How do you understand the following abbreviations?

FSU governments

Western E&P majors

Western IOCs

LNG

t/yr

bcm/yr

 

3. Give the English equivalents for the following word combinations:

Пересматривать условия долгосрочных контрактов; восстановить/изменить баланс; нарушать условия контракта; подчиниться давлению; передать права на разработку; превысить лимит терпения; возмещать издержки; арендная плата за право разработки недр; аннулировать лицензию; извлекать выгоду.

 

4. Answer the questions:

1. What are the latest examples of resource nationalism according to the author of the article, Derek Brower?

2. Why did Shell chief executive have to sign over control of Sakhalin 2 to Gazprom?

3. What lessons has the Sakhalin 2 affair provided for the Western IOCs operating in Russia and for TNK-BP in particular?

4. What is the current situation with the development of the Shtokman gas field?

5. How are Russian companies trying to increase their international presence?

6. Do you agree that the power of the majors seems to be in decline? Why?

7. How do you understand the title of the article?

 

Fill in the table and speak about a shift in the balance of power in the global energy arena.

Field	Contract disputes	Result
Sakhalin 2, the Sea of Okhotsk
Kovykta, Siberia
Shtokman, the Barents Sea
Kashagan, the Caspian Sea

 

 

Make the article review.

7. Render the following text in English:

В последние годы очень много говорят о разработке уникального газоконденсатного Штокмановского месторождения на шельфе Баренцева моря, но очень немногие знают, кто такой (или что такое) Штокман?

Профессор Владимир Борисович Штокман не имеет абсолютно никакого отношения к месторождению, которое называют его именем. Открыто оно в 1988 году, а океанолог Штокман умер в 1968 году. Основной круг научных интересов Владимира Штокмана - морские течения и процессы перемешивания водных масс. Опубликовано более 100 оригинальных исследований профессора по динамике океана, в его честь было названо судно Института океанологии «Профессор Штокман», которое и проводило постоянные исследования в Баренцевом море.

И вот во время шестой экспедиции, которая проходила с 27 мая до 24 сентября 1981 года, благодаря исследованиям с помощью сейсмической аппаратуры геофизиками на глубинах моря от 15 до 320 м была выявлена крупная структура. Но еще предстояло определить, являются ли она продуктивной. А это делается только при помощи бурения скважин, так как далеко не все структуры содержат нефть или газ. Но риск пробурить пустые скважины были огромные, так как уже тогда стоимость бурения одной глубокой скважины оценивалась в 15-20 миллионов долларов. И все же в 1988 году геологи решились на бурение на структуре, ныне называемой Штокмановским месторождением.

А название этой структуры Штокмановская, и именно так, а не Штокмановская, нанес на карту один из геофизиков. И только в 1988 году, т. е. спустя 7 лет после выявления структуры и тщательного изучения всех материалов, буровое судно АМНГР «Валентин Шашин» пробурило там первую скважину, при испытании которой был получен мощный приток газа и конденсата и тем самым открыто это известное месторождение.

Так что первооткрывателями «Штокмановской структуры» были геофизики исследовательского судна «Профессор Штокман», а первооткрывателями Штокмановского месторождения - специалисты АМНГР, которые именно под этим названием поставили запасы месторождения на государственный баланс.

 

GLOSSARY

 

 

A

 

abrasionn: wearing away by friction.

absolute permeabilityn: a measure of the ability of a single fluid (such as water, gas, or oil) to flow through a rock formation when the formation is totally filled (saturated) with the single fluid. The permeability measure of a rock filled with a single fluid is different from the permeability measure of the same rock filled with two or more fluids. Compare effective permea­bility.

air drillingn: a method of rotary drilling that uses compressed air as the circulation medium. The con­ventional method of removing cuttings from the wellbore is to use a flow of water or drilling mud. Compressed air removes the cuttings with equal or greater efficiency. The rate of penetration is usually increased considerably when air drilling is used. However, a principal problem in air drilling is the penetration of formations containing water, since the entry of water into the system reduces the ability of the air to remove the cuttings.

annular spacen: 1. the space surrounding a cylin­drical object within a cylinder. 2. the space around a pipe in a wellbore, the outer wall of which may be the wall of either the borehole or the casing; sometimes termed the annulus.

annulusn: also called annular space. See annular space.

