells contain salt water in some zones. In addition, the wellbore usually encounters small amounts
of crude oil and natural gas

Drill stem test

A procedure to determine the productive capacity, pressure, permeability or extent (or a
combination of these) of a hydrocarbon reservoir. While several different proprietary hardware sets
are available to accomplish this, the common idea is to isolate the zone of interest with temporary
packers.

Fish
Anything left in a wellbore. It does not matter whether the fish consists of junk metal, a hand tool, a
length of drillpipe or drill collars, or an expensive MWD and directional drilling package.

Fishing tool
A general term for special mechanical devices used to aid the recovery of equipment lost downhole

Flow line
The large-diameter metal pipe that connects the bell nipple under the rotary table to the possum
belly at the mud tanks. The flowline is simply an inclined, gravity-flow conduit to direct mud coming
out the top of the wellbore to the mud surface-treating equipment.

Formation damage
Alteration of the far-field or virgin characteristics of a producing formation, usually by exposure to
drilling fluids. The water or solid particles in the drilling fluids, or both, tend to decrease the pore
volume and effective permeability of the producible formation in the near-wellbore region

Formation pressure
The pressure of the subsurface formation fluids, commonly expressed as the density of fluid required
in the wellbore to balance that pore pressure.
Gamma ray log
A common and inexpensive measurement of the natural emission of gamma rays by a formation.
Gamma ray logs are particularly helpful because shales and sandstones typically have different
gamma ray signatures that can be correlated readily between wells.

Geosteering
The intentional directional control of a well based on the results of downhole geological logging
measurements rather than three-dimensional targets in space, usually to keep a directional wellbore
within a pay zone

Gumbo
A generic term for soft, sticky, swelling clay formations that are frequently encountered in surface
holes offshore or in sedimentary basins onshore near seas. This clay fouls drilling tools and plugs
piping, both severe problems for drilling crews.

Gooseneck
An inverted "U" shaped section of rigid piping normally used as a conduit for high-pressure drilling
fluid. In particular, the term is applied to a structure that connects the top of a vertical standpipe
running up the side of a derrick or mast to a flexible kelly hose that in turn is connected to another
gooseneck between the flexible line and the swivel.

Hook
The high-capacity J-shaped equipment used to hang various other equipment, particularly the swivel
and kelly, the elevator bails or topdrive units.

Horizontal drilling
A subset of the more general term "directional drilling," used where the departure of the wellbore
from vertical exceeds about 80 degrees

Hydrostatic pressure
The normal, predicted pressure for a given depth, or the pressure exerted per unit area by a column
of freshwater from sea level to a given depth.
Intermediate casing
A length of pipe used below the surface casing string, but before the production casing is run, to
isolate one or more zones of the openhole to enable deepening of the well

Jack up rig
A self-contained combination drilling rig and floating barge, fitted with long support legs that can be
raised or lowered independently of each other

Jet nozzle
The part of the bit that includes a hole or opening for drilling fluid to exit. The hole is usually small
(around 0.25 in. in diameter) and the pressure of the fluid inside the bit is usually high, leading to a
high exit velocity through the nozzles that creates a high-velocity jet below the nozzles.

Jar
A mechanical device used downhole to deliver an impact load to another downhole component,
especially when that component is stuck. There are two primary types, hydraulic and mechanical jars

Kelly
A long square or hexagonal steel bar with a hole drilled through the middle for a fluid path

Kick
A flow of formation fluids into the wellbore during drilling operations. The kick is physically caused
by the pressure in the wellbore being less than that of the formation fluids, thus causing flow.

Lost circulation material

Solid material intentionally introduced into a mud system to reduce and eventually prevent the flow
of drilling fluid into a weak, fractured or vugular formation. This material is generally fibrous or plate-
like in nature, as suppliers attempt to design slurries that will efficiently bridge over and seal loss
zones

Logging while drilling

The measurement of formation properties during the excavation of the hole, or shortly thereafter,
through the use of tools integrated into the bottomhole assembly.
Lost circulation
The reduced or total absence of fluid flow up the annulus when fluid is pumped through the
drillstring.

Leak off test

Abbreviation for leakoff test, a test to determine the strength or fracture pressure of the open
formation, usually conducted immediately after drilling below a new casing shoe.

Measurement while drilling

The evaluation of physical properties, usually including pressure, temperature and wellbore
trajectory in three-dimensional space, while extending a wellbore

Marine drilling riser

A large-diameter pipe that connects the subsea BOP stack to a floating surface rig to take mud
returns to the surface

Mast
The structure used to support the crown block and the drillstring. Masts are usually rectangular or
trapezoidal in shape and offer a very good stiffness, important to land rigs whose mast is laid down
when the rig is moved.

Mousehole
An opening in the rig floor near the rotary table, but between the rotary table and the vee-door, that
enables rapid connections while drilling

Overbalance
The amount of pressure (or force per unit area) in the wellbore that exceeds the pressure of fluids in
the formation. This excess pressure is needed to prevent reservoir fluids (oil, gas, water) from
entering the wellbore

Operator
The company that serves as the overall manager and decision-maker of a drilling project. Generally,
but not always, the operator will have the largest financial stake in the project