Acidizing 101: A Basic Guide to Oil Well Stimulation

If you’re in oil and gas production, you know that there’s one metric that trumps all others: Barrels of Oil Per Day (BOPD).

The good news is that you’ve got options when it comes to well stimulation, you don’t have to cap your well prematurely. There are effective solutions for well stimulation that provide excellent ROI.

What is well stimulation?

If you are looking to uplift BOPD, well stimulation is an attractive option. Well stimulation is the term given to describe the various techniques that can be used to restore or enhance the production of oil or gas from a reservoir.

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and acidizing are two of the most common methods for well stimulation that help create pathways for oil or gas to flow more easily, ultimately increasing the overall production of the well.

What is acidizing? 

Acidizing is a well stimulation technique that injects a hydrochloric acid solution into a well — this process is Petroplex’s expertise. Acidizing dissolves, scaling and carbonate formation fill in a wellbore that restricts the flow of oil and gas. Acidizing is particularly effective in the Permian Basin because of the widespread carbonate rock formations in the region. Calcium carbonate fill and formation scaling reacts readily with the acid, dissolving minerals and creating new flow pathways within the reservoir rock. This increase in permeability significantly improves the well's productivity and allows for easier oil and gas extraction.

Why use acidizing?

• Increase Production: By cleaning or enhancing the flow paths, acidizing can significantly boost the production rate of an oil or gas well.
• Remove Blockages: Over time, wells can become clogged with scale, carbonate formation fill, or other debris. Acidizing helps dissolve these blockages, restoring the well's productivity.
• Enhance Reservoir Contact: For formations with low permeability, acidizing can increase the contact between the well and the reservoir, allowing more hydrocarbons to be extracted.

What is the acidizing process?

Whether you need a well cleanout or a proactive rigless treatment, we employ the same process, designing the acidizing job for your specific well to ensure optimal uplift results. Our goal is to know your well from top to bottom so we can tailor our acid-engineered systems to maximize its performance.

Acid Engineer Systems Process

Step 1: Well Information Collection

• Customer KPIs identified
• Formation lithology breakdown to determine optimal HCL acid %
• Well conditions identified (H2S levels, scaling, organics, bacteria)
• Offset case studies reviewed 

Step 2: Acid Engineered System Design

• Oil/formation water sample obtained for well head
• Oil/water wet formation determined through oil/water interface from sample
• Chemical additives selected for optimal results

Step 3: Acid Emulsion & Sludge Test 

• Testing performed with acid engineered system
• Acid compatibility report generated 

Step 4: Job Design

• Pre/post flush determined from well information collection
• Acid volumes calculated based off KPIs identified
• Diversion method selected for optimal results
• Detailed job proposal created summarizing acid engineered system/acid compatibility report/job procedure 

Step 5: Follow Up

• Well performance KPIs reviewed after 30, 60 and 90 days
• Successes/failures identified
• Recommendations provided to improve performance

Acidizing Treatment results speak for themselves?

Petroplex customers see tremendous gains from Petroplex’s proprietary acid systems.

• 30 BOPD Uplift Average post 60 days 
• 3.1 X Multiple on Invested Capital 

Contact us to get more ROI with targeted solutions that maximize efficiency and effectiveness