B

ball upv: 1. to collect a mass of sticky consolidated material, usually drill cuttings, on drill pipe, drill col­lars, bits, and so forth. A bit with such material attached to it is termed a balled-up bit. Balling up is frequently the result of inadequate pump pressure or insufficient drilling fluid. 2. in reference to an anchor, to fail to hold on a soft bottom, pulling out instead with a large ball of mud attached.

bearingn: 1. an object, surface, or point that sup­ports. 2. a machine part in which another part (such as a journal or pin) turns or slides.

bhhpabbr: bit hydraulic horsepower.

bitn: the cutting or boring element used in drilling oil and gas wells. The bit consists of a cutting element and a circulating element. The circulating element permits the passage of drilling fluid and utilizes the hydraulic force of the fluid stream to improve drilling rates. In rotary drilling, several drill collars are joined to the bottom end of the drill pipe column, and the bit is attached to the end of the string of drill collars. Most bits used in rotary drilling are roller cone bits, but diamond bits are also used extensively. See roller cone bit and diamond bit.

bit hydraulic horsepowern: the measure of hydraulic power expended through the bit nozzles for cleaning the bit cutters and the hole bottom.

bit programn: a plan for the expected number and types of bits that are to be used in the drilling of a well. The bit program takes into account all the fac­tors that affect bit performance so that reliable cost calculations can be made.

blockn: any assembly of pulleys on a common framework; in mechanics, one or more pulleys, or sheaves, mounted to rotate on a common axis. The crown block is an assembly of sheaves mounted on beams at the top of the derrick. The drilling line is reeved over the sheaves of the crown block alternately with the sheaves of the traveling block, which is raised and lowered in the derrick by the drilling line. When elevators are attached to a hook on the traveling block and drill pipe latched in the elevators, the pipe can be raised or lowered. See crown block and traveling block.

blooey linen: the discharge pipe from a well being drilled by air drilling. The blooey line is used to con­duct the air or gas used for circulation away from the rig to reduce the fire hazard as well as to transport the cuttings a suitable distance from the well. See air drilling.

bottomholen: the lowest or deepest part of a well. adj: pertaining to the bottom of the wellbore.

 

C

 

cavingn: collapsing of the walls of the wellbore; also called sloughing.

chip hold-down effectn: the holding of formation rock chips in place as a result of high differential pressure in the wellbore. This effect limits the cutting action of the bit by retarding circulation of bit cuttings out of the hole.

clear water drillingn: drilling operations in which water is used as the circulating fluid.

compressive strengthn: the degree of resistance of a material to a force acting along one of its axes in a manner tending to collapse it; usually expressed in pounds of force per square inch (psi) of surface affected or in kilopascals.

cone offsetn: the amount by which lines drawn through the center of each cone of the bit fail to meet in the center of the bit. For example, in a roller cone bit with three cones, three lines can be drawn through the center of each cone and extended to the center of the bit. If these cone centerlines do not meet in the bit's center, the cones are said to be offset.

cone shelln: that part of the cone of a roller cone bit out of which the teeth are milled or into which tungsten carbide inserts are inserted and inside of which are housed the bearings.

cone skiddingn: locking of a cone on a roller cone bit so that it will not turn when the bit is rotating. Cone skidding results in a flattening of the surface of the cone in contact with the bottom of the hole.

control welln: a well previously drilled in an area of drilling interest, the data from which may be a reliable source of information in the planning of a new well.

crown blockn: an assembly of sheaves, mounted on beams at the top of the derrick, over which the drilling line is reeved. See block.

cuttersn: 1. cutting teeth on the cones of a roller cone bit. 2. the parts of a reamer, which actually contact the wall of the hole and open the hole to full gauge. A three-point reamer has three cutters; a six-point reamer has six cutters. Various cutters are available for different formations.

cuttingsn -pi: the fragments of rock dislodged by the bit and brought to the surface in the drilling mud. They are not the same as cavings, which are particles that fall off the wall of the hole. Washed and dried samples of the cuttings are analyzed by geologists to obtain information about the formations drilled.

