Copyright 2006, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2006 SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference
and Exhibition held in Adelaide, Australia, 1113 September 2006.

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Abstract

Geothermal reservoirs differ significantly from their
hydrocarbon counterparts and so do their remedial treatments.
Typically these reservoirs are naturally fractured volcanic
sandstones with varying mineralogy found over a wide
temperature range. Often the zones of low permeability limit
the efficient recovery of heat from these reservoirs. The low
permeability could either be inherent or induced by damages
occurred while drilling and/or production phases. The drilling
phase often experience significant fluid losses, which cool the
well and near wellbore zone from the high bottom hole static
temperature to the moderate levels that make drilling,
cementing and completion of these wells possible. The loss of
cuttings and drilling mud to permeable formations and/ or
fractures is a major source of damage. Other potential
damages occur when the well is put on production. As such it
is common for these wells to experience a decline in
production owing to such formation impairments.

Permeability in these zones may be enhanced through methods
of well stimulation such as acidizing and high-rate injection.
Such practices usually employing mixtures of hydrochloric
and hydrofluoric acids in various concentrations, have widely
been used worldwide but performance has been somewhat
spotty and unpredictable. Also owing to the typical difficult
locations of geothermal sites, there have been concerns about
the logistical and QHSE aspects while planning conventional
treatments.

A successful application of a unique acidizing system & other
techniques into geothermal wells in Indonesia is presented in
this paper. This acid system involves controlled in-situ
generation of HF acids based on organo phosphonic acid
chemistry. It provides unique advantages in geothermal
application in terms of both the enhanced well performance
and rightly addressing all the logistics/QHSE issues discussed
above. The last treatment with this system resulted in almost 3
folds increase in productivity of well.
1. Introduction
Make up steam supply production wells are now being drilled
in the Salak geothermal field, a liquid dominated geothermal
resource operated by Chevron in Indonesia. Well Awi 8-7,
Awi 10-3 and Awi 8-8 are production wells drilled in the 2004
make up steam supply drilling program. After completion,
those wells delivered steam at sub commercial steam flow
rates at system operating pressures. A comprehensive well
stimulation program was planned and executed. The scope of
the program included the diagnostic work to identify the
causes, stimulation design to determine the most effective
stimulation techniques, stimulation execution to carry out the
stimulation job efficiently and safely, followed by evaluation
to assess the result.
Well Awi 8-7 was expected to produce 200 kph of low-gas-
content steam. Despite promising indications, the initial steam
flow rate from this well was below expectations. A completion
test, consisting of pressure-temperature-spinner (PTS) survey,
injectivity test, and pressure fall off (PFO) test was conducted
to diagnose the problem. These tests were used to characterize
the initial state of individual permeable zones to base a
stimulation decision on.

Injectivity and pressure fall-off (PFO) tests indicated that Awi
8-7 well had low injectivity index (II) and a positive skin. This
data supported the fact that the well lost about 94,500 bbls of
water-based mud from the drilling process has suggested the
presence of the near-wellbore formation damage.

Acid stimulation was designed and performed to recover the
well. The acid was placed to the target zones via a 2 coiled
tubing. Post-acidizing well test analysis suggested the acid
stimulation has successfully improved overall well
characteristic. Total II increased from 2.56 to 6.55 kph/psi,
permeability-thickness (kh) product increased from 252,000 to
403,000 md-ft, and the skin decreased from +2.2 to -1.2 Flow
performance test after the acid job has confirmed a significant
improvement of Awi 8-7 deliverability. This test confirmed
the increase of maximum discharge pressure from 211 to 297
psig. The production output at stabilized flowing wellhead
pressure increased from 51 to 160 kilo pounds per hour (kph)
of steam.

SPE 100996
Successes Achieved in Acidizing of Geothermal Wells in Indonesia
M. Mahajan, SPE, BJ Services; R. Pasikki, T. Gilmore and K. Riedel, SPE, Chevron; and S. Steinback, SPE, BJ Services
2 SPE 100996
2. Awi 8-7 well characterization and diagnosis
2.1 Heat-up Survey

Temp (degF)
-7000
-6000
-5000
-4000
-3000
-2000
-1000
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600
M
e
a
s
.

