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Oilfield chemicals

Also known as
production chemicals, oilfield chemistry

Oilfield chemicals are the chemical products used to drill, complete, stimulate and produce oil and gas wells and to handle the fluids they produce. They include drilling fluid additives, fracturing and acidizing chemicals, and production chemicals such as corrosion, scale and paraffin inhibitors.

What are oilfield chemicals?

Oilfield chemicals are used at every stage of a well’s life to control the behavior of fluids, protect equipment and keep oil and gas flowing. They are usually grouped by the stage in which they are used.

Main categories

StageExamples
DrillingViscosifiers, fluid-loss additives, shale inhibitors, lubricants
CementingRetarders, accelerators, dispersants
Completion and stimulationFracturing fluid additives such as friction reducers and surfactants; acid systems for acidizing
ProductionCorrosion inhibitors, scale inhibitors, paraffin and asphaltene inhibitors and dispersants, demulsifiers, biocides, hydrogen sulfide scavengers, hydrate inhibitors
Enhanced oil recoverySurfactants, polymers, alkali
Water handlingWater clarifiers, flocculants, scale and corrosion control for disposal and injection systems

Production chemicals are the largest ongoing category, because they are used for as long as a well produces. Many of them address flow assurance problems.

How production chemicals are applied

  • Continuous injection at the wellhead or downhole through a capillary string.
  • Batch treatments, pumped periodically.
  • Squeeze treatments, in which inhibitor is placed in the rock and released slowly into produced fluids.

Programs are monitored with residual chemical measurements, corrosion coupons, deposit inspections and production data, and adjusted as conditions change.

Trends

Operators increasingly weigh the health, safety and environmental profile of chemicals alongside performance, favoring products with lower toxicity, fewer volatile solvents such as BTEX, and better biodegradability, especially where regulations or offshore discharge rules apply. Biosurfactants are one of the alternatives being applied.

Oilfield chemicals at Locus

Locus Bio-Energy supplies biosurfactant-based oilfield chemicals for fracturing, enhanced oil recovery, acid treatment and flow assurance.

Frequently asked questions

Production chemicals are oilfield chemicals used after a well is completed to keep it producing: inhibitors for corrosion, scale, paraffin and asphaltenes, demulsifiers, biocides and similar products.

Because many oilfield problems happen at interfaces between oil, water, gas and rock. Surfactants lower interfacial tension, change wettability, break or prevent emulsions, and help disperse deposits.

  • Flow assurance

    Flow assurance is the discipline of ensuring that oil, gas and water keep flowing without interruption from the reservoir to the point of sale. It covers preventing and removing deposits such as paraffin, asphaltenes, scale and hydrates, and managing emulsions, corrosion and solids.

  • Fracturing fluid

    Fracturing fluid is the fluid pumped into a well during hydraulic fracturing to crack the rock and carry proppant into the fractures. It is mostly water, with small amounts of additives such as friction reducers, surfactants, biocides and scale inhibitors.

  • Scale inhibitor

    A scale inhibitor is a chemical that prevents or slows the formation of mineral scale from water, usually at very low concentrations, by interfering with how scale crystals form and grow. Phosphonates and polymers such as polyacrylates are common types.

  • Corrosion inhibitor

    A corrosion inhibitor is a chemical added in small amounts to a fluid to slow the corrosion of metal it contacts, usually by forming a protective film on the metal surface or by interfering with the electrochemical reactions that cause corrosion.

Sources

  1. Oilfield chemicals and production chemistry, SLB Energy Glossary
  2. Production chemistry, SPE PetroWiki