Glossary
Browse the IADC Lexicon alphabetically or by category. Get comprehensive definitions of drilling industry terms.
Mined Brine
Definition(s)
Mined Brine
Brine produced from a brine mining injection well by solution of subsurface salt formations. The term "mined brine" does not include saltwater produced incidentally to the exploration, development, and production of oil or gas or geothermal resources. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsActivities Associated With The Exploration, Development, And Production Of Oil Or Gas Or Geothermal Resources
Definition(s)
Activities Associated With The Exploration, Development, And Production Of Oil Or Gas Or Geothermal Resources
Activities associated with: (A) the drilling of exploratory wells, oil wells, gas wells, or geothermal resource wells; (B) the production of oil or gas or geothermal resources, including:- activities associated with the drilling of injection water source wells that penetrate the base of usable quality water;
- activities associated with the drilling of cathodic protection holes associated with the cathodic protection of wells and pipelines subject to the jurisdiction of the commission to regulate the production of oil or gas or geothermal resources;
- activities associated with gasoline plants, natural gas or natural gas liquids processing plants, pressure maintenance plants, or repressurizing plants;
- activities associated with any underground natural gas storage facility, provided the terms "natural gas" and "storage facility" shall have the meanings set out in the Texas Natural Resources Code, §91.173;
- activities associated with any underground hydrocarbon storage facility, provided the terms "hydrocarbons" and "underground hydrocarbon storage facility" shall have the meanings set out in the Texas Natural Resources Code, §91.201; and
- activities associated with the storage, handling, reclamation, gathering, transportation, or distribution of oil or gas prior to the refining of such oil or prior to the use of such gas in any manufacturing process or as a residential or industrial fuel;
Activities Associated With The Exploration, Development, And Production Of Oil Or Gas Or Geothermal Resources
Activities associated with: (A) the drilling of exploratory wells, oil wells, gas wells, or geothermal resource wells; (B) the production of oil, gas, or geothermal resources, including:- activities associated with the drilling of injection water source wells that penetrate the base of usable quality water;
- activities associated with the drilling of cathodic protection holes associated with the cathodic protection of wells and pipelines subject to the jurisdiction of the commission to regulate the production of oil, gas, or geothermal resources;
- activities associated with natural gas or natural gas liquids processing plants or reservoir pressure maintenance or repressurizing plants;
- activities associated with any underground natural gas storage facility, provided the terms "natural gas" and "storage facility" shall have the meanings set out in Texas Natural Resources Code, §91.173;
- activities associated with any underground hydrocarbon storage facility, provided the terms "hydrocarbons" and "underground hydrocarbon storage facility" shall have the meanings set out in Texas Natural Resources Code, §91.201; and
- activities associated with the storage, handling, reclamation, gathering, transportation, or distribution of oil or gas prior to the refining of such oil or prior to the use of such gas in any manufacturing process or as a residential or industrial fuel;
Surface Or Subsurface Water
Definition(s)
Surface Or Subsurface Water
Groundwater, percolating or otherwise, and lakes, bays, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals, the Gulf of Mexico inside the territorial limits of the state, and all other bodies of surface water, natural or artificial, inland or coastal, fresh or salt, navigable or nonnavigable, and including the beds and banks of all watercourses and bodies of surface water, that are wholly or partially inside or bordering the state or inside the jurisdiction of the state. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsPollution Of Surface Or Subsurface Water
Definition(s)
Pollution Of Surface Or Subsurface Water
The alteration of the physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality of, or the contamination of, any surface or subsurface water in the state that renders the water harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans, animal life, vegetation, or property, or to public health, safety, or welfare, or impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of the water for any lawful or reasonable purpose. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsOil Field Fluids
Definition(s)
Oil Field Fluids
Fluids to be used or reused in connection with activities associated with the exploration, development, and production of oil or gas or geothermal resources, fluids to be used or reused in connection with activities associated with the solution mining of brine, and mined brine. The term "oil field fluids" includes, but is not limited to, drilling fluids, completion fluids, surfactants, and chemicals used to detoxify oil and gas wastes. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsOil And Gas Wastes
Definition(s)
Oil And Gas Wastes
Materials to be disposed of or reclaimed which have been generated in connection with activities associated with the exploration, development, and production of oil or gas or geothermal resources, as those activities are defined in paragraph (30) of this subsection, and materials to be disposed of or reclaimed which have been generated in connection with activities associated with the solution mining of brine. The term "oil and gas wastes" includes, but is not limited to, saltwater, other mineralized water, sludge, spent drilling fluids, cuttings, waste oil, spent completion fluids, and other liquid, semiliquid, or solid waste material. The term "oil and gas wastes" includes waste generated in connection with activities associated with gasoline plants, natural gas or natural gas liquids processing plants, pressure maintenance plants, or repressurizing plants unless that waste is a hazardous waste as defined by the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended (42 United States Code §6901 et seq.). Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsLandfarming
Definition(s)
Landfarming
A waste management practice in which oil and gas wastes are mixed with or applied to the land surface in such a manner that the waste will not migrate off the landfarmed area. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsTo Dispose
Definition(s)
To Dispose
To engage in any act of disposal subject to regulation by the commission including, but not limited to, conducting, draining, discharging, emitting, throwing, releasing, depositing, burying, landfarming, or allowing to seep, or to cause or allow any such act of disposal. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsTo Dewater
Definition(s)
To Dewater
To remove the free water. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsReceiver
Definition(s)
Receiver
Person who stores, handles, treats, reclaims, or disposes of oil and gas wastes generated by a generator. A receiver of another person's oil and gas wastes may be a generator of his own oil and gas wastes. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsWater Condensate Pit
Definition(s)
Water Condensate Pit
Pit used in conjunction with a gas pipeline drip or gas compressor station for storage or disposal of fresh water condensed from natural gas. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsWashout Pit
Definition(s)
Washout Pit
Pit located at a truck yard, tank yard, or disposal facility for storage or disposal of oil and gas waste residue washed out of trucks, mobile tanks, or skid-mounted tanks. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsSkimming Pit
Definition(s)
Skimming Pit
Pit used for skimming oil off saltwater prior to disposal of saltwater at a disposal well or fluid injection well. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsSaltwater Disposal Pit
Definition(s)
Saltwater Disposal Pit
Pit used for disposal of produced saltwater. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsMud Circulation Pit
Definition(s)
Mud Circulation Pit
Pit used in conjunction with drilling rig for storage of drilling fluid currently being used in drilling operations. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsGas Plant Evaporation/Retention Pit
Definition(s)
Gas Plant Evaporation/Retention Pit
Pit used for storage or disposal of cooling tower blowdown, water condensed from natural gas, and other wastewater generated at gasoline plants, natural gas processing plants, or pressure maintenance or repressurizing plants. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsFresh Makeup Water Pit
Definition(s)
Fresh Makeup Water Pit
Pit used in conjunction with a drilling rig for storage of fresh water used to make up drilling fluid or hydraulic fracturing fluid. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsEmergency Saltwater Storage Pit
Definition(s)
Emergency Saltwater Storage Pit
Pit used for storage of produced saltwater for limited period of time. Use of the pit is necessitated by a temporary shutdown of disposal well or fluid injection well and/or associated equipment, by temporary overflow of saltwater storage tanks on a producing lease or by a producing well loading up with formation fluids such that the well may die. Emergency saltwater storage pits may sometimes be referred to as emergency pits or blowdown pits. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsDrilling Fluid Storage Pit
Definition(s)
Drilling Fluid Storage Pit
Pit used for storage of drilling fluid which is not currently being used but which will be used in future drilling operations. Drilling fluid storage pits are often centrally located among several leases. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsDrilling Fluid Disposal Pit
Definition(s)
Drilling Fluid Disposal Pit
Pit, other than a reserve pit, used for disposal of spent drilling fluid. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsCompletion/Workover Pit
Definition(s)
Completion/Workover Pit
Pit used for storage or disposal of spent completion fluids, workover fluids and drilling fluid, silt, debris, water, brine, oil scum, paraffin, or other materials which have been cleaned out of the wellbore of a well being completed or worked over. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsCollecting Pit
Definition(s)
Collecting Pit
Pit used for storage of saltwater or other oil and gas wastes prior to disposal at a disposal well or fluid injection well. In some cases, one pit is both a collecting pit and a skimming pit. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsReaction-Type Contingency Plan
Definition(s)
Reaction-Type Contingency Plan
A preplanned, written procedure for alerting and protecting the public, within an area of exposure, where it is impossible or impractical to brief in advance all of the public that might possibly be within the area of exposure at the moment of an accidental release of a potentially hazardous volume of hydrogen sulfide. Source: Oil and Gas Division, Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3, February 2013. RegulationsPotentially Hazardous Volume Of Hydrogen Sulfide
Definition(s)
Potentially Hazardous Volume Of Hydrogen Sulfide
A volume of hydrogen sulfide gas of such concentration that:- the 100 ppm radius of exposure is in excess of 50 feet and includes any part of a "public area" except a public road; or
- the 500 ppm radius of exposure is greater than 50 feet and includes any part of a public road; or
- the 100 ppm radius of exposure is greater than 3,000 feet.1