D
e
p
t
h

(
f
t
)
AWI8-7OH #1
10/5/2004
AWI8-7OH #3
10/16/2004


Figure-1: Heat-up survey of Awi 8-7 after drilling completion

A series of shut in pressure-temperature (PT) surveys at Awi
8-7 were conducted following the completion. As seen in
Figure-1, the well was fully heated up after twenty days. A
high temperature region of 505 565
o
F in the 2400 ft of open-
hole production interval made this the hottest well in the
vicinity. However, discharge tests showed that the well
delivered significantly less steam than surrounding wells.

Drilling history was reviewed to see if the drilling practices
had damaged the formation through invasion of the PHPA
(partially hydrolyzed poly acrylamide) based drilling mud,
drill cuttings, and cutting fines. Drilling records showed the
loss of about 94,500 bbls of water-based mud whilst drilling
the open hole interval. In parallel with drilling history review,
a completion test was designed to diagnose the well
performance problem.

2.2. Injection PTS Survey
Completion testing at Awi 8-7 began 40 days after completion
to evaluate the damage extent in the well. It consisted of an
injecting PTS survey, injectivity test, and pressure fall off
(PFO) test.
Initial analysis of injection PTS data provided the location of
the permeable zones and the amount of liquid each zone
accepted. An injecting wellbore model was then constructed
by matching simulated wellbore fluid velocity, wellbore
pressure, and total injection rate with the measured numbers
(please see Figure-A.1 at Appendix-A) to identify the
individual II value of each permeable zone. Wellbore
simulation was performed using an in-house Unocal wellbore
simulator, Geoflow v1.13b. Table-1 shows the injected fluid
and II distribution on each entry.
Entry Depth
ft-MD
Fluid Accepted
kph
Injectivity Index
Kph/psi
4400 120 0.82
5380 160 0.60
5800 60 0.26
6250 140 0.53
6310 90 0.34
Table-1: Injected fluid and II distribution resulted from injection
wellbore simulation
2.3. Injectivity Test
An injectivity test was conducted by decreasing water
injection rate from 30 BPM by 5 BPM increments every 1
hour until 5 BPM was reached. The pressure tool was set at a
depth of 5500 ft. which is near the mid-point of permeable
zones. Figure-2 shows the pressure response as the rates were
decreased. The pressure at the end of the 1 hour period for
each rate was recorded. The pressure at the end of the 1-hour
period for each rate was used to construct the graph of
injection rate vs. measured pressure shown in Figure-3. The
graph shows the initial II of Awi 8-7 before being stimulated
was 2.56 kilo pound per hour per psi (kph/psi)
1200
1225
1250
1275
1300
1325
1350
1375
1400
1425
1450
1475
1500
12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00
Time (hh:mm)
D
w
o
n
h
o
l
e

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
P
s
i
a
)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
R
a
t
e

I
n
j
e
c
t
i
o
n

(
B
P
M
)
Downhole Pressure (psia)
Injection Rate (BPM)

Figure-2: Measured pressure at 5500 ft and water injection rate vs.
time on the 1st injectivity test.

y = 2.56x - 3098.80
R
2
= 0.99
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500
DHP (psia)
I
n
j
e
c
t
i
o
n

R
a
t
e

(
k
p
h
)Data Point
Linear (Data Point)

Figure-3: Plot of injection rate vs. measured pressure at 5500 ft.
Initial II of Awi 8-7 was 2.56 kph/psi

2.4. Pressure Fall Off Test
On the PFO test, pressure decline subsequent to the closure of
water injection was measured (Figure-4). A pressure transient
analysis was conducted using the pressure transient analysis
software, Automate (v. 1999.1), to evaluate the permeability-
thickness (kh) and the skin of the well. The fluid properties
used in the analysis were those of the injected fluid.
Homogeneous reservoir and radial flow are chosen for the
model. A general fit using kh of 252,000 md-ft and skin of
+2.2 resulted in a good match as shown in Figure-5 and 6.
This kh value indicated that Awi 8-7 well has good
SPE 100996 3
connectivity to the natural fracture network; however the
effect of positive skin has created a lower permeability
segment adjacent to the wellbore giving additional resistance
to the flow of reservoir fluids.

