Anderseed's Oilpatch Expressions Defined for the Layperson (2)

from R. D. Langenkamp. Handbook of Oil Industry Terms & Phrases. 4th Ed. Tulsa: PennWell Publ, 1984, 347 p **

"Whimsical looks at words used in an industry which leaves many of us unamused and whose track record few words can even begin to express."

A B.C. oil drilling rig built and abandoned in 1914. Credit: Gerald Kornelsen - Roadside Attractions

cheap_priceless_editions (at) yahoo (dot) ca

---------------------

---------------------
(Previous posts: annunciator, Australian offset, bait box, bastard, bean, behind the pipe, big-inch pipeline, bird cage, and bird dog.)

BIT, SPUDDING
A large-diameter drill bit used to make the initial hole (the top hole) when putting down a well. A spudding bit may be from 15 to 36 inches in diamaeter . . . The conductor casing fits into the hole made by the spudding bit.

BITUMINOUS SAND
Tar sand, a mixture of asphalt and loose sand that, when processed, may yield as much as 12 percent asphalt.

BLACK OIL
(1) A term denoting residual oil; oil used in ships' boilers or in large heating or generating plants; bunker oil. (2) Black-colored oil used for lubricating heavy, slow-moving machinery where the use of higher-grade lubes would be impractical. (3) Asphalt-base crudes.

BLACK OILS MARKET
See Resid Market (in a later post)

BOBTAIL
A short-bodied truck.

BOBTAIL PLANT
A gas plant that extracts liquid hydrocarbons from natural gas but does not break down the liquid product into its separate components.

BOGIES
Colloquial term for small transport dollies. A low, sturdy frame or small platform with multiple wheels (4 to 8) for moving heavy objects short distances.

BLOCK TREE
A type of well-completion Christmas tree (upcoming post) in which a number of control and production valves are made as a unit in one block of steel. (shortened)

BOLL WEEVIL
An inexperienced worker or "green hand" on a drilling crew.

BOOMER
(1) A link-and-lever mechanisms used to tighten a chain or cable holding a load of pipe or other material. (2) A worker who moves from one job to another. See pipeline Cat (upcoming post)

BOPD
Barrels of oil per day: bo/d