Oilsands & heavy oil Glossary
Ammonia
- Colorless, strong-smelling gas that occurs when nitrogen is extracted from crude oil products.
- A scale developed by the American Petroleum Institute for measuring the density or gravity of crude oil; the higher the number, the lighter the oil.
- Actions taken by staff or a third party to help measure a company’s compliance with legislation and internal requirements, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Audits can involve field inspections, interviews with management and document review.
Barrel
- The common unit for measuring petroleum. One barrel contains approximately 159 litres.
- Flammable, colourless to light yellow volatile aromatic hydrocarbon. A byproduct of cokemaking and other industrial processes, benzene is considered to be a carcinogenic (cancer-causing) substance.
- Refers to the variety of ecosystems and animal, bird, fish and plant species.
- Solid or semi-solid petroleum that cannot be pumped without being heated or diluted; bitumen generally has an API gravity of less than 10°.
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
- A non-toxic gas produced from decaying materials, respiration of plant and animal life, and combustion of organic matter, including fossil fuels; carbon dioxide is the most common greenhouse gas produced by human activities.
- A type of pipe that is used to encase smaller diameter production pipe for installation in a well. Casing prevents the wall from caving in and protects against groundwater contamination and uncontrolled hydrocarbon releases.
- A refinery process that uses catalysts in addition to pressure and heat to convert heavier fuel oil into lighter products such as gasoline and diesel fuel. Cracking refers to breaking long, heavy carbon molecules into smaller, lighter molecules.
- Term used to describe the view that the Earth’s temperature and climate will change, in part, due to the buildup of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.
- Technology that simultaneously produces power and thermal energy (heat and steam) from a single fuel source such as natural gas. An example is using steam generated for injection into reservoirs to also generate electricity.
- A continuous, jointless hollow steel pipe that is stored on a reel and can be uncoiled or coiled repeatedly as required; coiled tubing is increasingly being used in well completion and servicing instead of conventional tubing, which is made up of joined sections of pipe.
- A high carbon material resembling fine ground up asphalt material. It is a by-product of fuel coking
-
Process of heating coal in a coke oven in the absence of air to high temperatures between 1,000° C and 1,100° C for 16 to 20 hours to produce a very pure form of carbon.
Also refers to removing carbon from bitumen to produce lighter hydrocarbons
- Liquids recovered during the production of natural gas, consisting primarily of pentane and heavier hydrocarbons.
- End use of energy and energy sources, such as electrical energy, typically measured in kilowatt-hours; or natural gas, typically measured in thousands of cubic feet or millions of British thermal units, or crude oil and petroleum products, usually measured in litres or barrels.
- Crude oil that flows naturally or that can be pumped without being heated or diluted.
- Naturally occurring liquid petroleum.
- Changes to the environment caused by an activity in combination with other past, present and reasonably foreseeable human activities.
- A method of producing heavy oil which involves injecting steam, allowing time for the steam to heat and soften the heavy oil and producing the oil from the same wellbore used to inject the steam.
Darcy
- A standard unit of measure of permeability. One darcy describes the permeability of a porous medium through which the passage of one cubic centimetre of fluid having one centipoise of viscosity flowing in one second under a pressure differential of one atmosphere where the porous medium has a cross-sectional area of one square centimetre and a length of one centimetre
-
The heaviness of crude oil, indicating the proportion of large, carbon-rich molecules, generally measured in kilograms per cubic metre (kg/m3) or degrees on the American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity scale; in Western Canada oil up to 900 kg/m3 is considered light to medium crude – oil above this density is deemed as heavy oil or bitumen.
- A liquid used to dilute bitumen to the point where it will flow. Condensate is the most commonly used diluent in the oilsands industry
- Process to resolve conflicts in mutually beneficial ways, using techniques such as negotiation or third-party mediation instead of public hearings or courts
Environmental assessments
- Planning and decision-making tool used by industry and regulators to identify the environmental impacts and costs of proposed energy projects, and potential solutions. Power companies are potentially subject to environmental assessments for new power projects or changes to existing facilities.
