Abstract
As oil accumulations in easily accessible locations around the world become less available developments in deeper water locations become a more common target for field development. Deepwater projects, particularly subsea development, present a host of challenges in terms of flow assurance and integrity. In this paper the focus will be on the chemical control of flow assurance challenges in hydrate control, scale control and wax/asphaltene control within deepwater (>750 meter) developments. The opportunities for kinetic hydrate control vs. conventional thermodynamic hydrate control will be outlined with examples of where these technologies have been applied and the limitations that still exist. The development of scale control chemical formulations specifically for subsea application and the challenges of monitoring such control programs will be highlighted with developments in real time and near real time monitoring. Organic deposit control (wax/asphaltene) will focus on the development of new chemicals that have higher activity but lower viscosity than currently used chemicals hence allowing deployments at colder temperatures and over longer distances.
The factors that need to be taken into account when selecting chemicals for deepwater application will be highlighted. Fluid viscosity, impact of hydrostatic head on injectivity, product stability at low temperature and interaction with other production chemicals will be reviewed as they pertain to effective flow assurance.
This paper brings learning from other deepwater basins with examples from the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and Brazil, which will be used to highlight these challenges and some of the solutions currently available along with the technology gaps that exist.
