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Financial terms |
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| IFRS: |
International Financial Reporting Standards issued by
IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) and adopted by the
European Commission. They comprise of: International Financial Reporting
Standards (IFRS), International Accounting Standards (IAS),
interpretations issued by the International Financial Reporting
Interpretation Committee (IFRIC) and the Standing Interpretations
Committee (SIC) adopted by IASB. The denomination International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has been adopted by IASB and
applies to principles issued after May 2003. Principles issued before
May 2003 have maintained the denomination IAS. |
| Leverage: |
the degree to which the company is utilising borrowed
money. It is the ratio between net financial debt and Shareholders’
equity inclusive of minority interest. |
| Contribution from operations:
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Operating Income before general and administrative
expenses. |
| ROACE: |
return on average capital employed. The ratio between
net income before minority interest plus after-tax net financial
expenses deriving from net financial debt, over average net capital
employed. |
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Operational terms |
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| Conventional waters: |
depth of up to 500 metres. |
| Deep waters: |
depths of over 500 metres. |
| Buckle detection: |
System that utilises electromagnetic waves during
pipelaying to signal collapse of or deformations to pipeline laid. |
| Bundles: |
bundles of cables. |
| Commissioning: |
series of processes and procedures undertaken in order
to start operations of a gas pipeline, associated plants and equipment. |
| Concrete coating: |
subsea pipelines are coated with reinforced concrete so
as to ballast and protect them from damage and corrosion |
| Deck: |
area of a vessel or platform where work equipment is
located: process plant and equipment, accommodation modules and drilling
units. |
| Decommissioning: |
undertaken in order to end operations of a gas
pipeline, associated plants and equipment. It may occur at the end of
the life of the plant, following an accident, for technical or financial
reasons, and/or on environmental or safety grounds. |
| Dynamically Positioned Heavy Lift Vessel:
|
Vessel equipped with a heavy-lift crane, capable of
holding a precise position through the use of thrusters, thereby
counteracting the force of the wind, sea, current, etc. |
| EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction):
|
a type of contract typical of the onshore construction
sector, comprising the provision of engineering services, procurement of
materials and construction. The term ‘turnkey’ indicates that the system
is delivered to the client ready for operations, i.e. already
commissioned. |
| EPIC (Engineering, Procurement, Installation,
Construction):
|
a type of contract typical of the offshore construction
sector, which relates to the realisation of a complex project where the
global or main contractor (usually a construction company or a
consortium) provides the engineering services, procurement of materials,
construction of the system and its infrastructure, transport to site,
installation and commissioning/preparatory activities to the start up of
operations. |
| Facilities: |
auxiliary services, structures and installations
required to support the main systems. |
| Flare: |
tall metal structure used to burn off gas produced by
the oil/gas separation in oil fields, when it is not possible to utilise
it onsite or ship it elsewhere. |
| Floatover: |
type of module installation onto offshore platforms
that does not require lifting operations. A specialised vessel
transporting the module uses a ballast system to position itself
directly above the location where the module is to be installed; it then
proceeds to de-ballast and lower the module into place. Once this has
been completed the vessel backs off and the module is secured to the
support structure. |
| FPSO vessel: |
Floating Production, Storage and Offloading system
comprising a large tanker equipped with a high-capacity production
facility. This system, moored at the bow to maintain a geo-stationary
position, is effectively a temporarily fixed platform that uses risers
to connect the subsea wellheads to the on-board processing, storage and
offloading systems. |
| Hydrocracking (plant):
|
installation for process separation of large oil
molecules. |
| Hydrotesting: |
Operation involving high pressure (higher than
