An operator in Nigeria needed to increase oil production from a horizontal well drilling in a heavy and viscous, low pressure, oil reservoir. SAS Production Services provided our microemulsion SAS Breaker 162SC chemistry to completely restore the near-wellbore to its original permeability and increase production. 

The Problem

The well was drilled in 2015 and oil production had steadily declined to a low value of 283 bbl/d, and total production (oil and water) declined to 552 bbl/d. The operator was looking for a solution to increase the well production and productivity index.

The SAS Solution

The SAS Breaker 162SC was deployed with coil tubing across the reservoir section and allowed to soak for the desired period.

It restored the near-wellbore permeability to its original virgin state by completely removing the damage caused by the drilling mud when the well was drilled, completely removing all the downhole in-situ emulsion that formed during production, and water-wetting all sand grains. 

After the soak period, the well was opened and SAS Breaker 162SC had successfully remediated the horizontal well, removing near-wellbore formation damage and increasing production by 259%, from 283 bbl/d to 1,016 bbl/d. 

After the well flowed for one month, the operator turned on a gas lift valve and the oil production further ramped up to 1,620 bbl/d.

To Sum Up...

• Increased well production from 283 bbl/d to 1,016 bbl/d on the same choke size. This represents 259% increase (or 3.59 times the pre-treatment rate).

• Total production increased from 552 bbl/d to 1,722 bbl/d.

• Productivity index increased, enabling a single gas lift valve to increase oil production to 1,620 bbl/d.

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