Glossary
Oilfield Service Operator Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential oilfield service operator terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key oilfield service operator vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in oilfield service operator training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Acidizing
- Using acid to improve flow.
- Blender
- Mixes frac fluids.
- Cementing
- Pumping cement behind casing.
- Coiled tubing
- Continuous pipe on a reel.
- Completion
- Preparing a well for production.
- Hydraulic fracturing
- Pumping fluid to crack rock.
- Job ticket
- Record of work performed.
- Packer
- Seals the space in a well.
- Pressure test
- Testing for leaks.
- Proppant
- Sand that holds fractures open.
- Rig up
- Setting up equipment.
- Rods
- Connect a pump to a pumpjack.
- Tubing
- Pipe through which fluids flow.
- Wireline
- Cable used to run tools into wells.
- Workover
- Repairing or servicing a well.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Oilfield Service Operator practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Oilfield Service Operator training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.