Fossil fuel
- Fuels sourced from plant and animal matter that have undergone transformation through heat and pressure.
- A mixture of air, water and bitumen that rises to the surface of the primary separation vessel in the oilsands extraction process
Greenhouse effect
-
The warming of the Earth’s surface caused by the presence of carbon dioxide and other gases, known as greenhouse gases, in the atmosphere that trap the heat of the sun.
- Gases that trap heat near the Earth’s surface. These include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapor. These gases occur through natural processes (such as ocean currents, cloud cover, volcanoes) and human activities (such as the burning of fossil fuels).
- Water accumulations below the earth’s surface that supply freshwater to wells and springs.
Heavy oil
- Oil having an API gravity less than 22.3º. Includes some oil that will flow, however slowly, but most heavy oil requires heat or dilution to flow to a well or through a pipeline.
- Drilling horizontally through a reservoir to increase the exposure of the formation to the well.
- A method for separating bitumen from oil sand using hot water and caustic soda, developed by Karl Clark of the Alberta Research Council.
- A large class of liquid, solid or gaseous organic compounds, containing only carbon and hydrogen, which are the basis of almost all petroleum products.
- A process in which bitumen is heated and hydrogen added under high pressure to break down the large hydrocarbon molecules into simpler, smaller compounds
- A process that uses hot water to transport oil sands excavated at oil sands mining projects through a pipeline to a processing plant.
In-line inspection tools
- Cylinder-shaped devices, fitted with electronic sensors, that locate pipeline wall weaknesses before they can progress to the point of causing a leak
- In-situ is defined as meaning in its original place or in position. In oil sands production, in-situ recovery refers to various methods used to recover deeply buried bitumen deposits. These methods includisteam injection, solvent injection, cold heavy oil with sand and firefloods.
Kerosene
- A light product of fractional distillation used to make jet fuel and stove oil.
Land
- In the petroleum industry, "land" often refers to the oil and gas rights on a particular area of land. For example, in a "land sale," the oil and/or gas rights are "sold" (although in reality the rights are leased).
- Site designed for disposal of solid or chemical wastes by burial. It may be an open pit or an engineered facility that includes special linings to prevent wastes from leaking into water supplies.
- Liquid petroleum which has a density less than 0.870 grams per cubic centimetre and flows freely at room temperature. Light oil has an API gravity greater than 31.1°.
Naphtha
- A light fraction of crude oil used to make gasoline.
- The federal regulatory agency in Canada that authorizes oil, natural gas, and electricity exports; certifies interprovincial and international pipelines, and designated interprovincial and international power lines; and sets tolls and tariffs for oil and gas pipelines under federal jurisdiction.
- Heavy crude oil that is too thick to flow in its natural state and cannot be produced by conventional means, but must be heated or diluted first, such as oil sands bitumen. More commonly known as unconventional crude oil.
- Natural resources that cannot be replaced after they have been consumed. This term applies particularly to fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, but also applies to other mineral resources found in the Earth's crust.
Oil sands
-
Naturally-occurring mixtures of bitumen, water, sand and clay that are found mainly in the Athabasca, Peace River and Cold Lake areas of Alberta.
-
A method of surface mining where the coal seams or oil sands are too deep for strip mining but accessible from deep excavations
- The company responsible for managing an exploration, development or production operation.
- The most widely accepted theory explaining the origins of petroleum: as organic materials become deeply buried over time, heat and pressure transform them into hydrocarbons.
Particulate matter
- Dust, ash, soot, metals and other solid or liquid particles released into the air. Particulate matter comes from natural sources (such as forest fires and volcanoes) and human sources (such as burning of fossil fuels, dust from mining operations, road dust and wood stoves). Particulate matter can cause eye, nose and throat irritation and other health problems.
- The capacity of a substance (such as rock) to transmit a fluid, such as crude oil, natural gas, or water. The degree of permeability depends on the number, size, and shape of the pores and/or fractures in the rock and their interconnections. It is measured by the time it takes a fluid of standard viscosity to move a given distance. The unit of permeability is the Darcy.
- A naturally occurring mixture composed predominantly of hydrocarbons in the gaseous or liquid phase.