1200
1240
1280
1320
1360
1400
1440
1480
22:00 00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00
Time (hh:mm)
D
o
w
n
h
o
l
e

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
P
s
i
a
)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
R
a
t
e

I
n
j
e
c
t
i
o
n

(
B
P
M
)
DHP Injection Rate


Figure-4: Measured pressure at 5500 ft and water injection rate vs.
time on the 1st PFO test


1
10
100
1000
10000
1.0E-02 1.0E-01 1.0E+00 1.0E+01 1.0E+02
dt (hrs)
d
P

(
p
s
i
)
dP/dt data dP/dt fit tdP/dt data tdP/dt fit


Figure-5: Derivative plot from the 1st PFO test (before acid job)

1150
1200
1250
1300
1350
1400
1 10 100 1000 10000
Horner Time (unitless)
D
H
P

@
5
5
0
0

f
t

(
p
s
i
a
)
DHP data DHP fit

Figure-6: Horner plot from the 1st PFO test
2.5. Flow Performance Test

The first pre-stimulation flow performance test (FPT) at Awi
8-7 was conducted on Jan 7, 2005. Awi 8-7 is a liquid
dominated well so the discharge initiation prior to start the
FPT required air compression of 400 psig. The test was
conducted by discharging the well with different valve
positions and measuring the wellhead pressure, steam and
brine flow rates. The obtained data were fitted with a parabolic
equation. Figure-7 shows the measured data and the
interpolated output curve.

0
50
100
150
200
250
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225
WHP (psig)
S
t
e
a
m

R
a
t
e

(
k
p
h
)
Measured Data Parabolic Fit


Figure-7: Data and the fit of modeled output curve with parabolic
from the 1st Awi 8-7 flow test
3. Acid treatment

3.1 Acid Treatment Design

The formation damage inferred from the completion test was
believed to be caused by the mechanism of drill cuttings and
94,500 bbls of water-based mud invasion. Weighting material
of the drilling mud was bentonite clay. The major components
of drill cuttings were quartz, tuff and feldspars. All of these
damaging materials are soluble in a hydrofluoric acid (HF)
mixture to various extents. Based on this information, Awi 8-7
well was then selected as the candidate for HF acid
stimulation.
An additional damage mechanism was initially thought to be
the PHPA polymer. This type of polymer is insoluble in HCl
and HF acids so assurances of it being removed were
necessary to offer a greater chance of a successful acid
treatment. Later it was realized that PHPA polymer is stable to
400 F. However, beyond this temperature the polymer
decomposes, polymer chains break, releasing CO2 and any
potentially damaging effects due to its high viscosity. The
speed of this decomposition is accelerated beyond 450 F. The
reservoir temperature in the productive intervals is 470 565
F. As such, it was felt the PHPA polymer was not contributing
to formation damage.



4 SPE 100996
3.2 Selected HF Acid System and Volume

Matrix acid stimulation is viewed by many as a risky
enterprise that should be undertaken as a last resort. Yet, this
relatively simple technique represents one of the most cost
effective methods to enhance well productivity and increase
recovery. Hydrofluoric acid (HF) has been used world wide to
stimulate sandstone formations. The treatment system chosen
for Awi 8-7 utilized an HF acid system that was proven in the
oil and gas industry to be one of the best available systems in
the energy services market and is commonly known as
Sandstone Acid.

Sandstone acid uses a phosphonic acid complex to hydrolyze
fluoride salts rather than HCl, like conventional mud acid. The
phosphonic acid complex has 5 hydrogen ions available that
disassociate at different stochiometric conditions. It is known
as HV Acid. The fluoride salts are placed in the treatment
fluid with either ammonium fluoride liquid (AF) or
ammonium bifluoride (ABF) salts.

