Production Improvement Through Wax Management Strategy in Offshore Niger Delta Field, Nigeria

Abstract

Wax precipitation along oil well tubing causes deferment in production while being produced from the formation through production facilities. Existing formulations for inhibiting wax formation include, chemical injection at different dosages and depths, mechanical inhibiting forms and thermal methods used in overcoming wax formation temperature. A well in one of the Niger Delta offshore field suffered down hole wax deposition after each field shut down. A triplex pump which serves six fields was used to provide a remedial solution after an average well downtime of seven days. In order to control this challenge, crude oil pour point was determined from historical production and temperature profiles and a hot reservoir fluid circulation strategy was developed with the objective of optimizing production through reduced well downtime and minimized expenditures. The technique used shall be discussed in this work. This formulated strategy saved over a five million US dollar per annum.