Category: Oil and Gas business

A relatively impermeable rock, commonly shale, anhydrite or salt, that forms a barrier or seal above and around a reservoir so that fluids and gas cannot migrate beyond the reservoir

Crude oil or natural gas purchased from a host government whereby a portion of the government’s ownership interest in the crude oil/gas produced in that country may or should be purchased by the producing firm (see also buy-back agreement)

Protection facility for a gas well

To regain control of a blowout well by installing and closing a valve on the wellhead

Spar systems are used in deep seas of at least 500 meters depth and usually more, to produce hydrocarbons from undersea wells, as well as to drill the wells and store produced oil. Such systems have a tall and narrow caisson extending down from the sea surface by perhaps one or two hundred meters and riser pipes that extend down from the lower portion of the caisson to the seafloor. Taut mooring lines extend at an incline from the caisson to anchors at the seafloor to limit drift. The tall and narrow caisson is subject to only moderate forces from winds, currents, and waves that cause it to drift from a quiescent position wherein it lies directly over the lower ends of the riser pipes. Although caisson drift is limited, it still can be substantial in severe weather. When the caisson drifts, its axis remains largely vertical due to ballast at its bottom and buoyancy at its top, and the upper portions of the riser pipes which lie within the caisson also extend vertically.

The price of crude oil sourced from the North Sea

Mechanism to allocate capacity in a transmission pipeline or an LNG gasification facility under the open access method. In principle governments, regulators want capacity to be allocated in a transparent manner that will be best suited to the objectives at hand. The mechanism for allocating capacity in an LNG gasification facility can include: open season, first come first served, pro rata basis, auction, or slots. From the accepted methods of allocating capacity under open access, three have become the most common: open season, first come first served, pro-rata allocation and priority allocation. The open season and the first come first served systems are good as long as there is significant demand in the system, at least half of the facility’s capacity. The priority allocation system is usually used in case when there is more demand than supply

A pejorative term often used to describe the supermajor non-state owned oil and gas companies. Expressions are often used about “being in the pocket of big oil”.