Oil-Field Chemistry - A Multi-Billion Dollar Challenge
Authors: Vetter O.J. 
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the Oilfield Chemistry Symposium of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Denver, Colo., May 24–25, 1973. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon requested to the Editor of the appropriate journal, provided agreement to give proper credit is made. provided agreement to give proper credit is made. Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussions may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

The estimation of the costs of chemicals and their application in oil field operations is extremely complex and difficult. Their yearly cost may have exceeded the $1 billion mark. These "out-of-pocket" expenses for chemical work-overs, stimulation jobs, injections, etc., are only a part of the cost involved. Another "invisible" part of the total expense, which cannot even be estimated, consists of losses in revenues for oil national is not being recovered. Such losses are caused by ineffectiveness of the chemical treatments, and by wellbore and formation damage that occurs as an undesired side effect of many treatments. The total cost to the oil industry in the U.S. alone may well be several billion dollars per year. per year. Despite the great expense and risk involved in field chemical treatments, most field applications are handled by people who at best have a limited working knowledge of chemistry. This is only one of the reasons for the ineffectiveness of the routine operations of present-day oil field chemistry. Other reasons are very complex, and at least four types of organizations share the responsibility for the present unsatisfactory situation: operators, service companies, professional societies and educational institutions. professional societies and educational institutions.

OIL-FIELD CHEMISTRY: OUR BILLION-DOLLAR NEGLIGENCE

The energy crisis we are facing is the topic of many speeches and articles. The present and future lack of sufficient oil profoundly affects the policies and politics of the industry. The same topic ranks high in discussions within our professional societies, and covers considerable professional societies, and covers considerable space in the news media. Obviously, the anticipated diminishing supply of oil and gas is of vital importance to the U.S., and will bear consequences for the entire world.

CHEMICAL METHODS OF MAINTAINING AND INCREASING OIL PRODUCTION ARE BEING NEGLECTED

Under the pressure to find and produce more oil and gas, one would expect that efforts are being made to use all possible resources in the production of our underground hydrocarbon reserves. production of our underground hydrocarbon reserves. Unfortunately, we have reason to believe that this is not true in our daily field operations; there seem to be gaps between theory and practice. practice. Obviously, chemical methods and procedures are important means of keeping wells flowing and of stimulating more production.