The Sandstone acid system was chosen for a multitude of
reasons based on its unique attributes. First of which is, the
system partially reacts with clays. On contact with clays in the
formation, a micro film coat of an aluminum silicate
phosphonate compound is deposited. The film is resistant to
HF acid attack. Being resistant to HF Acid it acts to divert live
HF Acid away from clays and deeper into the rock matrix.
Quartz dissolution is also improved resulting in greater acid
penetration. This action also has the benefit of reducing the
potential of insoluble compounds that are the product of HF
acid clay reactions.

The mechanism of hydrogen ion disassociation of the HV
acid, also offers greater depth of penetration of the Sandstone
Acid system. Having hydrogen ions release at different
stochiometric conditions, means initially only a percentage of
the available HF acid is produced. As HF is consumed, the
reaction equilibrium shifts, generating more HF acid. This
delays HF production, offering deeper live acid penetration
into the rock matrix.

Sandstone Acid has a reduced risk of damaging precipitates
being formed. The phosphonic acid complex acts to chelate
metallic ions. By chelating previously insoluble reaction
products in solution, the formation of damaging precipitates is
mitigated.

The Sandstone Acid system has greater quartz solubility. The
HV Acid has outstanding adsorption and water wetting
properties that catalyze HF reactions to quartz. This action
results in higher quartz solubility in time versus conventional
mud acid.

Another beneficial characteristic of the Sandstone Acid system
is the consumption of significantly less quantities of HCl acid.
Because the system obtains the necessary hydrogen ions from
the HV acid, a relatively insignificant volume of HCl is
necessary compared to regular mud acid for the preparation of
Hydrofluoric acid. By utilizing less HCl, Health Safety and
Environment issues are improved by not having to move and
handle as much raw HCl acid. Additionally, the need for
expensive corrosion inhibitors is also reduced.

The acid treatment design selected a loading of 45 gallons of
7.5% wt. HCl per linear foot for the pre-flush and 90 gallons
of 5% wt. sandstone acid per linear foot for the main flush.
HCl preflush is first placed in the zone of interested to remove
a calcium carbonate, iron carbonate or other calcareous
mineral. Calcareous materials can form damaging precipitates
when contacted by HF acid. In addition to removing
calcareous materials, the preflush moves formation brine out
of the near wellbore area. Contact with formation brines and
HF acid systems can result in damaging precipitates.
3.3 Temperature Considerations

The reservoir temperature is over500
o
F. Acid corrosion
inhibitors for HCl find their limits at about 300 deg F.
Inhibited acid for zones beyond this temperature are possible
with organic systems but the cost goes up considerably. In the
case Awi 8-7, the well was quenched with 30 bpm of fresh
water for 48 hours prior to the coiled tubing running in the
hole. The quenching cools the well, however knowing the
magnitude of the cooling was essential to safe treatment
design of the corrosion inhibitor loadings.

The first run in the hole was a temperature survey run /
dummy run to confirm no obstructions in the well bore. The
temperature survey consisted of a memory operated
temperature probe installed in the bottom hole assembly. The
first few zones of the treatment were simulated with respect to
pump rates expected during the acid stimulation treatment.
The result of the temperature survey was a maximum recorded
temperature of 208 F. This result allowed a safe reduction in
original planned corrosion inhibitor loading. The
understanding of formation temperatures during the treatment
translated to a significant reduction in corrosion inhibition
cost.

3.4 Targeting the Feed Zones

The target interval for acid stimulation was determined from
permeable zones identified on the pre-acid PTS survey.
Invasion of unbroken viscosified gel fluid filter cake on the
formation face was also considered in designing the acid job.
PTS survey will not be able to identify the feed-zone damaged
from this mechanism. Therefore, the potential feed-zone
locations identified from drilling breaks, drilling lost
circulation, and projection from feed-zone location of
surrounding wells were also taken as the acid treatment targets
(please see Table-2).
Table-2: Target interval for acid stimulation at Awi 8-7
No. MD (ft) Interval (ft) Remarks
1 4020-4070 50
Identified based on drilling
loss circulation
2 4390-4510 120
Identified from PTS survey
and feed zone location at
surrounding well (Awi 8-5)
SPE 100996 5
3 5350-5480 130
Identified from PTS survey,
total loss circulation while
drilling and feed zone
location of adjacent well
(Awi 8-6)
4 5620-5670 50
Identified from drilling
breaks and feed zone
location of adjacent well
(Awi 8-6)
5 5730-5870 140
Identified from PTS survey
6 6150-6350 200
Identified from PTS survey
and drilling breaks

