Application of a Flow Improver to Increase Production, Reduce Operating Cost and Carbon Emission at a Mature Oilfield

Production at the Neag-2 fields in the Western Desert of Egypt had been constrained by limited flow and pressure challenge in the multiphase pipeline that transferred produced fluids from Neag-2 fields to Neag-1 processing facility. The pipeline had a maximum allowable operating pressure of 47 bar and had been operated at a limited flow rate of about 14,000 barrels/day to maintain pressures at 40-41 bar to ensure pipeline integrity. Therefore, it was desired to have an effective chemical solution to reduce the pipeline pressure to 35 bar or less to allow the pipeline to transfer more production volumes from more wells with a target flow rate of 15,000 BPDs or higher. This paper presents laboratory test results to identify and recommend a flow improver that is effective in reducing pressure loss in a multiphase pipeline with high water cut and high TDS water. The results of a 10-day field trial showed that co-injection of both the flow improver FI-A at 24 ppm and the incumbent oil DRA at 10 ppm yielded the best performance with the pipeline pressure reduced to 34 bar and flow rate increased to 16,436 BPDs. Both values are exceeding target KPIs of pressure and flow rate, 15% increase compared to the corresponding baseline values. The trial results proved that flow improvers can be used to increase throughput of existing pipelines, eliminate bottle necks of production systems in mature fields to maintain or increase production, reduce operating cost, and provide ESG benefits in term of materials usage and carbon emission reduction.