Produced water is a concentrated, hot, often acidic brine that has been in equilibrium with the reservoir rock for geological time. Take it out of that equilibrium by dropping pressure and temperature, mixing it with injected seawater or exposing it to oxygen, and it precipitates solids, corrodes steel and stabilises emulsions. Almost every production chemistry problem starts with that disturbance of equilibrium.

Prediction is possible for most of these problems. Scaling tendency can be calculated from water analysis and operating conditions. Hydrate formation conditions can be calculated from gas composition. Wax appearance temperature and asphaltene stability can be measured. Corrosion rates can be estimated from carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide partial pressures. This means chemical programmes can be designed in advance rather than reacting to failures.

Treatment then depends on getting the right chemical, at the right concentration, to the right place, continuously. Most chemical programme failures are not chemistry failures: they are injection pumps that stopped, dosages set years ago and never reviewed, chemicals injected downstream of the problem, or incompatible chemicals reacting in the flowline. This course covers the chemistry and the practice equally.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Describe produced fluid and water chemistry and the analyses used to characterise them.
• Plan representative sampling of oil, gas, water and deposits.
• Predict scaling tendency from water analysis and operating conditions.
• Explain wax and asphaltene deposition mechanisms and their measurement.
• Predict hydrate formation conditions and prevention requirements.
• Explain emulsion formation and stability and select demulsifiers.
• Assess corrosion and souring risk and the chemical responses to each.
• Select chemical families and specify laboratory qualification and compatibility testing.
• Design chemical injection systems and dosage regimes.
• Build and monitor a field chemical treatment programme, including cost and environmental requirements.

The course is instructor-led and suitable for engineers without a chemistry background. Each problem is explained from its mechanism through prediction to treatment, using real water analyses, deposit analyses and field cases. Chemical selection and testing are covered with laboratory protocols and results. Participants are encouraged to bring their own water analyses and production chemistry problems for discussion.

Organisations sending participants to this training will:

• Predict and prevent production chemistry problems rather than reacting to them.
• Improve the effectiveness and cost of chemical treatment programmes.
• Reduce deferment caused by scale, wax, hydrates, emulsions and corrosion.
• Improve sampling and analysis quality across the asset.
• Build a common understanding between production engineers, chemists and operations.

Participants will:

• Understand the chemistry behind the production problems seen in the field.
• Be able to read and interpret water and deposit analyses.
• Be able to predict scaling, hydrate and wax risk.
• Understand chemical families, selection and qualification.
• Be able to design and monitor a chemical treatment programme.

• Production engineers
• Production chemists and chemical treatment engineers
• Flow assurance engineers
• Facilities and process engineers
• Operations engineers and supervisors
• Laboratory and technical services staff

Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.

Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.