Coreflood Studies Examine New Technologies That Minimize Intervention Throughout Well Life Cycle

Abstract

Summary With the development of more and more subsea fields, the challenge for scale-inhibitor squeeze treatments is to reduce intervention frequency by extending squeeze treatment lifetime while con-comitantly reducing any potential damage in both low water-cut and high water-cut wells. This paper discusses the technical problems and examines new technologies for treatment of such production wells through their life cycle. This paper covers the findings from late 2001 through early 2002. Because even newer technologies have been developed since the writing of this paper, it should be read as the history of technological development. Scale control technology available to control scale formation within the reservoir and near-wellbore area of production wells will be outlined with a focus on the current developing technology to control scale within low water-cut wells. Moreover, this paper shows that the new technical area of emulsion-scale-inhibitor-delivery systems, originally designed to control scale within low water-cut wells, has applications in both low and high water-cut wells. This study assists in developing an understanding of the mechanism of interaction of emulsion-based products—in particular, the impact of the level of water saturation within the core system. In addition, it demonstrates that the emulsion particles are retained in the core matrix during both crude and brine flowback. This paper indicates that the emulsion product offers the potential for extremely long squeeze lifetimes with minimal damage in oil-production wells with rising water cut. It also demonstrates how different technologies have their own place in the life cycle of a production well.