Interview With Steve Bowen, Well Enhancement Services Part II

1- Hi Steve, we have heard that you can now acidize while pulling the coiled tubing from the horizontal laterals. What is the effect and have you had documented increases in production?

Yes, we are now injecting acid directly into the laterals during the jetting process. We started implementing this procedure in our operations in Kansas several months ago. In order to effectively jet with acid, we had to upgrade our pumps to stainless steel. Alternatively, we can load the acid into our tubing after the main high pressure pump using a secondary acid pump mounted on a trailer. The results from jetting with acid have been impressive. We are generally seeing increases in production in the range of 2 to 4-fold, but like any bell curve, there will be some underperformers below a 2-fold increase and some overachievers beyond a 4-fold increase. We have seen some increases of up to 10-fold. Jetting with acid increases the probability of economic success over jetting without acid by about 50%.

2-Is the process more costly than traditional acid jobs?

Jetting with acid takes more time and also takes a bit of a toll on our equipment. Our coil tubing doesn’t last as long, and we hope that upgrading our pumps to stainless steel will eliminate the impact on that equipment. In general, we charge a modest premium per lateral for injecting acid directly into the lateral. I know of no other procedure where you can be assured that acid will be placed in formation 300 ft from the well bore.

3-What type of acid do you use?

We typically use hydrochloric acid (HCL) as the acid of choice. However, we recently completed a 4-well program where we jet all the laterals using sulfemic acid, which is basically simple pickle juice. Sulfemic acid is benign at normal ambient temperatures and can be safely handled without protective gear and can also be run through equipment without fear of damage to the equipment. However, when heated above 150 degrees, it aggressively dissolves limestone. In fact, sulfemic was a common stimulation acid in the oil field before the advent of HCL.

4-Have you considered using retarded acid systems?

When you place the acid directly into the lateral, there is no need for a retarded system.

5-Can you shoot laterals in formations with paraffin issues?

When jetting laterals in wells with paraffin problems, we typically recommend using diesel fuel as the jetting fluid. Diesel fuel is an excellent solvent while working in paraffin and avoids any emulsion issues that one might encounter in jetting with water.

6-It seems since we last spoke more companies are using the technology. Any areas where it is really taking off?

The business is steadily growing. Since starting in Texas in 2005, we have expanded our field offices to Kansas , Oklahoma , and Kentucky . Someday jetting laterals will be as common and considered standard practice in wells as perforating the casing.

7-If you use a wireline can you go deeper than 6000 feet?

To operate deeper than 6,000 ft, you really need to use an injector head in order to support the weight of the tubing. The technology is effective independent of depth; however, the equipment has to be sized accordingly to handle the weight of the coil tubing in the hole.

8-What type of production increases are you seeing with laterals plus acid vs just latetrals?

This is addressed in question #1 above.

9-Any new technology initiatives you would like to comment on?

Not at this time.

Thanks for your time!