SPE Production & Operations
Volume 27,
Number 4,
November 2012,
pp. 382-389
Summary
As a result of the seawater injections in one of the Norwegian North Sea oil
fields, sulfate-scale depositions have been identified in the near-wellbore
region and inside the production well. Scale-inhibitor squeeze treatments are
carried out regularly. Most of the production wells are horizontal producing,
with a fairly high water cut, and increasing the squeeze treatment life is one
of the major issues for the selection of scale inhibitors and placement
technologies. In addition, the inhibitor selected has to be environmentally
acceptable and meet regulations from environmental authorities. Both challenges
from the high-water-production wells and environmental requirements limited the
choice of the inhibitor candidate selections.
Through extensive laboratory qualification testing, a newly developed
polymer inhibitor was qualified for the field and satisfactory results were
achieved from several field trials. This paper presents the inhibitor
chemistry, as well as laboratory tests such as inhibitor efficiency and
compatibility and inhibitor coreflood. The environmental properties of the
chemistry will be outlined. A comparison was made between the field treatments
using this polymer inhibitor and widely applied polymer chemistries. The
treatment optimization using a software package will also be highlighted. The
field used a gelled scale-inhibitor package, and the technology improved the
inhibitor placement in the horizontal well. The updated treatment data will be
reviewed in this paper.
© 2012. Society of Petroleum Engineers
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History
- Original manuscript received:
26 October 2010
- Meeting paper published:
20 September 2010
- Revised manuscript received:
8 November 2011
- Manuscript approved:
22 December 2011
- Published online:
2 October 2012
- Version of record:
13 November 2012