Oil and Gas

МИНИСТЕРСТВО НАУКИ И ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ 

Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение  

высшего образования 

«ПОВОЛЖСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ» 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Е. Н. Богданова         О. С. Пермякова         Л. А. Свидерская 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Oil and Gas 

 
 
 
 
 

 

Учебное пособие  

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Йошкар-Ола 

2018 

УДК 811.111:665.6/.7(075.8) 
ББК  81.432.1:65.305.14я7 
         Б 73 
 
 
 

Рецензенты:  

кандидат филологических наук, доцент ПГТУ М.В. Смоленцева; 

 

кандидат философских наук, доцент ПГТУ Д.Г. Шабалин 

 

 
 
 

Печатается по решению 

редакционно-издательского совета ПГТУ 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Богданова, Е. Н. 

Oil and Gas: учебное пособие / Е. Н. Богданова, О. С. Пермя
кова, Л. А. Свидерская. – Йошкар-Ола: Поволжский государственный технологический университет, 2018. – 116 с. 

ISBN 978-5-8158-2034-0 
 
Цель учебного пособия – совершенствование навыков студентов в об
ласти чтения, аудирования и говорения, а также расширение словарного запаса по специальности и развитие умения пользоваться профессиональной 
лексикой.  

Для студентов направления подготовки «Нефтегазовое дело» 

 

УДК 811.111:665.6/.7(075.8) 

ББК  81.432.1:65.305.14я7 

 
 
 
 

ISBN 978-5-8158-2034-0
© Е.Н. Богданова, О. С. Пермякова, 
Л. А. Свидерская, 2018
© Поволжский государственный
технологический университет, 2018

Б 73

ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ 

 
Учебно-методическое пособие предназначено для студентов 

2 курса, обучающихся по направлениям «Нефтегазовое дело» и «Технологические машины и оборудование в нефтегазовой отрасли». Цель 
данного учебного пособия – обеспечить обучающихся необходимыми 
учебными материалами для формирования навыков общения в профессиональной сфере деятельности.  

Учебное пособие состоит из девяти уроков, в которых раскрыва
ются разнообразные аспекты предмета. Оно включает материалы для 
аудиторной и самостоятельной работы. Содержание текстов связано 
с изучением студентами базовой дисциплины. В разделе для дополнительного чтения приведены аутентичные тексты, дополняющие 
каждый из девяти уроков пособия. В разделе «Grammar References» 
приведены некоторые темы грамматики английского языка, на которые делается акцент на занятиях. В пособие также включен раздел, 
посвященный развитию навыков делового общения. 

Система приведенных в учебном пособии упражнений направлена 

на обучение чтению и переводу текстов по специальности, овладение 
профессиональной лексикой и навыками аудирования, развитие коммуникативных навыков в сфере профессиональной деятельности. 
Лексические упражнения предназначены для снятия лексических 
трудностей при ознакомительном и изучающем чтении. Как предтекстовые, так и лексические упражнения рекомендуется выполнять в 
аудитории после введения соответствующего материала. Текстовые 
упражнения и дополнительные тексты, совпадающие по своей тематике с содержанием базового текста, имеют целью развитие навыков 
поискового и изучающего чтения, а также совершенствование навыков перевода.  

Учебное пособие призвано помочь студентам расширить свои зна
ния в данной области, овладеть соответствующей лексикой, приобрести навыки работы с текстами разной сложности. 

 
 

Unit 1 

Oil and Gas Today 

1. Read the following international words and give their Russian 

equivalents: 

history, absolute, structure, illumination, control, commercial, 

kerosene, civilization, industry, production, businessman, absolute, 
standard, globe, major 

2. Skim over the text and match the titles with the paragraphs: 

a) The mother of today’s industry … 
b) A small town in Pennsylvania… 
c) From biblical times… 
d) … through the daughters that she spawned. 
e) More sustainable than your average state… 

A Brief History of Oil 

1. Crude oil has been known and used since ancient times with 

reference to it made by most historians since records of world history 
began. Noah is said to have used it to caulk his Ark; the bible refers to its 
application as a roofing material in Babylon; the Egyptians used it to help 
preserve mummies whilst Alexander the Great was known for his use of 
oil to create flaming torches to frighten his enemies. Beyond its obvious 
application as a source of fire, the substance was also highly valued by 
several civilizations for its medicinal properties; for the Chinese it served 
as a skin balm; for Native Americans a treatment for frostbite. 