 

D

 

densityn: the mass or weight of a substance per unit volume. For instance, the density of a drilling mud may be 10 pounds per gallon (ppg), 74.8 pounds per cubic foot (lb/ft³), or 1 198.2 kilograms per cubic metre (kg/m³). Specific gravity, relative density, and API gravity are other units of density. See API grav­ity, relative density, and specific gravity.

desandern: a centrifugal device for removing sand from drilling fluid to prevent abrasion of the pumps. It may be operated mechanically or by a fast-moving stream of fluid inside a special cone-shaped vessel, in which case it is sometimes called a hydrocy clone. Compare desilter.

desiltern: a centrifugal device for removing very fine particles, or silt, from drilling fluid to keep the amounts of solids in the fluid at the lowest possible point. Usually, the lower the solids content of mud, the faster is the rate of penetration. The desilter works on the same principle as a desander. Compare desander.

diamond bitn: a drilling bit that has a steel body sur­faced with a matrix and industrial diamonds. Cutting is performed by the rotation of the very hard diamonds over the rock surface.

differential pressuren: the difference between two fluid pressures; for example, the difference between the pressure in a reservoir and in a wellbore drilled in the reservoir, or between atmospheric pressure at sea level and at 10,000 feet. Also called pressure differen­tial.

discharge linen: a line through which drilling mud travels from the mud pump to the standpipe on its way to the wellbore.

doglegn: 1. a short change of direction in the wellbore, frequently resulting in the formation of a key seat. See key seat. 2. a sharp bend permanently put in an object such as a pipe.

downholeadj, adv: pertaining to the wellbore.

drag bitn: any of a variety of drilling bits with no moving parts that drill by intrusion and drag. See fishtail bit.

drill collarn; a heavy, thick-walled tube, usually steel, used between the drill pipe and the bit in the drill stem to provide a pendulum effect to the drill stem and weight to the bit.

drilling fluidn: circulating fluid, one function of which is to force cuttings out of the wellbore and to the surface. Other functions are to cool the bit and to counteract downhole formation pressure. While a mixture of barite, clay, water, and chemical additives is the most common drilling fluid, wells can also be drilled by using air, gas, water, or oil-base mud as the drilling fluid. See mud.

drill-off testn: a method of determining optimum weight on bit and overall bit performance by tying down the brake and measuring the time required to "drill off certain weight intervals as the drill stem decompresses.

drill stemn: all members in the assembly used for rotary drilling from the swivel to the bit, including the kelly, drill pipe and tool joints, drill collars, stabilizers, and various specialty items. Compare drill string.

drill stringn: the column, or string, of drill pipe with attached tool joints that transmits fluid and rotational power from the kelly to the drill collars and bit. Often, especially in the oil patch, the term is loosely applied to both drill pipe and drill collars. Compare drill stem.

E

effective permeabilityn: a measure of the ability of a single fluid to flow through a rock when the pore spaces of the rock are not completely filled or saturated with the fluid. Compare absolute permeability and relative permeability.

electric logn: also called an electric well log. See elec­tric well log.

electric well logn: a record of certain electrical characteristics of formations traversed by the borehole, made to identify the formations, determine the nature and amount of fluids they contain, and estimate their depth. Also called an electric log or electric survey.

 

F

 

filtration lossn: the escape of the liquid part of a drilling mud into permeable formations.

fishtail bitn: a drilling bit with cutting edges of hard alloys; also called a drag bit. First used when the rotary system of drilling was developed about 1900, it is still useful in drilling very soft formations.

formation fluidn: fluid (such as gas, oil, or water) that exists in a subsurface rock formation.

 

G

 

gaugen: 1. the diameter of a bit or the hole drilled by the bit. 2. a device used to measure some physical property (such as a pressure gauge), v: to measure size, volume, or other measurable property.

gauge cuttersn: the teeth or tungsten carbide inserts in the outermost row on the cones of a bit, so called because they cut the outside edge of the hole and determine the hole's gauge or size. Also called heel teeth.

geln: a semisolid, jellylike state assumed by some col­loidal dispersions at rest. When agitated, the gel con­verts to a fluid state. Also a nickname for bentonite. v: to take the form of a gel; to set.

gel strengthn: a measure of the ability of a colloidal dispersion to develop and retain a gel form, based on its resistance to shear. The gel strength, or shear strength, of a drilling mud determines its ability to hold solids in suspension. Sometimes bentonite and other colloidal clays are added to drilling fluid to increase its gel strength. See gel.

gpmabbr: gallons per minute.

gravityn: the attraction exerted by the earth's mass on objects at its surface; the weight of a body. See API gravity and specific gravity.