Coiled tubing is necessary to place the acid via a dedicated
conduit adjacent the desired zones of interest
10
. Additionally,
coiled tubing can be reciprocated across the zone of interest to
uniformly cover the zone with treatment fluids. The largest
size available in Indonesia was desired to maximize pump
rates, thereby potentially improving placement and decrease
treatment time. For this purpose, a 2 coiled tubing unit was
mobilized for the treatment.

The treatment consisted of placing the sandstone acid and
preflush across 6 discrete intervals totaling 690 ft of net pay
over an interval of 2,330 ft. The coiled tubing was
reciprocated across each interval. On the first down ward pass,
the preflush was pumped. This was followed by reciprocating
up and down with the Sandstone Acid. The over flush of fresh
water was pumped whilst moving to the next zone of interest.
Whilst moving to the next zone of interest, additional over
flush fresh water was pumped down the annulus to aid in
maintaining a cool well bore.

3.5 Acid Preparation

The treatment volume was 2218 bbls of mixed acid. This
volume of acid required a large number of tanks. The area of
operations is in the midst of pristine forest making
environmental hazards ultra important. Containment of any
ruptured tank would be difficult. To minimize the tank
volumes on location, a continuous batch mixing system was
employed. This entailed setting up 6 each 125 bbls tanks.
Commence the treatment will all tanks full of mixed acid.
Once a tank was emptied, it would be prepared again whilst
the others were being utilized. This was made easier by using
all liquid additives for the mixed acid preparation. The onsite
equipment lay-out is put at Figure A.2 (Appendix-A)

The large acid volume meant the time would be quite long to
complete the treatment. To maximize personnel safety it was
desired to pump the treatment during day light hours. To
maximize safety, the treatment was divided over 2 operational
days.

A future operational enhancement would be to meter the acid
additives, water and raw acid in such a way to allow
continuous mixing and pumping on the fly
3,9
. This can be done
using customized blending / proportioning units to prepare the
mixed acid. The unit would only require a source of fresh
water since 70 90% of all mixed geothermal acid systems
are water.

This improvement would eliminate the personnel hazard of
mixing acid; eliminate the need to mix large quantities of acid
prior to commencing a treatment and decrease the operational
time necessary for a treatment.

3.6 Acid Treatment
The second part of the treatment was to perform the acid
stimulation. The treatment was broken into two phases, the
lower section and upper section and spread over 2-days of
operations. The first part of the treatment was pumped on the
two lower most intervals with a total treatment interval of 340
ft. The acid was pumped at an average rate of 4.5 bpm down
the coiled tubing. A 20 bpm over flush of cold water was
pumped down the annulus whilst moving the coil tubing to the
next target zone.
While preparing the remaining acid, the well was quenched at
20 bpm to maintain a cool wellbore. On the second phase of
the treatment, acid was pumped to the three interval zones at
the top. At the end of treatment, the acid was displaced using
fresh water. The mixing tanks were filled with a soda ash
solution to neutralize any remaining acid and pumped to the
well with the displacement water.
4. Simulation result for Well No. Awi 8-7
A post acid injection test consisted of multi rate injection test,
pressure fall-off test, and injection PTS survey to measure the
wellbore improvement gained from the acid stimulation. As
can be seen on Figure-8, a significant reduction in down-hole
pressure at corresponding injection rates was observed during
the multi rate injection test after the acid job. The test also
confirmed an increase of injectivity index from 2.6 to 6.6
kph/psi. Skin value after acid job determined from post acid
pressure transient test was -1.2 (please see Figure-9).
Permeability thickness increased from 252,000 to 403,000 md-
ft. Such results are clear indications of better acceptance and
reduced restriction to fluid flow in the near wellbore region.

