n. in the petroleum industry, a production cap set lower than the available output (of an oil producing site). Also attrib., v.Subjects:
English, Petroleum, Jargon
Citations:
1887New York Times (Nov. 2) “A Big Deal in Oil” (in Pittsburg, Pa.) p. 3: The most important deal ever consummated in the history of the oil business was brought to a head at a late hour last night.…The great shut-down movement was completed in every detail, and the shut-down or shut-in will go into effect to-day. 1899Los Angeles Times (July 24) “In The Oil Fields” p. 10: No. 16 flowed 10,000 barrels, which went to waste, before it could be “shut in.” 1978 Thomas Kennedy Globe and Mail (Mar. 1) “Oil supply held precarious, gas reserves just adequate” p. B1: About 300,000 barrels a day of wellhead capacity, representing about 70 per cent of Western Canada’s potential production, is shut in—a figure that is bound to increase later this year with the commissioning of the Fort McMurray synthetic oil plant of Syncrude Canada Ltd. 2004 Stewart Yerton Times-Picayune (Baton Rouge, La.) (Sept. 21) “Dozens of gulf oil platforms idle”: As it stormed into the Gulf with fierce winds, oil and gas producers moved workers from offshore rigs and platforms located throughout the central and eastern Gulf. This caused a hiatus in production, known as a “shut-in” in industry parlance.… All told, between Sept. 13 and Monday, 7.8 million barrels of oil and 33.3 billion cubic feet of oil had been shut in.