Selection of scale control strategy on a sub sea developed field in the North Sea and how 6 different companies contributed

The Blane field is a sub-sea oil and gas production development located in the southern part of the North Sea straddling the UK and Norwegian border. The field is expected to produce inorganic scale (BaSO4) when injection water containing sulphate breaks through in the production wells. This will require scale inhibitor squeezes from an intervention vessel to mitigate scale deposition. The wells were completed with long horizontal sections straddling multiple producing zones. This could potentially result in scale deposition severely reducing productivity if both formation water and injection water were to be produced simultaneously into the wells. Adding to the complexity, the perforation guns were left in the wellbore as part of the completion preventing any access to the perforation area. The distribution of scale inhibitor during a squeeze pumping operation could therefore be uneven leaving parts of the well poorly protected. In addition, the guns prevent physical removal of any type of materials in the well bore like asphaltenes, sand and scale which could plug off the perforations during a pumping operation with a well intervention tool; Wireline, coiled tubing, etc.. Injection water supplied from a host platform is used for pressure support of the reservoir. During the field development, the injection water was expected to contain mostly produced water reducing the scale potential considerably as it would have low sulphate content. When water injection started, very little produced water was being produced resulting in mostly seawater being available available for pressure support. Scale deposition in the well and around the well bore could therefore prove to be impossible to control unless reactions in the reservoir would reduce the scale potential or a reliable scale inhibitor squeeze method to mitigate scaling could be identified. This paper describes the joint effort of 6 different companies to identify the risks associated with the inorganic scaling during production and how a scale squeeze strategy was developed. The work included scale inhibitor selection, a geo-chemical study, and reservoir and near well bore simulations, sub-sea deployment selection, deciding on water chemistry and production monitoring and development of an overall management plan.