Publication - Consultation paper
Unconventional oil and gas policy: SEA
Environmental report for the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of our preferred policy position on unconventional oil and gas in Scotland.
Glossary
| Abbreviations | |
|---|---|
| AQMA | Air Quality Management Area |
| Bcf | Billion cubic feet |
| BGS | British Geological Survey |
| C | Carbon |
| CAR | Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 |
| CBM | Coal bed methane |
| CCC | Committee on Climate Change |
| CCRA | Climate Change Risk Assessment |
| CCS | Carbon Capture and Storage |
| CH4 | Methane |
| CO | Carbon monoxide |
| COMAH | The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015 |
| CO2 | Carbon dioxide |
| COPD | Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease |
| DAS | Distributed Acoustic Sensing |
| DECC | Department of Energy and Climate Change (incorporated into newly formed Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy in July 2016. |
| DTS | Distributed Temperature Sensing |
| DWQR | Drinking Water Quality Regulator |
| EC/EU | European Commission/European Union |
| EIA | Environmental Impact Assessment |
| EPS | European Protected Species |
| ESCAPE | European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects |
| EU ETS | EU Emissions Trading System |
| FBG | Fibre Bragg gratings |
| FP | Flowback and Produced (water) |
| Ft | Foot – unit of length |
| GCR | Geological Conservation Review |
| GHG | Greenhouse gas |
| HAP | Hazardous air pollutant |
| HES | Historic Environment Scotland |
| HPS | Health Protection Scotland |
| HRA | Habitats Regulations Appraisal |
| HSE | Health and Safety Executive |
| H2O | Water (liquid or vapour) |
| ICF | International Climate Fund |
| IPCC | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
| Km2 | Square kilometres |
| KPMG | An accounting firm and one of the Big Four Auditors. KPMG stands for Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler |
| Kt | Kilotonnes |
| LNG | Liquefied natural gas |
| m3 | Cubic metres |
| MEW | The Management of Extractive Waste (Scotland) 2010 Regulations |
| ML | Richter Magnitude (or Local Magnitude) – measure of earthquake magnitude |
| MMBOE | Million barrels of oil equivalent |
| Mt | Million tonnes |
| MtCO2e | Million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent |
| NDPB | Non Departmental Public Body |
| NH3 | Ammonia |
| NMVOC | Non-methane volatile organic compounds |
| NNR | National Nature Reserves |
| N2O | Nitrous oxide |
| NO | Nitric oxide |
| NORM | Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material |
| NOx | Nitrogen oxides |
| NPF | National Planning Framework |
| NRW | Natural Resources Wales |
| NSA | National Scenic Area |
| O3 | Ground level ozone |
| ONS | Office for National Statistics |
| PAH | Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons |
| PAN | Planning Advice Note |
| PEDL | Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence |
| PM1 | Particulate matter up to 1 micrometre in diameter |
| PM2.5 | Particulate matter up to 2.5 micrometres in diameter |
| PM10 | Particulate matter up to 10 micrometres in diameter |
| PPC | Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012 |
| RBMP | River Basin Management Plan |
| RSA | Radioactive Substances Act 1993 |
| SAC | Special Area of Conservation |
| SEA | Strategic Environmental Assessment |
| SEPA | Scottish Environment Protection Agency |
| SNH | Scottish Natural Heritage |
| SO2 | Sulphur dioxide |
| SOx | Sulphur oxides |
| SPA | Special Protection Area |
| SSSI | Site of Special Scientific Interest |
| Tcf | Trillion cubic feet |
| tCO2 | Tonnes CO2 |
| TWh | TeraWatt |
| UKCP09 | UK Climate Projections 2009 |
| UN | United Nations |
| UOG | Unconventional Oil and Gas |
| VOC | Volatile organic compounds |
| WHO | World Health Organisation |
| Definitions | |
|---|---|
| Abandonment | A phase of decommissioning for an oil and gas well. |
| Associated liquids | Natural liquids that are produced as an associated product to shale gas. It is estimated that 75% of ‘existing’ shale gas pads also produce associated liquids. |
| Associated gas | Natural gas produced with crude oil from the same reservoir. |
| Barrel | A unit of volume measurement used for oil and its products. |
| Borehole | A hole drilled into the earth. Boreholes can be used to remove core samples of rock for geologic analysis. A borehole that is used to extract oil or gas or water is sometimes called a well. |
| Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) | Carbon capture and storage is a technology that can capture the carbon dioxide emissions produced from the use of fossil fuels, preventing the carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. |
| Casing | Metal pipe inserted into a wellbore and cemented in place to protect subsurface formations. |
| Coal bed methane | Coal bed methane is considered to be an unconventional source of gas because the gas is absorbed in the coal rather than being held in pore spaces. |
| Coal field | An extensive area containing a number of underground coal strata. |
| Completion | The installation of permanent downhole and wellhead equipment for the production of oil and gas. |
| Conventional oil and gas | Oil and gas that is recovered by drilling a well in porous rock, with the oil or gas flowing out under its own pressure. |
| Decommissioning | The process to remove all the equipment used for production of unconventional oil and gas and return the site to its original condition and use. |
| Drilling pad | A hard standing area for development of drilling wells and production of gas and oil. |
| Drilling rig | The equipment used to drill holes into the earth called boreholes and wells. |
| Exploration well | Drilling carried out to determine whether hydrocarbons are present in a particular area or structure. |
| Field | A geographical area under which an oil or gas reservoir lies. |
| Fugitive emission | Emissions of gasses or vapours from industrial equipment due to leaks or other unintended or irregular releases, during industrial activities. |
| Gas field | A field containing natural gas but no oil. |
| Greenhouse gas | A greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere. |
| Hazard/risk | A hazard is a potential source of harm, e.g. electricity, chemicals, stress. A risk is the likelihood, or chance, that something will cause harm. |
| Hydraulic fracturing | A drilling technique, commonly referred to as ‘fracking’, that fractures rock to release the oil and gas contained in the rocks. |
| Hydrocarbon | A compound containing the elements hydrogen and carbon. May exist as a solid, a liquid or a gas. The term is mainly used in a catch-all sense for oil, gas and condensate. |
| Liquefied natural gas | Gas, chiefly methane, liquefied for transportation. |
| Moratorium | A temporary prohibition in an activity. |
| Natural gas | Natural gas is a source of energy. It is typically composed of a mixture of hydrocarbons such as methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. |
| Natural gas liquids | The portions of gas from a reservoir that can be liquefied. Ethane, propane, butane, isobutene, and pentane are all natural gas liquids. |
| Oil | A mixture of liquid hydrocarbons. |
| Operator | A company that has legal authority to drill wells and to access hydrocarbons. |
| Pad | Onshore development and production platform/area which can have multiple wells associated with it. |
| Petrochemicals | Chemical products obtained from petroleum/natural oil and gas. Companies supply petrochemicals for use in manufacturing and production. |
| Petroleum | A generic name for hydrocarbons, including crude oil, natural gas liquids, natural gas and their products. |
| Reserve | The amount of technically and economically recoverable oil and gas in a particular location. |
| Reservoir | The underground formation where oil and gas has accumulated. It consists of a rock formation to hold the oil or gas, and a cap rock that prevents its escape. |
| Resource | The amount of estimated oil and gas in a particular location. |
| Seismic activity | Vibration of the ground or earthquakes due to natural or artificial causes. |
| Shale gas | Shale gas is a form of natural gas trapped within shale rock or other formations of low permeability. |
| Shale oil | Shale oil is a form of oil trapped within shale rock or other formations of low permeability. |
| Shale rock | Shale is an impermeable rock from which natural oil and gas can be extracted. |
| Unconventional oil and gas | The term ‘unconventional’ refers to the types of geology in which the oil and natural gas are found. For the purpose of this SEA, unconventional oil and gas includes shale gas, associated liquids and coal bed methane. |
| Well | The hole drilled by a drilling rig to explore for or develop oil and/or natural gas. |
| Wellhead | The equipment at the surface of a well that is used to control the pressure; the point at which the hydrocarbons and water exit the ground. |
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