These are just a few of the terms and abbreviations you'll find on Chestnut's web site and other publications.
bbl: The abbreviation for barrel. A barrel of oil is the equivalent of 42 US gallons.
Directional drilling: Drilling in a direction away from the natural direction a wellbore would take. Today's sophisticated rotary steerable tools allow operators to steer around rock or wellbore damage.
Downdip: A term used in a hydrocarbon reservoir that is not flat, i.e., a dipping formation. In such a formation, oil is found downdip from the gas.
"frac", or fracturing: A well is "fraced" to stimulate or prolong oil & gas production. Special fluids are pumped into a wellbore with powerful hydraulic pumps to cause enough pressure to crack or fracture the formation. This process creates a plane of high-permeability sand, which usually allows the hydrocarbons to flow more freely into the wellbore.
Injection well: A well where gas or water is injected back into the reservoir, usually to increase pressure and thereby stimulate production. In a gas injection well, gas is reinjected into the upper gas portion of the reservoir. Water injection wells are typically found offshore.
Mcf: thousand cubic feet, the standard measurement for natural gas.
Mud, or drilling mud: A specialized mixture of fluids and solids, or liquid and gaseous fluids, used in drilling wellbores. There are many types of these drilling fluids, usually categorized by the major component such as water-base drilling fluid, gyp mud, emulsion mud, etc.
Pay zone: The target of any drilling operation--a reservoir containing hydrocarbons that can be recovered in enough quantity to "pay" an income.
Perforate, or "perf": "perfing" a well means to create holes in the casing or liner of the wellbore through which oil and gas flows from the reservoir up to the surface. Perforation is accomplished with a perforating gun containing strategically placed explosive charges that is lowered into the wellbore.
Sidetrack: to drill a secondary wellbore away from the original wellbore, usually to bypass a damaged section of the original wellbore.
Squeeze: forcing cement into a wellbore to isolate perforations or repair damage.
Updip: A term used in a hydrocarbon reservoir that is not flat, i.e., a dipping formation. In such a formation, gas is found updip from the oil.
Whipstock: A hard steel wedge placed in a wellbore that forces a drill bit to drill in a direction away from the existing wellbore. A whipstock is used to bypass a damaged section of a wellbore (see sidetrack).
Workover: to repair or stimulate an existing production well to restore or increase production.
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