H

 

hardfacingn: an extremely hard material, usually crushed tungsten carbide, that is applied to the out­side surfaces of tool joints, drill collars, stabilizers, and other rotary drilling tools to minimize wear when they are in contact with the wall of the hole.

hhpabbr: hydraulic horsepower.

hydraulic horsepowern: a measure of the power of a fluid under pressure.

hydraulicsn; 1. the branch of science that deals with practical applications of water or other liquid in motion. 2. the planning and operation of a rig hydraulics program, coordinating the power of the circulating fluid at the bit with other aspects of the drilling program so that bottomhole cleaning is max­imized.

hydrostatic pressuren: the force exerted by a body of fluid at rest; it increases directly with the density and the depth of the fluid and is expressed in psi or kPa. The hydrostatic pressure of fresh water is 0.433 psi per foot of depth (9.792 kPa/m). In drilling, the term refers to the pressure exerted by the drilling fluid in the wellbore. In a water-drive field, the term refers to the pressure that may furnish the primary energy for production.

 

I

 

in.²abbr: square inch.

insertn: 1. acylindrical object, rounded or chisel-shaped on one end and usually made of tungsten car­bide, that is inserted in the cones of a bit, the cutters of a reamer,or the blades of a stabilizer to form the cutting element of the bit or the reamer or the wear surface of the stabilizer. Also called a compact. 2. a removable part molded to be set into the opening of the master bushing so that various sizes of slips may be accommodated. Also called a bowl.

invert-emulsion mudn: an oil mud in which fresh or salt water is the dispersed phase and diesel, crude, or some other oil is the continuous phase. See oil mud.

 

J

 

junkn: metal debris lost in a hole. Junk may be a lost bit, pieces of a bit, milled pieces of pipe, wrenches, or any relatively small object that impedes drilling and must be fished out of the hole. v: to abandon (as a non­productive well).

 

K

 

kellyn: the heavy steel member, three-, four-, six-, or eight-sided, suspended from the swivel through the rotary table and connected to the topmost joint of drill pipe to turn the drill stem as the rotary table turns. It has a bored passageway that permits fluid to be cir­culated into the drill stem and up the annulus, or vice versa.

key seatn: 1.a channel or groove cut in the side of the hole of a well and parallel to the axis of the hole. A key seat results from the dragging of pipe on a sharp bend in the hole. 2. a groove cut parallel to the axis in a shaft or a pulley bore.

kickn: an entry of water, gas, oil, or other formation fluid into the wellbore during drilling. It occurs because the pressure exerted by the column of drilling fluid is not great enough to overcome the pressure exerted by the fluids in the formation drilled. If pro­mpt action is not taken to control the kick or kill the well, a blowout may occur.

 

L

 

lb abbr: pound.

lifting nipplen: a short piece of pipe with a pro­nounced upset, or shoulder, on the upper end, screwed into drill pipe, drill collars, or casing to pro­vide a positive grip for the elevators; also called a lift­ing sub or a hoisting plug.

lifting subn: also called hoisting plug or liftingnip­ple. See lifting nipple.

 

M

 

make a tripv: to hoist the drill stem out of the wellbore to perform one of a number of operations such as changing bits, taking a core, and so forth, and then to return the drill stem to the wellbore.

marln: a semisolid or unconsolidated clay, silt, or sand.

matrixn: the material in which the diamonds on a dia­mond bit are set.

milled-tooth bitn: also called milled bit or steel-tooth bit. See steel-tooth bit.

mudn: the liquid circulated through the wellbore dur­ing rotary drilling and workover operations. In addi­tion to its function of bringing cuttings to the surface, drilling mud cools and lubricates the bit and drill stem, protects against blowouts by holding back subsurface pressures, and deposits a mud cake on the wall of the borehole to prevent loss of fluids to the formation. Although it was originally a suspension of earth solids (especially clays) in water, the mud used in modern drilling operations is a more complex, three-phase mixture of liquids, reactive solids, and inert solids. The liquid phase may be fresh water, diesel oil, or crude oil and may contain one or more conditioners. See drilling fluid.

mud caken: the sheath of mud solids that forms on the wall of the hole when liquid from mud filters into the formation; also called wall cake or filter cake.

