Ingeniera Industrial

5000 Oilfield Terms:
A Glossary of Petroleum Engineering Terms,
Abbreviations and Acronyms
August 25, 2010
George E. King Engineering
www.GEKEngineering.com
Right to Copy is Granted.
US spelling used
A Annulus: the inside annulus; tubing-by-production casing annulus. (Note, there may be regional
differences in the A, B, C annulus designations and some are reversed. Inside annuli (IA) andoutside
annuli (OA) are more universally descriptive.)
AAIOR: annualized average incremental oil rate.
AAODC: American Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors.
AAPEA: Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association.
AAPG: American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
AAPL: American Association of Petroleum Landmen.
AAR: after action review.
AASP: allowable annular surfacepressure.
AAV (subsea): annular access valve.
Abalation Debris (perforating): small pieces of rock broken up by the perforating process.
Abandon: typically means to cease efforts, either temporarily or permanently, to produce a well. Abandon
may have a legal meaning in some locations.
Abandonment Cost: Costs associated with the abandonment of facilities or services, including costs for theremoval of facilities and restoration of the land.
Abiogenic Theory: a theory of petroleum generation in which petroleum is thought to have formed from
hydrocarbons trapped inside the earth’s crust when the earth was forming. See also Biogenic and Organic
theories.
Abject Failure (Risk): a failure mode that can cause the cancellation-of or immediate-halt-to a project or
event. Generallyexpressed as a percent probability.
Abandon: to cease efforts to produce or inject fluids in a wells and to plug the well sufficiently to protect
the environment and the ability to redrill and develop other reserves at a later date.
Abandonment Pressure: The minimum pressure of the reservoir when the wells are abandoned.
Abnormally Pressured: a pore pressure higher than a column of sea water forthat true ver tical depth.

1

Abrasion (geologic): a form of mechanical weathering where loose fragments are transported with water or
wind.
Abrasion (mechanical): wearing away by friction.
Abrasive: particles propelled at a velocity sufficient to cause cleaning or wea ring away of a surface.
Abrasive Jetting: a perforating process involving pumping a slurry of liquid and size particlesthrough a
nozzle to cut through steel and rock.
ABS: American Bureau of Shipping.
ABS (plastic): Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene.
Absolute Ages: estimation/measurement of age of a formation, fossil, etc., in years before the present.
Absolute Filter Level: a filter rating that purports to set the maximum size of an opening in a filter or the
maximum size of the particle that can pass throughthe filter. The definition varies with use and company.
Absolute Open Flow (AOF): the maximum rate that a well can produce at the lowest possible bottom hole
pressure.
Absolute Open Flow Potential: the theoretical maximum flow that a well coul d deliver with a zero
backpressure at the middle of the perforations.
Absolute Permeability: permeability to a single phase fluid in a cleaned core.Absolute Porosity: the percentage of the total bulk volume that is pore spaces, voids or fractures.
Absolute Pressure: the reading of gauge pressure plus the atmospheric pressure.
Absolute Temperature: temperature measurement starting at absolute zero (total absence of heat).
Absolute Viscosity: the measure of a fluid’s ability to resist flow without re gards to its density. It is defined
as afluid’s kinematic viscosity multiplied by its density.
Absolute Volume: the volume a solid occupies when added to a fluid divided by its weight. m3/kg or gal/lb.
Absolute Zero: zero point on the absolute temperature scale; equal to -273.16 degrees C, or 0 degrees K
(Kelvin), or -459.69 degrees F, or 0 degrees R (Rankine).
Absorb: to fill part or all of the pore spaces.
Absorber: a vertical,...