Signs That Your Well Could Benefit from Well Stimulation

Oil and gas operators have used acidizing treatments to increase productivity for over 100 years. Acidizing is a proven treatment for well-stimulation that has only improved as innovation continues to increase efficiency and productivity in the process.

At Petroplex, our customers see tremendous gains with our proprietary horizontal acid stimulations treatments, 32 BOPD average uplift post 60 days resulting in $151K in incremental revenue.

We know that acidizing is effective and produces quick ROI’s, especially for wells in the Permian Basin. But as the old saying goes — timing is everything.

How do you know that your well would benefit from well stimulation? What metrics indicate that an acid treatment is needed? 

While reduced production rates (beyond the expected production decline curve) almost always indicate that there is formation damage, there are other signs that can help you determine when an acid stimulation treatment can be used.

How do you know when to stimulate a well?

Increased Pressure Differential

If there’s a noticeable increase in the pressure needed to maintain the same production levels, this can signal restrictions in the flow pathways, often due to scaling, emulsions, or formation fill.

Formation Damage Indicators

Damage from drilling fluids, completion fluids, or fracturing can block the formation's natural flow channels. Acidizing is particularly effective in dissolving wellbore restrictions in carbonate formations like those found in the Delaware and Midland Basins.

Scale or Buildup in the Formation or Wellbore

Mineral scales, such as calcium carbonate or iron sulfide, can build up over time, especially in carbonate reservoirs and sour gas wells. Acidizing can dissolve these deposits, helping restore flow. Descaling can also improve the longevity of your pumps and equipment. 

Reduced Permeability Near the Wellbore

It is common for the pore space near the wellbore to become damaged over time due to fine particles, chemical reactions, and reservoir pressure differences. If analysis indicates reduced permeability via pressure testing or core samples, acidizing is likely an effective solution.

High Skin Factor

Skin factor is a metric used in well performance analysis and a parameter in the Darcy Flow Equation. This is a fundamental law in physics that describes the flow of a fluid through a porous medium. Without getting too technical, this data is used to account for the difference in theoretical flow rate versus the actual observed flow rate. A high skin factor indicates resistance to fluid flow near the wellbore. So, it’s good to note that when the skin rate is high, the well is a good candidate for an acid stimulation treatment.

Historical Analysis

Analyzing well logs, production data, and laboratory examination of formation and oil/water samples can provide a clearer indication of when acidizing should be deployed and what techniques should be used.

A Proven Process for Well Stimulation

Ultimately, it is not just one data set or site sample that indicates when and how you should approach acidizing — and that’s why an experienced partner can help you assess the best path forward for your well. 

Whether you need to increase permeability or descale your formation, we use a time-tested process to design the acidizing job for your specific well and KPIs.

Petroplex engineers use a wide variety of data to get to know every aspect of your well so we can tailor our acid-engineered systems to maximize the well’s performance.

You can count on our proven methods and proprietary acid blend, to get the job done right. Our strategy continues to prove to be successful in the Permian Basin by demonstrating quick ROI’s. Don’t leave your well optimization to chance; partner with the well-stimulation experts at Petroplex.