Appendix B: Glossary

Some common abbreviations, definitions, and colloquialisms.

AAPG,: American Association of Petroleum Geologists..
ADMA,: Abu Dhabi Marine Areas; a consortium of BP, CFP, and ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company).
ADPC,: Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company; a consortium of BP, Shell, and ADNOC
AFE,: Authority for expenditure; an estimate of the cost of drilling a well.
API,: American Petroleum Institute (see also API units and gravity).
API gravity,: the gravity of oil is calculated according to the formula:
API units,: units of the American Petroleum Institute; one of the most common is the scale of radioactivity used on the gamma-ray log.
ARCO,: Atlantic Richfield Oil Company.
AVO,: amplitude versus (with) offset; a cunning seismic trick useful for identifying gas reservoirs.

Barrel,: one barrel=159 liters, or 35 imperial gallons, or 42 U.S. gallons bbl barrel (q.v.).
BCPD,: barrels of condensate per day.
BD or B/D,: barrels (of oil) per day.
BHT,: bottom hole temperature.
BOPD,: barrels of oil per day.
BOPS,: blowout preventers (on a rig).
btu,: British thermal unit.
BWPD,: barrels of water per day.

CDP,: common depth point.
CFP,: Companie Fran aise des Petroles; 35% owned by the French government; often operates under the name TOTAL.
Christmas tree,: the assembly of valves at a well head.
Condensate,: light hydrocarbons that condense when cooled to surface temperature; natural gas liquids.
CONOCO,: Continental Oil Company.

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