Barium Sulphate Scale can damage wellbores, risers and production flow lines and, left untreated, it is difficult to remove and involves costly interventions
Barium Sulphate Scale can damage wellbores, risers and production flow lines and, left untreated, it is difficult to remove and involves costly interventions
In wells where typical scale inhibitor injection does not reach the perforations or rock face, a scale squeeze programme may be necessary.
This was the case recently in a deepwater West Africa well where a Baker Hughes scale treatment programme successfully turned around a failed scale squeeze programme, taking the squeeze life from 23 days to 61 days. This improvement is saving the operator more than US$3mn per year in costs associated with squeezing.
“This particular well was a difficult one to treat, and the scale squeezes were lasting only three weeks,” said Beth Hammond, Baker Hughes account manager for the UK.
“It was highly deviated, with 750m of production interval and a high number of pay zones across three distinct reservoir types with varying porosity and permeability properties.”
Scale treatment programme
Leveraging technology developed in the North Sea to enhance analytical capabilities in the lab and introduction of scale squeeze modelling to design specific treatments for each well, Baker Hughes identified the customer’s expectations and made recommendations to treat the deepwater extended-reach well.
The solution was to introduce a large mutual solvent reservoir conditioning preflush and increase volumes of scale inhibitor treatment. A performance monitoring programme was also developed that allowed more accurate prediction of when retreatment of the wells was required. This solution has extended the squeeze life threefold to 60 days or more.