 

N

 

nozzlen: 1. a passageway through jet bits that allows the drilling fluid to reach the bottom of the hole and flush the cuttings through the annulus. Nozzles come in different sizes that can be interchanged on the bit to allow more or less flow. 2. the part of the fuel system of an engine that has small holes in it to permit fuel to enter the cylinder. Properly known as a fuel-injection nozzle. Also called a spray valve. The needle valve is directly above the nozzle.

 

O

 

offsetn: See cone offset.

oil-base mudn: an oil that contains from less than 2 percent up to 5 percent water. The water is spread out, or dispersed, in the oil as small droplets.See oil mud and invert-emulsion mud.

oil-emulsion mudn; a water-base mud in which water is the continuous phase and oil is the dispersed phase. The oil is spread out, or dispersed, in the water in small droplets, which are tightly emulsified so that they do not settle out. Because of its lubricating abilities, an oil-emulsion mud increases the drilling rate and ensures better hole conditions than other muds. Compare oil mud.

oil mudn: a drilling mud in which oil is the continuous phase. Oil-base mud and invert-emulsion mud are types of oil muds. They are useful in drilling certain formations that may be difficult or costly to drill with water-base mud. Compare oil-emulsion mud.

optimizationn: the manner of planning and drilling a well so that the most usable hole will be drilled for the least money.

overburdenn: the strata of rock that lie above the stratum of interest, in drilling.

 

P

 

PCDabbr: polycrystalline diamond.

poren: an opening or space within a rock or mass of rocks, usually small and often filled with some fluid (water, oil, gas, or all three). Compare vug.

porousadj: having pores, or tiny openings, as in rock.

porosityn: the condition of something that contains pores (such as rock formation). See pore.

ppgabbr: pounds per gallon.

psiabbr: pounds per square inch.

pump linern: a cylindrical, accurately machined. metallic section that forms the working barrel of some reciprocating pumps. Liners are an inexpensive means of replacing worn cylinder surfaces, and in some pumps they provide a method of conveniently changing the displacement and capacity of the

pumps.

 

R

 

rate of penetrationn: a measure of the speed at which the bit drills into formations, usually expressed in feet (metres) per hour or minutes per foot (metre).

relative densityn: the ratio of the mass of a given volume of a substance to the mass of a like volume of a standard substance, such as water or air. In conven­tional measurement units, specific gravity is similar to relative density.

relative permeabilityn: a measure of the ability of two or more fluids (such as water, gas, and oil) to flow through a rock formation when the formation is to­tally filled with several fluids. The permeability measure of a rock filled with two or more fluids is dif­ferent from the permeability measure of the same rock filled with only a single fluid.Compareabsolute permeability.

rock bitn: also called roller cone bit. See roller cone bit.

roller cone bitn: a drilling bit made of two, three, or four cones, or cutters, that are mounted on extremely rugged bearings. Also called rock bits. The surface of each cone is made up of rows of steel teeth or rows of tungsten carbide inserts.

ROPabbr: rate of penetration,

rotaryn: the machine used to impart rotational power to the drill stem while permitting vertical movement of the pipe for rotary drilling. Modern rotary machines have a special component, the rotary bushing, to turn the kelly bushing, which permits ver­tical movement of the kelly while the stem is turning.

rotary hosen: a reinforced flexible tube on a rotary drilling rig that conducts the drilling fluid from the mud pump and standpipe to the swivel and kelly; also called the mud hose or the kelly hose.

rotary speedn: the speed, measured in rpm, at which the rotary table is operated.

rotary tablen: the principal component of a rotary, or rotary machine, used to turn the drill stem and sup­port the drilling assembly. It has a beveled gear arrangement to create the rotational motion and an opening into which bushings are fitted to drive and support the drilling assembly.

rotating headn: a sealing device used to close off the annular space around the kelly in drilling with pressure at the surface, usually installed above the main blowout preventers. A rotating head makes it possible to drill ahead even when there is pressure in the annulus that the weight of the drilling fluid is not overcoming; the head prevents the well from blowing out. It is used mainly in the drilling of formations that have low permeability. The rate of penetration through such formations is usually rapid.

rpmabbr: revolutions per minute.

