15.01.2015 Views

Information Only - Waste Isolation Pilot Plant - U.S. Department of ...

Information Only - Waste Isolation Pilot Plant - U.S. Department of ...

Information Only - Waste Isolation Pilot Plant - U.S. Department of ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Definitions<br />

Several basic definitions associated with terminology that describes the !':',r:ner <strong>of</strong><br />

occurrence and physical prope'" ;~s <strong>of</strong> crude oil and natural gas are integral to tins report.<br />

Some <strong>of</strong> this terminology van' 'lightly in meaning from state to state (e.g. pool, field),<br />

from science to science (e.g. ,ilc term petroleum has a different meaning to geologists<br />

than it decs to chemists; geologists generally use the term to describe all liquid. gaseous,<br />

and solid hydrocacbons in a reservoir. while chemists generally ~se the term as a<br />

synonym <strong>of</strong> crude oil), or even from worker to worker (the term reservoir can:<br />

confusing unless it is defmed precisely). For purposes <strong>of</strong> claritY, terms fundamental to<br />

this report ace defmed below.<br />

Oil (crude oil): Hydrocacbons that naturally occur in a liquid state within the<br />

reservoir and are produced in a:liqUid state at the wellhead. Volume <strong>of</strong> crude oil<br />

is measured in barrels (bbls or BO).<br />

Gas (natural gas): Hydrocacbons that naturally occur in a gaseous state within a<br />

reservoir and are produced as a gas at the wellhead. ijolume <strong>of</strong> natural gas is<br />

measured in thousand ft> (MCF). million ftl (MMCFj, or billion ft> (BCF).<br />

<strong>Information</strong> <strong>Only</strong><br />

XI-4<br />

Condensate (gas condensate): Hydrocarbons that oatIL;;'1" occur in a gaseous state<br />

within the reservoir but condense to a liquid at the surt2~ -; :'wellhead) because <strong>of</strong><br />

decreased temperature and pressure at the surface relative to temperature and<br />

pressure within the reservoir. It is <strong>of</strong>ter; l,fficult to determine if a high-grJvitY<br />

(I.e. low densitY) liquid hydrocacbon is a light oil or a gas condensate. Official<br />

production reports do not differentiate between gas condensates and crude oils. It<br />

is generaIly assumed as a first approximation that liquids produced from gas<br />

reservoirs are condensates and that liquids produced from oil reservoirs ace true<br />

crude oils. This assumption is made throughout this report<br />

Associated gas: Natura1 gas that occurs with oil in the reservoir, either dissolved<br />

within the oil or as a free gas cap above a g~il contact.<br />

NOnJJSsociated gas: Natural gas that occurs in the absence <strong>of</strong> oil in the reservoir.<br />

Liquid hydrocacbons that are produced with nonassociated gall' are condensates,<br />

rather than oils.<br />

Field (airfield. gas field; Fig. 3): An acea chacacterized by ·geographically<br />

continuous production <strong>of</strong> oil and/or gas that may be produced from a single pay<br />

zone (stratum) or from several pay zones (multiple strata). This definition <strong>of</strong> field<br />

is consistent with regulatory and legal usage in New Mexico.<br />

Pool (oil pool. gas pool; Fig. 3): A single discrete accumulation <strong>of</strong> oil or gas<br />

within a single trap. Several pools may lie in vertical succession in anacea, or<br />

they may lie side by side or overlap laterally so as to constitute an areally continu-

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!