- All parts of the physical facility through which gas is moved in transportation, including pipe, valves, and other equipment attached to the pipe, compressor units, metering stations, regulator stations, delivery stations, holders, and fabricated assemblies.
- The capacity od a reservoir to store fluids. The ratio of the aggregate volume of pore spaces in rock or soil to its total volume, usually stated as a per cent.
- The volume of natural gas or crude oil that is thought to exist based on geological knowledge, but has not been proven to exist though geophysical techniques or drilling.
- Sand, or ceramic or resin beads pumped into a wellbore at the end of the fracturing process to prop open newly induced fractures and enhance permeability.
- The process of involving all affected parties in the design, planning and operation of a seismic program, an oil or gas well, pipeline, processing plant or other facility.
- Usually intended to mean the interest of the public generally as opposed to the interest of an individual or company.
Recoverable resources
- Hydrocarbon reserves that can be produced with current technology including those not economical to produce at present.
- Naturally occurring energy sources that are continually replenished. Examples of renewable energy are wind, solar and water.
- Recoverable portion of resources available for use based on current knowledge, technology and economics.
- A porous and permeable underground rock formation containing a natural accumulation of crude oil or natural gas that is confined by impermeable rock or water barriers, and is separate from other reservoirs.
- The owner’s share of production or revenues retained by government or freehold mineral rights holders. The royalty is usually based on a percentage of the total production and the rate may vary according to the selling price.
Secondary recovery
- Injecting water or natural gas into a producing reservoir to maintain reservoir pressure and enhance recovery of oil.
- Brown summer haze that intermittently forms over some cities. It is comprised of ground-level ozone (nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and fine particulates). Smog can be created by natural processes (such as forest fires and volcanoes) or human activities (such as the burning of fossil fuels). The name is derived from SMoke and fOG.
- Controlled or accidental release of a substance to land or water (oil, emulsion, produced water or other liquids).
- People with an interest in industry activities that affect them. They may include nearby landowners, Aboriginal communities, recreational land users, other industries, environmental groups, governments and regulators.
- A technique in which steam is injected into a reservoir to reduce the viscosity of the crude oil. One of the in situ methods for producing bitumen.
- An in situ method of producing heavy oil which involves two horizontal wellbores, one above the other. Steam is injected into the upper wellbore and softened bitumen is recovered from the lower wellbore.
- Enhancing the production of a well; includes acidizing and fracturing the reservoir as well as removing wax and sand from the wellbore.
- A yellow mineral extracted from petroleum and used for making fertilizers, pharmaceuticals and other products.
- The rights to areas of land used for well pads, batteries, gas plants and service roads
- Ecosystem condition in which biodiversity, renewability and resource productivity are maintained over time.
- Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (as defined by United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development).
- A fuel produced from solid hydrocarbons such as coal and petroleum coke. The process uses steam, air and controlled amounts of oxygen to break the solid down, and the resulting gas consists of vaying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
-
A mixture of hydrocarbons, similar to crude oil, derived by upgrading bitumen from oil sands.
Tailings
- Waste products from oil sands mining, extraction, and upgrading operations. Also solid waste left after uranium ore has been extracted from rock.
- Natural gas that is found in sandstone with low permeability.
Upgraded crude oil
- A blend of hydrocarbons similar to light crude oil produced by processing bitumen or heavy oil at a facility called an upgrader. (Also called synthetic crude oil.)
- The process of converting heavy oil or bitumen into synthetic crude oil
- Refers to companies that explore for, develop and produce petroleum resources (in contrast, downstream refers to the refining and marketing components of the industry).
Viscosity
- The resistance to flow or “stickiness” of a fluid.
-
Gases and vapours, such as benzene, released by petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, plastics manufacturing and the distribution and use of gasoline; VOCs include carcinogens and chemicals that react with sunlight and nitrogen oxides to form ground-level ozone, a component of smog.
Western Canada Sedimentary Basin
- Canada’s largest region of sedimentary rocks; the largest source of current oil and gas production, covering all of Alberta and parts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and the Yukon.