Scale Remover Treatment Prevented Well Recompletion
Baker Hughes environmentally friendly treatment removed scaleA platform operator in the UK sector of the North Sea detected scale buildup in the upper production tubing of a well and wanted a cost-effective solution to remove it. Because the well was a subsea tieback, a scale milling operation would have to be conducted from a vessel, making it extremely expensive. Allowing the scale buildup to continue would result in high intervention costs and possibly well abandonment. The operator turned to Baker Hughes to identify a less costly and lower risk alternative to solve the problem.
A log run indicated high levels of gamma radiation from 400 to 3,000 ft (121 to 914 m) MVD. This indicated barite scale formation as it coprecipitated with radon. A scale prediction analysis showed a probability of calcite scale in the upper wellbore tubing. Further analysis of the scale buildup and scale prediction suggested that the scale comprised a calcite matrix with a high degree of barite inclusions.
Download the PDF to read more.
DOWNLOAD PDF (159.8 KB)