operational pressure) water being pumped into a pipeline to ensure that
it is devoid of defects. |
| Jacket: |
platform underside structure fixed to the seabed using
piles. |
| Jack-up: |
mobile self-lifting unit comprising a hull and
retractable legs, used for offshore drilling operations |
| J-laying: |
Method of pipelaying that utilises an almost vertical
launch ramp, making the pipe configuration resemble a ‘J’. This
configuration is suited to deep-water pipe laying. |
| LNG: |
liquefied natural gas is obtained by cooling down
natural gas to minus 160°C. at normal pressure. The gas is liquefied to
make it facilitate its transportation from the place of extraction to
that of processing and/or utilisation. A tonne of LNG equates to 1,400
cubic metres of gas. |
| Midstream: |
Sector comprising all those activities relating to the
construction and management of the oil transport infrastructure. |
| Moon pool: |
opening in the hull of a drillship to allow for the
passage of operational equipment. |
| Mooring buoy: |
offshore mooring system. |
| Offshore/Onshore: |
The term offshore indicates a portion of open sea and,
by induction, the activities carried out in such area, while onshore
refers to land operations. |
| Pig: |
piece of equipment used to internally clean, scrape and
survey a pipeline. |
| Piggy-backed pipeline:
|
small-diameter pipeline, fixed to a larger pipeline,
used to transport a product other than that of the main line. |
| Pile: |
long and heavy steel pylon driven into the seabed; a
system of piles is used as foundation for anchoring a fixed platform or
other offshore structures. |
| Pipe-in-pipe: |
subsea pipeline system comprising two coaxial pipes,
used to transport hot fluids (oil & gas). The inner pipe transports the
fluid whereas the outer pipe carries the insulating material necessary
to reduce heat loss to the sea. The outer pipe also protects the
pipeline from the water pressure. |
| Pre-commissioning: |
comprises pipeline washing out and drying. |
| Pre-drilling template:
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support structure for a drilling platform. |
| Pulling: |
minor operations on oil wells due to maintenance or
marginal replacements. |
| Rig: |
drilling installation comprising the derrick, the drill
deck, which supports the derrick, and ancillary installations that
enable the descent, ascent and rotation of the drill unit as well as mud
extraction. |
| Riser: |
manifold connecting the subsea wellhead to the surface. |
| ROV (Remotely operated vehicle):
|
unmanned vehicle, piloted and powered via umbilical,
used for subsea surveys and operations. |
| S-laying: |
Method of pipelaying that utilises the elastic
properties afforded by steel, making the pipe configuration resemble an
‘S’, with one end on the seabed and the other under tension onboard the
ship. This configuration is suited to medium to shallow-water laying. |
| Slug catcher: |
equipment for the purification of gas. |
| Spar: |
floating production system, anchored to the seabed
through a semi-rigid mooring system, comprising a vertical cylindrical
hull supporting the platform structure. |
| Spool: |
connection between a subsea pipeline and the platform
riser, or between the terminations of two pipelines. |
| SURF facilities: |
pipelines and equipment connecting the well or subsea
system to a floating unit. |
| Template: |
rigid and modular subsea structure where the oilfield
well-heads are located. |
| Tendons: |
pulling cables used on tension leg platforms used to
ensure platform stability during operations. |
| Tension leg platform (TLP):
|
Fixed-type floating platform held in position by a
system of tendons and anchored to ballast caissons located on the
seabed. These platforms are used in ultra-deep waters. |
| Tie-in: |
connection between a production line and a subsea
wellhead or simply a connection between two pipeline sections. |
| Topside: |
portion of platform above the jacket. |
| Trenching: |
burying of offshore or onshore pipelines. |
| Trunkline: |
oil pipeline connecting large storage facilities to the
production facilities, refineries and/or onshore terminals. |
| Umbilical: |
Flexible connecting sheath, containing flexible pipes
and cables. |
| Upstream/Downstream: |
the term upstream relates to exploration and production
operations. The term downstream relates to all those operations that
follow exploration and production operations in the oil sector. |
| Wellhead: |
fixed structure separating the well from the outside
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| environment. |
| Workover: |
major maintenance operation on a well or replacement of
subsea equipment used to transport the oil to the surface. |
