Jason Bell and Rick McCurdy, BJ Chemical Services
Many gas wells produce water or a liquid hydrocarbon or a combination of the two. Often, the velocity of the produced gas is not sufficient to lift these liquids to surface and they accumulate downhole and decrease the well's gas production by applying pressure against the producing formation(s). One way to prevent this decrease in production is to apply a deliquification surfactant downhole. Very simply, these surfactants facilitate entrainment of the gas in the liquid phases, allowing the gas / fluid mixture to be lifted to surface with the existing velocity. Many surfactants work in water-only fluids or in hydrocarbon-only fluids, but most products fail to perform when the liquid hydrocarbons and water are near equal ratios. This paper will illustrate the laboratory work and successful field application of several specialty surfactants designed to handle a wide range of oil/water ratios, including equal mixtures of the two.