S

Satellite Platform
An offshore structure that depends on another platform for materials or services.

Secondary Recovery
Enhanced recovery of oil or gas from a reservoir beyond the oil or gas that can be recovered by normal flowing and pumping operations. Secondary recovery techniques involve maintaining or enhancing reservoir pressure by injecting water, gas or other substances into the formation. See also enhanced recovery and tertiary recovery.

Seismic Exploration
An exploration technique involving the use of seismic methods.

Seismic Survey
A technique for determining the detailed structure of the rocks underlying a particular area by passing acoustic shock waves into the strata and detecting and measuring the reflected signals.

Semi-submersible Rig
A floating drilling installation that is supported by underwater pontoons; generally used for exploration purposes only.

Service Well
A well that does not produce oil or gas but that is used to inject liquids or gas into the main producing formation for such purposes as pressure maintenance, enhanced recovery, and storage or subsurface disposal of salt water and other substances.

Sidetrack Drilling
A remedial operation that results in the creation of a new section of well bore for the purpose of detouring around "junk," redrilling a lost hole or straightening crooked holes.

Soltex
Phillips' brand of drilling muds.

Sour Crude
Crude oil with a high sulfur content.

Sour Gas
Natural or associated gas with a high sulfur content.

Specialty Chemical
A chemical made in a relatively small quantity for a particular application.

Specific Gravity
A measure of the density of a material usually obtained by comparing it with water.

Spot Market
The trading in crude oil and petroleum products that occurs in international commerce, setting the prices that are widely published. Most crude moves from producer to refiner under long-term contracts, so only a small fraction of the world's petroleum is priced and traded on the spot market.

Spud
To start the actual drilling of a well.

Steamflood Technology
One method of enhanced recovery in which steam is introduced into the reservoir through an injector well, providing heat and pressure to push heavy oil toward the surrounding producing wells.  

Straight run 
A description applied to a product of crude oil created solely by distillation without further treatment e.g., straight run atmospheric residue (SRAR).

Stripper Well
An oil well that produces a limited amount of oil, usually no more than 10 barrels a day.

Subsalt
Refers to rock formations lying beneath long, horizontal layers of salt. These rock formations may contain hydrocarbons.

Sub-sea Wellhead
A wellhead installed on the sea floor and controlled remotely from a platform, a floating production facility or land.

Subsidence
The settling or sinking of a surface as a result of the loss of support from underlying soils or strata.

Substructure
The support form of an offshore installation on which the derrick, engines, quarters, helicopter pad, cranes, etc. are installed.

Sulphur recovery
Process used to recover sulphur contained in acid gas streams (e.g., hydrogen sulphide) generated in refining processes

Supply Chain Management
The interlocking series of transactions necessary to convert crude oil into marketable products.

Suspended Discovery
An oil or gas field identified by a discovery well but not being produced or developed.

Sweet Crude
Crude oil with a low sulfur content.

Sweet Gas
A natural gas that contains little sulfur.

Syngas
A synthetic gas fuel.

Synthetic Fuels
Burnable energy fluids made from coals or other hydrocarbon-containing substances.

Synthetic Natural Gas
Gases made from coals and other hydrocarbon-containing substances.

Synthetic Oils
Liquid fuels made from hydrocarbon- containing substances, including tar sands, plus animal and vegetable oils that are used as lubricants.