y = 6.6x - 7671.9
R
2
= 1.0
y = 2.6x - 3098.8
R
2
= 1.0
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
1100 1150 1200 1250 1300 1350 1400 1450 1500
Down-hole Pressure at 5500 ft (psia)
I
n
j
e
c
t
i
o
n

R
a
t
e

(
k
p
h
)
Pre-Acid
Post-Acid
Linear (Post-Acid)
Linear (Pre-Acid)


Figure-8: Plot of injection rate vs. measured pressure. II of Awi 8-7
has increased from 2.6 (before acid job) to 6.6 kph/psi (after acid
job)

6 SPE 100996
1160
1170
1180
1190
1200
1210
1220
1230
1240
1 10 100 1000 10000
Horner Time (Unitless)
D
H
P

@
5
5
0
0

f
t

(
p
s
i
a
)
DHP Data DHP Fit


Figure-9: Horner plot from the PFO test after acid job

Injectivity Index
Pre and post job
(kph/psi)

Entry
Depth
Ft-MD
Pre Post
II
Kph/psi
4400 0.82 2.84 2.02
5380 0.60 1.73 1.13
5800 0.26 0.35 0.09
6250 0.53 0.84 0.31
6310 0.34 0.79 0.45






Table-3: Entry locations and II distributions identified from post-
acid injection PTS survey
Entry locations identified from post-acidizing injection PTS
survey are the same as those identified from pre-acidizing
survey. This suggests the formation damage did not exist on
the formation face, but was predominantly deeper in the rock
matrix. PTS analysis with Geoflow wellbore simulator
revealed the improvement of injectivity at each entry point.

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Wellhead Pressure (psig)
S
t
e
a
m

R
a
t
e

(
k
i
l
o

p
o
n
d
s

p
e
r

h
o
u
r
)
Post-Acidizing
Pre-Acidizing

Figure-10: Awi 8-7 deliverability curves, before and after acidizing.

The final and most important gauge of wellbore improvement
is the steam deliverability of the well. A flow performance test
conducted after acidizing showed a remarkable improvement
in power output. The maximum discharge pressure (MDP)
increased from 211 to 297 psig and the steam production at
commercial wellhead pressure of 150 psig increased from 70
(4.2 MWe) to 162 kph (9.8 MWe).

Well tests analysis before and after stimulation support the
conclusion that the acid stimulation has successfully produced
improvement in overall well characteristic such as reduction
of skin, increase of injectivity, permeability-thickness product,
and production output as indicated at Figure 11 & 12.

51
160
211
297
403
252
0
100
200
300
400
PRE POST
k
p
h
,

p
s
i
,

D
a
r
c
y
-
f
t
Production (kph) Discharge Pressure (psi) kh (darcy-f t)

Figure-11: Awi 8-7 Production rate, Discharge pressure and k*h
product, before and after acidizing


2.56
6.55
2.2
-1.2 -2
5
PRE POST
I
I

(
k
p
h
/
p
s
i
)
,

S
k
i
n
Injectivity Index (kph/psi) Skin Factor

Figure-12: Awi 8-7 Injectivity Index and Skin factor, before and
after acidizing

6. Health, safety and environmental aspects
The acidizing Campaign on Well No. AWI 8-7 was totally
incident free, which is a excellent achievement given the large
size of treatment involving handling and transportation of
corrosive and toxic treatment fluids and unique romoteness of
the site location. The potential health safety and environment
related hazards involved with the treatment were given due
consideration all over the Campaign and every effort was
made to respond appropriately to these hazards from design to
execution phase to keep the ultimate risk factor to minimum
and within acceptable limits. The major efforts in this
direction are discussed below.

6.1 Product Substitution:

To the extent possible, the more corrosive and toxic products
were substituted with their less harmful and greener
0 2 4
Pre
Post
SPE 100996 7
substitutes without affecting the quality of treatment. For
example a very reactive and toxic product Ammonium Bi-
fluoride was substituted with a liquid substitute Ammonium
Fluoride as HF agent. Liquids are much safe to handle as
these can be safely transferred to mixing tanks using liquid
transfer pumps thereby avoiding manual handling. This was
decided after discussion with Operating Company during the
post job review of Awi 8-7 treatment, thus is applicable for the
further treatments in Well No. Awi 10-3 & Awi 8-8. This has
resulted in reduced health hazards to the working crew
involved with handling and mixing chemicals on location.

