OUR GREAT MINDS

    by Tina Olivero

    Stimsol Canada, Chemistry Plays Increasingly Important Role in Multi-Stage Fracturing!

    Multi-Stage Fracturing (MSF) is a proven technological advancement which allows producers to recover oil and gas safely from shale/tight-rock oil formations. MSF is used not only to jump start the production process in unconventional formations and in unfavorable locations, but to stimulate production in older wells and formations.

    Experts have known for years that oil and gas deposits existed in unconventional and older formations, but, until recently, the vast resources in these formations were not thought to be recoverable. Today, through the use of MSF, combined with sophisticated horizontal drilling, and major advances in available chemistry solutions, extraordinary amounts of carbonate and deep shale, oil and gas from across Canada and the U.S are being safely produced.

    Typical fracking involves pumping large amounts of pressurized water, a proppant (usually sand) and very small amounts of chemicals into the rock layers where the oil or gas is trapped. The water pressure creates tiny fissures in the rock, and the sand opens the fissures, allowing the oil or gas to escape and flow up the well.

    “With the advancement of relevant chemistries, we are able to eliminate the need for proppant in specific areas, and drastically reduce the use of fresh water,” states Dail Croome, President of StimSol Canada Inc. “Our chemistry breakthroughs have allowed us to continue to have success with more potent acid blends, mainly hydrochloric acid, but we have also had success with other acids with equally beneficial properties. We will continue to test the boundaries of our chemical solutions to allow StimSol to offer our customers alternatives so that we can respond to dynamic market conditions.”

    Typically producers have been using diluted HCl, from 10-20 per cent blends. Because of its ability to dissolve rock, it acts as an excellent frac and stimulation fluid. The challenges with using HCl have typically been the potency of HCl. At specific downhole temperatures and conditions, HCI will often create an emulsion that leaves the producer with some significant post-frac problems. To add to that, as producers experimented with using higher concentrations of HCl, the emulsion problems increased.

    Producers continue to experiment with various methods to reduce their emulsion challenges, without realizing the differences in results as they relate to chemical blends. Frac problems, such as acid fracs, are more likely relative to the chemical blend they use, than in the mechanics or operations methods used.

    “I can very confidently say that the commonly accepted challenges that producers have been dealing with regarding emulsion are totally unnecessary when the proper chemistry is applied,” says Dail.

    As a testament to the success of the StimSol’s chemistry, in an independent study, it was observed that,“The Swan Hills reef complex located in north central Alberta, did not receive broad attention until Arcan Resources became a 5,000 boe producer, using StimSol’s chemistry solutions exclusively. Arcan released its first well results showing significant productive potential of the formation, when using MSF and the right chemistry. To date, Arcan has over 20 wells in the public domain that trend above the mean/median curves for the area.”

    Dail states, “Stimsol’s strategy is to deploy a ‘conscious’ management team with extensive oilfield experience, combined with access to a network of acid, solvent and chemical supplies. Our goal is to overcome environmental challenges, such as minimizing the use of fresh water, and minimizing disposal volumes. That is their key to our success. Additionally, having our own laboratory for research and operations, Stimsol Canada Inc. provides unparalleled support and customised product blends for new and innovative solutions.”

    Chemical solutions coupled with a reliable delivery system through pumping services and transportation divisions places Stimsol in a very unique position to ensure environmentally conscious and responsible-results for this new and sustainable energy era. 

    Tina Olivero

    30 years ago, Tina Olivero looked into the future and saw an opportunity to make a difference for her province and people. That difference came in the form of the oil and gas sector. Six years before there was even a drop of oil brought to the shores of Newfoundland, she founded The Oil and Gas Magazine (THE OGM) from a back room in her home on Signal Hill Road, in St. John’s, Newfoundland. A single mother, no financing, no previous journalism or oil and gas experience, she forged ahead, with a creative vision and one heck of a heaping dose of sheer determination. With her pioneering spirit, Ms. Olivero developed a magazine that would educate, inspire, motivate and entertain oil and gas readers around the world — She prides herself in marketing and promoting our province and resources in unprecedented ways. The OGM is a magazine that focuses on our projects, our people, our opportunities and ultimately becomes the bridge to new energy outcomes and a sustainable new energy world. Now diversifying into the communications realms, a natural progression from the Magazine, The OGM now offers an entirely new division - Oil & Gas Media. Today, The Oil and Gas Magazine is a global phenomenon that operates not only in Newfoundland, but also in Calgary and is read by oil and gas enthusiasts in Norway, Aberdeen, across the US and as far reaching as Abu Dhabi, in the Middle East. Believing that Energy is everyone’s business, Ms. Olivero has combined energy + culture to embrace the worlds commitment to a balance of work and home life as well as fostering a foundation for health and well being. In this era of growth and development business and lifestyle are an eloquent mix, there is no beginning or end. Partnering with over 90 oil and gas exhibitions and conferences around the world, Ms. Olivero's role as a Global Visionary is to embrace communication in a way that fosters oil and gas business and industry growth in new and creative ways.

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