Oil & Gas Glossary 1.0

A special steel pumping rod. Several rods screwed together make up the mechanical link from the beam pumping unit on the surface to the sucker rod pump at the bottom of a well. Sucker rods are threaded on each end and manufactured to dimension standards and metal specifications set by the petroleum industry. Lengths are 25 or 30 feet (7.6 or 9.1 meters); diameter varies from 1/2 to 1-1/8 inches (12 to 30 millimeters). There is also a continuous sucker rod (tradename: Corod).

An undesirable whipping motion in the sucker rod string that occurs when the string is not properly attached to the sucker rod pump or when the pump is operated at a resonant speed.

A sucker rod string, that is, the entire length of sucker rods, which usually consist of several single rods screwed together. The rod string serves as a mechanical link from the beam pumping unit on the surface to the sucker rod pump near the bottom of the well.

The downhole assembly used to lift fluid to the surface by the reciprocating action of the sucker rod string. Basic components are barrel, plunger, valves, and hold-down. Two types of sucker rod pumps are the tubing pump, in which the barrel is attached to the tubing, and the rod, or insert, pump, which is run into the well as a complete unit.

A short length of sucker rod that is attached to the top of the sucker rod pump

1. a sucker rod, shorter than usual, used to make up a sucker rod string of desired length. Pony rods are usually placed just below the polished rod.

A special wrench designed for use in connecting the cage of a sucker rod pump to the sucker rod string.

One of the two valves in a sucker rod pumping system. It moves with the movement of the sucker rod string. On the upstroke, the ball member of the valve is seated, supporting the fluid load. On the downstroke, the ball is unseated, allowing fluid to enter into the production column. Compare standing valve.

A sucker rod pump in which the barrel is attached to the tubing. See sucker rod pump.

A device used to pull or to run sucker rods.

A device used to hang sucker rods on the mast or in the derrick

To loosen a tight joint as in line pipe or sucker rods.

A fishing tool used to recover a pared string of sucker rods from a well.

To lower the drill stem, tubing, casing, or sucker rods in to the wellbore.

A ram device used to close the annular space around the polished rod or sucker rod in a pumping well.

All the devices used to accomplish the moving of sucker rods form the elevators to the racking platform.

The driller or head well puller in charge of operations on a well servicing rig that is used to pull sucker rods or tubing

1. a basic component of the sucker rod pump that serves to draw well fluids into the pump.

Drill pipe, tubing, sucker rods, and so forth with the diameter near the top of the well larger than the diameter below.

To suspend sucker rods in a derrick or mast on rod hangers rather than horizontally on a rack.

Tongs that are actuated by air or hydraulic fluid and are used for making up or breaking out sucker rods

To pull the bottom end of a sucker rod away from a well when laying rods down.

A tube mounted at the bottom of a sucker rod pump and inside a gas anchor to provide a conduit into the pump for well fluids that contain little or no gas.

A sucker rod pump that is run into the well as a complete unit.

Clamps that grip a stand of casing, tubing, drill pipe, or sucker rods so that the stand can be raised or lowered into the hole.

In sucker rod pumping, the difference between the polished rod peak load on the upstroke and the minimum load on the downstroke.

Sucker rods that have been broken and separated in a pumping well because of corrosion, improper loading, damaged rods, and so forth.

To install a pump or pumping unit, sucker rods, and bottom-hole pump.

The topmost portion of a string of sucker rods. It is used for lifting fluid by the rod-pumping method. It has a uniform diameter and is smoothly polished to seal pressure effectively in the stuffing box attached to the top of the well.

A heavy-duty steel, T-shaped pipe fitting that is screwed or flanged to the top of a pumping well. The polished rod works through a stuffing box on top of the tee and in the run of the tee to operate a sucker rod pump in the well. Pumped fluid is discharged through the side opening of the tee.

A mechanical arrangement that prevents the upward movement of certain pieces of equipment installed in a well. A sucker rod pump may use a mechanical hold-down for attachment to a seating nipple.

A special type of elevator designed to accommodate the end of a sucker rod. it allows the derrickman to transfer the rod to the racking platform from the regular elevator being used to lift the rod out of the well.

A wheel-shaped wrench that is attached to the sucker rod string at the surface and is manually turned to unscrew the string to allow it to be pulled from the well.

2. the cylindrical part of a sucker rod pump in which the piston-like plunger moves up and down. Operating as a piston inside a cylinder, the plunger and barrel create pressure energy to lift well fluids to the surface.

A device that increases the pressure on a fluid or raises it to a higher level. Various types of pumps include the bottomhole pump, centrifugal pump, hydraulic pump, jet pump, mud pump, reciprocating pump, rotary pump, sucker rod pump, and submersible pump

See sucker rod pump

A fishing tool that is attached to tubing or drill pipe and lowered over the outside wall of pipe or sucker rods lost or stuck in the wellbore. A friction device in the overshot, usually either a basket or as spiral grapple, firmly grips the pipe, allowing the fish to be pulled from the hole.

A fixed ball-and-seat valve at the lower end of the working barrel of a sucker rod pump. The standing valve and its cage do not move, as does the traveling valve. Compare traveling valve.

A small platform with finger-like steel projections attached to the side of the mast on a well servicing unit. When a string of sucker rods or tubing is pulled from a well, the top end of the rods or tubing is placed (racked) between the steel projections and held in a vertical position in the mast.

A machine designed specifically for sucker rod pumping. An engine or motor (prime mover) is mounted on the unit to power a rotating crank. The crank moves a horizontal member (walking beam) up and down to produce reciprocating motion. This reciprocating motion operates the pump. Compare pump jack

A large, hook-shaped device from which the swivel is suspended. It is designed to carry maximum loads ranging from 100 to 650 tons (90 to 590 tonnes) and turns on bearings in its supporting housing. A strong spring within the assembly cushions the weight of a stand (90 feet, about 27 meters) of drill pipe, thus permitting the pipe to be made up and broken out with less damage to the tool join threads. Smaller hooks without the spring are used for handling tubing and sucker rods. See stand and swivel.

A tubular, perforated device attached to the bottom of sucker-rod pump that helps to prevent gas lock. The device works on the principle that gas, being lighter than oil, rises. As well fluids enter the anchor, the gas breaks out of the fluid and exits from the anchor through perforations near the top. The remaining fluids enter the pump through a mosquito bill (a tube with the anchor), which has an opening near the bottom. In this way, all or most of the gas escapes before the fluids enter the pump.

A device that prevents leakage along a piston, rod, propeller shaft, or other moving part that passes through a hole in a cylinder or vessel. It consists of a box or chamber made by enlarging the hole and a gland containing compressed packing. On a well being artificially lifted by means of a sucker rod pump, the polished rod operates through a stuffing box, preventing escape of oil and diverting it into a side outlet to which is connected the flow line leading to the oil and gas separator or to the field storage tank. For a bottomhole pressure test, the wireline goes through a stuffing box and lubricator, allowing the gauge to be raised and lowered against well pressure. The lubricator provides a pressure-tight grease seal in the stuffing box.