Since the mid-1800s, the oil and natural gas industry has explored and developed sources of fuel and raw materials to meet the needs of manufacturers and consumers worldwide. Oilfield chemicals, and their ongoing innovation, are key to the continued growth of the oil and gas industry and its ability to meet new challenges year after year.
Oilfield chemicals play many roles in the field of exploration and production, including the optimization of cementing and drilling, as well as aiding in the development of new methods of developing fuel sources, such as fracturing. Let’s take a look at these major impact areas of oilfield chemicals.
Cementing is a term used in the oil and gas industry to mean the preparation of wells for more rigorous drilling, production, or abandonment. Oilfield chemicals address many issues related to achieving optimal cementing in wells, including lost circulation control, fluid loss, and gas migration control. Since oil and gas exploration is truly a worldwide pursuit across diverse climates and terrains, proper cementing means having workable oilfield chemical solutions like dispersants, retarders, and strength development.
As with cement management in non-oilfield applications, keeping wells serviceable and performing involves a range of polymers, strength enhancers, fillers, and particles, too.
As with any kind of research and development, oil and gas exploration is a race against time, as developers look to create as much product as possible when they strike a vein, and quickly, to return the investment dictated by the demands of exploration. Drilling fluids play a key role in this manner, enabling companies to drill wells faster, deeper, longer, and in more challenging situations.
There are many ways that drilling fluids are important oilfield chemicals. Oil and gas companies must effectively address challenges to controlling well pressure, stabilizing exposed rock, and providing buoyancy, cooling, and lubricating–all key tasks during the drilling process.
The oilfield chemicals used as drilling fluids can include fibers, suspension, clay control, and biocides, as well as polymers, suspension and rheology chemicals, surface modifiers, fillers and particles. In addition, drillers use specialty cements and membrane-sealing solutions to prevent losses.
Over the last decade, the practice of fracturing–commonly known as fracking–has proliferated worldwide. As fracturing has become an alternative to traditional completion methods and allows for production in an even wider, more diverse array of locations, the industry has demanded that oilfield chemical manufacturers provide more targeted solutions for this type of oilfield exploration.
Simply put, operators require a better chance at success in stimulating wells, and they must be able to meet environmental demands like different formations and temperatures. Oilfield chemicals related to fracturing include polymers, crosslinkers, breaker technology, and specialty products like chemical diverters and chelating agents.
Oilfield service companies and operators around the world know one name stands for quality, responsiveness, a commitment to reducing and eliminating downtime, and that’s Riteks. Contact our team of technical specialists today to learn more about having the right oilfield chemicals at your disposal, to drive the success of your exploration and production.