2. Yet the modern oil era almost certainly commenced in 1859 in 

Titusville, Pennsylvania, when Colonel Edwin Drake struck oil some 
69 feet underground. The commercial objective being pursued was to 
extract ‘rock’ oil, which, it had been discovered, could be refined to 
produce kerosene for illumination. At 15 barrels-a-day Drake’s discovery 

prompted a mad rush to drill for ‘the black stuff’. Within a year 
Pennsylvania was producing almost 500,000 b/d (баррель в сутки); two 
years later over 3m b/d was oozing out of the Pennsylvanian hills. The 
modern oil industry had been born. 

3. This explosion in production, however, brought with it its own 

problems. Although demand for kerosene also surged as copious supplies 
made it ever more affordable, the absolute lack of discipline that 
surrounded both the supply of oil and its refining meant that the newly 
found kerosene industry was extremely volatile. Into this arena emerged 
one particular businessman who was intent on bringing structure, order and 
profit to the kerosene refining industry. Through the Standard Oil 
Company, John D Rockefeller set about establishing a business that was to 
have absolute influence over the US refining and oil producing industries. 
By 1890, using business practices that invariably sought to eliminate 
competition, Standard Oil controlled almost 90 % of the refined oil flows 
in the United States. It determined the price at which its products would be 
sold on the open market and it told the producers the price that they would 
receive for their oil. In effect it was the US oil industry that retained a 
position until its dissolution under anti-trust legislation by the US 
Supreme Court courts in 1911 into 34 independent companies. 

4. Yet Standard Oil’s dissolution was as much the beginning of an era 

as it was the end. For the companies which were born as a result by and 
large proved those which would go on to shape the industry as we know it 
today. Exxon, Chevron, Texaco, Conoco and much of BP, amongst others, 
can all trace their roots back to Standard Oil. And in their desperate 
pursuit through much of the 20th century to secure new sources of oil from 
across the globe, not least the Middle East, they gave birth to the national 
oil companies that dominate today’s production. Saudi Aramco, the 
National Iranian Oil Company, the Iraqi National Oil Company, the Kuwait 
Oil Company, ADNOC and PDVSA were all established in large part by 
the ‘sisters’ that emerged from the breakup of Standard Oil. 

5. Indeed, it is perhaps an irony that an industry whose sustainability 

is constantly in question should be comprised of companies that have a 
history that is longer than that of several modern-day countries. 

Governments may come and go and wars may pass. Yet in pursuit of that 
life-giving incremental barrel of reserves, the major oil companies have 
evolved into the industrial behemoths that stand today and will, almost 
certainly, still stand tomorrow. 

3. Read the text again and answer the questions: 

1) What has crude oil been used since ancient times? 
2) When did the modern oil era begin?  
3) Who drilled the first oil well in the USA? 
4) Who was the founder of the Standard Oil Company? 
5) What role did the Standard Oil Company play in the US’s economy? 
6) What companies were born as a result of Standard Oil’s dissolution? 

4. Learn the following words and expressions: 

caulk
конопатить

obvious
очевидный

substance
вещество

frostbite
обморожение

prompt
побуждать, вызывать

strike (struck)
обнаружить месторождение

oozing out
просачивание наружу

explosion
взрыв

copious
обширный, многочисленный

supply
снабжение, поставки

volatile
неустойчивый

emerge
появляться, возникать

seek (sought)
пытаться, стараться

eliminate
устранять

retained
удерживать

dissolution
крушения, ликвидация

legislation
законодательство

desperate
безрассудный

pursuit
погоня

sustainability
устойчивость

incremental
постепенно возрастающий

evolve
развиваться

commence
положить начало

pursuit
стремление

surge
значительный рост

5. Match the word combinations in the left column with their 

Russian equivalents in the right one: 

1) industrial behemoth
2) roofing material
3) whilst
4) source of fire
5) mad rush
6) skin balm
7) refining industry
8) the black stuff
9) in effect
10) oil flows

a) источник пламени
b) натирание
c) нефтеперерабатывающая промышленность
d) промышленный гигант
e) черное золото
f) кровельный материал
g) безумная спешка
h) в действительности
i) пока, в то время как
j) поток нефти, нефтяной фонтан

6. Find in the text English equivalents of the following words and 

word combinations: 

запугивать врагов, извлекать, высоко цениться, потребность в ке
росине, основать дело, иметь влияние, крайне неустойчивый, устранить конкуренцию, удерживать позицию, в частности, продолжать, 
включать в себя, власти могут сменять друг друга 

7. Match the words with the numbers: 

1) one billion (bn)
2) one million (m)
3) one trillion
4) one thousand

a) 1000
b) 1,000,000
c) 1,000,000,000
d) 1,000,000,000,000

We don’t add-s to thousand, million, billion, and trillion to make them 

plural. 