 

S

 

shalen: a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of consolidated silt and clay or mud. Shale is the most frequently occurring sedimentary rock.

shearn: action or stress that results from applied forces and that causes or tends to cause two adjoining parts of a body to slide relative to each other in a direction parallel to their plane of contact.

silicon tetrafluoriden: a gas that can be readily absorbed by water and that is used to seal off water­bearing formations in air drilling.

slack offv: to lower a load or ease up on a line. A driller will slack off to put additional weight, on the bit.

sloughingn: (pronounced "sluffing"). Also called cav­ing. See caving.

specific gravityn: the ratio of the weight of a given volume of a substance at a given temperature to the weight of an equal volume of a standard substance at the same temperature. For example, if 1 cubic inch of water at 39 °F weighs 1 unit and 1 cubic inch of another solid or liquid at 39°F weighs 0.95 unit, then the specific gravity of the substance is 0.95. In deter­mining the specific gravity of gases, the comparison is made with the standard of air or hydrogen. See grav­ity.

spurtloss n: the initial loss of drilling mud solids by filtration, making formations easier to drill. See filtration loss.

sq abbr: square.

standpipen: a vertical pipe rising along the side of the derrick or mast, which joins the discharge line leading from the mud pump to the rotary hose and through which mud is pumped going into the hole.

steel-tooth bitn: a roller cone bit in which the surface of each cone is made up of rows of steel teeth. Also called a milled-tooth bit or milled bit.

stratan pi: distinct, usually parallel beds of rock. An individual bed is a stratum.

stringern; 1. an extra support placed under the mid­dle of racked pipe to keep the pipe from sagging. 2. a relatively narrow splinter of a rock formation that is stratigraphically disjoint, interrupting the consistency of another formation and making drilling that forma­tion less predictable. A shale formation, for example, may be broken by a stringer of sandstone.

swiveln: a rotary tool that is hung from the rotary hook and traveling block to suspend and permit free rotation of the drill stem. It also provides a connection for the rotary hose and a passageway for the flow of drilling fluid into the drill stem.

 

T

 

torquen: the turning force that is applied to a shaft or other rotary mechanism to cause it to rotate or tend to do so. Torque is measured in units of length and force (foot-pounds, newton-metres).

traveling blockn: an arrangement of pulleys, or sheaves, through which drilling line is reeved and which moves up and down in the derrick or mast. See block.

tricone bitn: a type of bit in which three cone-shaped cutting devices are mounted in such a way that they intermesh and rotate together as the bit drills. The bit body may be fitted with nozzles, or- jets, through which the drilling fluid isdischarged. A one-eyed bit is used in soft formations to drill a deviated hole.

trippingn: the operation of hoisting the drill stem out of and returning it to the wellbore; making a trip. See make a trip.

twistoffn: a complete break in pipe caused by rota­tional force wrenching damaged pipe apart.

 

U

unconsolidated formationn: a loosely arranged, apparently unstratified section of rock.

undergauge bitn: a bit whose outside diameter is worn to the point at which it is smaller than it was when new. A hole drilled with an undergauge bit is said to be undergauge.

 

V

viscosityn: a measure of the resistance of a liquid to flow. Resistance is brought about by the internal fric­tion resulting from the combined effects of cohesion and adhesion. The viscosity of petroleum products is commonly expressed in terms of the time required for a specific volume of the liquid to flow through an orifice of a specific size.

vugn: a cavity in a rock.

 

W

wall caken: also called filter cake or mud cake. See mud cake.

water-base mudn: a drilling mud in which the continuous phase is water. In water-base muds, any add­itives are dispersed in the water. Compare oil-base mud.

watercoursen: a hole inside a bit through which drill­ing fluid from the drill stem is directed.

wellboren: a borehole; the hole drilled by the bit. A wellbore may have casing in it or it may be open (uncased); or a portion of it may be cased, and a por­tion of it may be open. Also called borehole or hole.

wildcatn: 1. a well drilled in an area where no oil or gas production exists. With present-day exploration methods and equipment, about one wildcat out of every nine proves to be productive, although not necessarily profitable. 2. (nautical) the geared sheave of a windlass used to pull anchor chain, v: to drill wildcat wells.