Oilfield Chemicals

Oilfield chemicals refer to various chemicals used in all processes related to oil prospecting, drilling, production, gathering and transportation, mainly including mineral products (such as bentonite), conventional chemicals (such as acids and alkalis), natural products (such as starch), inorganic products (such as zinc carbonate) and specialty (fine chemical) products (such as polymers and surfactants).

With the development of the petroleum industry, the consumption of oilfield chemicals is increasing. There are already more than 70 categories and 3,000 varieties of products today. North America is the world’s largest oilfield chemicals consuming region, accounting for about half of the world’s total. The United States is largest consumer in the region. The launch of new oilfield chemicals and use of new technologies have contributed greatly for humans to stabilize the output of old oilfields, develop new oilfields, accelerate the development of offshore oilfields and support the development of low-grade resources. China has thousands of oilfield chemical varieties and the annual sales volume exceeds one million tons. As China’s crude oil output gradually increases, the number of wells to be drilled and the drilling speed also get higher, and the drilling conditions become more adverse and drilling strata are more complicate, which pose higher requirements on the performance of drilling fluids, well cementing agents and additives. Oilfield chemicals, therefore, have a huge growth potential and a bright prospect. New oilfield chemicals that can perform in complicated conditions (such as high temperatures, high pressures and high-salt strata) have won greater applause in market. They mainly include: 

       1) Non-polluting dispersants and flocculants with high-temperature stability (environmentally friendly, low or no toxicity)

       2) Water-soluble polymers with high-temperature (>165℃) resistance and good oil resistance

       3) Products effective in deep wells and hot wells

       4) Low cost emulsifiers and wetting agents suitable for oil-base mud

       5) Filtration reducers that combine functions of dispersion and filtration reduction (Currently filtration reducers can increase the viscosity of the system.)

       6) Solvents and pour point depressants that can more effectively dissolve paraffin in acidification

       7) New oilfields such as corrosion inhibitors that are more effective in carbon dioxide flooding or polymer flooding

As China readjusted the structure of its energy sector and released the newEnvironmental Protection Law, new, efficient and environment-friendly oilfield chemicals market is expected to grow rapidly as they can respond to the government’s call for energy conservation and emission reduction. How to reduce oil production cost economically and efficiently and increase oil recovery rate has become a major topic for the oilfield chemical sector in China.