They produce 2.5 million barrels of oil a day. 

 
 We use the plural verb form after numbers but not with an amount of 

money. 

600,000 people work here. 
$200,000 is a good price. 

 
Number 
   We say 

1,640 
one thousand, six hundred and forty 

3,440,000 
Three million, four hundred and forty thousand  

2.5 billion 
Two point five billion 

$5.3 billion 
Five point three billion dollars 

8. Read these numbers: 

1) 1,650
2) 7,4 million

3) 187,000
4) $5,7 bn

5) €380,500
6) 4,555,200

9. Correct the mistakes in the sentences: 

1) A thousand workers now lives in this area. 
2) $20 billion are a lot of money. 
3) Oil was formed 300 millions years ago 
4) Nine million barrels of oil leaves the refinery each day. 

10. Read the text «Uncovering the oil and gas industry» and 

translate it in a written form using the dictionary: 

Uncovering the Oil and Gas Industry 

Considered to be the biggest sector in the world in terms of dollar value, 

the oil and gas industry is a global powerhouse employing hundreds of 
thousands of workers worldwide as well as generating hundreds of billions 
of dollars globally each year. In regions which house the major NOCs*, 
these oil and gas companies are so vital they often contribute a significant 
amount towards national GDP**. 

The oil and gas industry can be broken down into three key areas: 

upstream, midstream and downstream. 

The upstream component is also refereed to as the E&P***. This 

involves search for underwater and underground natural gas fields or crude 
oil fields and the drilling of exploration wells and drilling into established 
wells to recover oil and gas. 

Downstream refers to the filtering of the raw materials obtained during the 

upstream phase. This means refining crude oil and purifying natural gas. The 
marketing and commercial distribution of these products to consumers and end 
users in a number of forms including: natural gas, diesel oil, petrol, gasoline, 
lubricants, kerosene, jet fuel, asphalt, heating oil, LPG**** (liquefied petroleum 
gas) as well as a number of other types of petrochemicals. Midstream is 
generally classified under the downstream category. 

The largest volumes of products of the oil and gas industry are fuel oil 

and gasoline (petrol). Petroleum is the primary material for a multitude of 
chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, solvents and 
plastics. Petroleum is therefore integral to many industries, and is of critical 
importance to many nations as the foundation of their industries. 

In recent years there has been a growing negative sentiment towards the 

oil and gas industry and "big energy". Major environmental disasters such as 
the Deepwater Horizon Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill have cast a negative 
spotlight up on the industry. The trend towards Renewable and Alternative 
energy is also another threat to traditional oil and gas companies. Coupled 
with the rise in pro-eco legislation and governmental pressure has meant the 
oil and gas industry is under more scrutiny than ever. 

However the Oil and gas industry is still extraordinarily successful and 

still experiences massive growth. It's estimated that 30 billions barrels are 
consumed globally each year – primarily by developed nations. Oil also 
accounts for a significant percentage of energy consumption regionally 
from 32 % for Europe and Asia, 40 % for North America, 41 % for Africa, 
44 % for South and 53 % for the Middle East. 

*NCOs – national oil companies (oil companies fully or in the majority owned by 

the national government)  

**GDP (gross domestic product) – ВВП (валовой внутренний продукт) 

*** E&P (exploration and production) – разведка и добыча 
**** LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) – сжиженный нефтяной газ 

11. Complete the sentences, using the information from the text: 

a) The oil and gas industry is a ___. 
b) The oil companies owned by a national government often 

contribute ___. 

c) The oil and gas industry can be divided into ___. 
d) The oil and gas industry is still ___. 
e) The oil and gas industry is under ___. 

12. Using the information above decide if 1-8 are upstream or 

downstream. Tick (√) the boxes:  

Upstream
Downstream

1) finding crude oil and natural gas
2) oil refineries
3) petrochemical plants
4) transportation of crude oil
5) exploration and discovery
6) buying petrol/ gasoline from a filling station
7) marketing services
8) gas gathering

13. Study the text about «upstream and downstream» operations 

and fill in the gaps with the word(s) from the list below: 

a) gasoline;
b) exploration and production;
c) raw material;
d) downstream;

e) focus;
f) supply chain;
g) extraction;
h) retailers; 

i) corporation;
g) upstream

 
«Upstream» and «downstream» are general business terms referring to 

a company's location in the (1) ___. The closer to the end user a function 
or firm is, the further downstream it is said to be. (2) ___ extraction or