Oilfield Chemistry

A little more in-depth

Oilfield Chemistry is a fascinating area that encompasses Heavy oil, Light Oil, Natural Gas, and Water production-treatment-and sales.  Eugene is a member of the North American Corrosion Engineers (NACE) and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), and informative troubleshooting comments can be viewed in the Technical Interest Groups (TIG's) at http://www.spe.org.

Once the hole has been drilled and production starts, production chemicals are used to keep the well flowing.  This can be with the aid of: asphaltene products, paraffin products, anti-scale chemicals, foams, kinetic and mechanical hydrate products, and more. 

Corrosion can be a great concern and is controlled by: Anti-corrosion chemicals, biocides, water treatment products, with properly designed pigging programs.  Complete corrosion programs are assembled to limit/prevent corrosion as required by the Energy and Utilities Board (EUB).

Separation of natural gas, oil, and water is accomplished by heat and de-emulsifying compounds.  When separating in a treater or separator, usually tests are performed on-site and specific blends are created for each field. 

Separation of water/moisture/acid gasses from natural gas is accomplished by dehydration, refrigeration, and sweetening units.

Co-mingling of produced water can cause scaling, which is controlled/eliminated by the use of anti-scaling agents.

Future areas that will be added to this section are: Natural Gas Dehydration, Natural Gas Sweetening, Downhole Production, Separation, Stimulation, and more.

Advanced Chemical Product Areas

Paraffin Inhibitors - Prevent further buildup of paraffin molecules on downhole equipment.

Paraffin Dispersants - Promotes the breakup and dissolving of paraffins from equipment.

Corrosion Inhibitors - Limits or prevents corrosion from occurring. Usually lengthens the lifetime of equipment by a minimum factor of 10.

Scale Inhibitors - Prevents further buildup of scale.  This can be present in many forms.  Analysis is required.

Gas Hydrate Control - Two various areas of hydrate control exist, 1) mechanical, and 2) kinetic.

Scale Removers - Removes scale that has adhered to equipment surfaces.

Asphaltene Inhibitors - Prevents the buildup, and lowers the amount of asphaltene buildup.

Asphaltene Dispersants - Removes asphaltene buildup quickly, and effectively.

Demulsifiers - Effective separation and remove of oil from water, and water from oil.

EOR - Chemically induced Enhanced Oil Recovery of petroleum from reservoirs.

Reservoir Stimulation - Injection of chemicals to aid in the increased recovery of oil near the well bore.

Conventional Sandstone Acidizing - Opening plugged pore spaces and removing scale build-up.