6.2 Volume optimization:

In case when the harmful products can not be substituted
without compromising on the treatment quality, the efforts
were directed towards optimizing the treatment fluid
formulation to minimize the volume of such chemicals. Two
such products were Acid corrosion inhibitor (ACI) and raw
hydrochloric acid. The loading of ACI in a treatment is a
function of corossivity (pH level) of treatment fluid, desired
protection time and the temperature. The job was designed to
include quenching of wellbore by pumping water at high rate
for 48 hours prior to pumping of the treatment. A temperature
probe was run on coiled tubing to record the accurate bootom
hole temperature just prior to the job and loading of ACI was
adjusted downward onsite to reflect this cooled down bottom
hole temperature. The volume of ACI was also significantly
reduced by choosing Sandstone Acid system for treatment
which is a high pH acid system and requires much less volume
of raw Hydrochloric acid by design.

The optimization on volume of raw hydrochloric acid, which
is a highly corrosive fluid, is even more interesting. The job
required some 1478 bbls of 5% HF acid treating fluid. The
conventional 12%HCl:5%HF Mud acid system in this case
would have required 561 drums of raw 32% hydrochloric
acid. By process modification in terms of choosing the
alternate Sandstone Acid system of equivalent strength, the
quantity of hydrochloric acid was brought down to only 99
drums, as indicated at Figure 13. This huge reduction in the
quantity of raw HCl acid resulted in significant reduction in
HSE hazard involved with its handling and transportation to
the remote uphill location of worksite.
561
99
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
N
o
.
o
f

H
C
l

a
c
i
d

d
r
u
m
s
Conventional 12%
HCl:5% HF Mud acid
Equivalent Sandstone
Acid System
NO.OF DRUMS (55 GAL) OF HYDROCHLORIC ACID
Comparative requirement between two optional acid systems

Figure-13: Dramatic reduction in raw acid volume by process
modification
6.3 Other QHSE endeavors:

The treatment design included a anionic organo-polymer
based additive (FRW-14) as friction reducer. This resulted in
dramatic reduction in liquid friction pressure and allowed the
job to be pumped at lower surface pressure at higher pumping
rates. The pumping pressure reduced from 4600 psi during
pumping water to 1900 psi during pumping reduced friction
pressure treating solution for the pumping rate of 4.5 bpm.
This is almost 60% reduction in friction that allowed the
treatment to be executed in a more reasonable amount of time.
This resulted in reduced pressure hazards and exposure time to
the working crew.


7. Further Acidizing work in other Awi wells
Following the encouraging results from the first treatment in
Well No. Awi 8-7, the similar treatments were carried out in
other two wells, Awi 10-3 and Awi 8-8. An outline of the the
treatment and end results of these jobs are discussed in the
following section.
7.1 Acidizing treatment in Well No. Awi 10-3
The treatment into Well No. Awi 10-3 was performed in
September 2005. The treatment design was quite similar to the
first well with regard to the formulation of treating solution.
However, in this treatment the powdered additive Ammonium
Bi-fluoride was substituted with Ammonium fluoride for the
reasons discussed at para 6.1. The treatment was executed
successfully with no QHSE incidents.

The end results for this treatment were in line with the
expectations. Analysis of injection PTS data provided the
location of the permeable zones and the amount of liquid each
zone accepted. The comparison of injectivity index of feed
zones before and after the acidizing treatment is presented at
Figure 14 which suggests significant improvement.
Improvement in II
Awi 10-3
4200
4700
5200
5700
6200
0 0.5 1
II (kph/psi)
M
e
a
s
u
r
e
d

D
e
p
t
h
-
f
t
POST PRE

Figure 14:: Injected fluid and II distribution resulted from injection
wellbore simulation
8 SPE 100996
A FPT was conducted to identify steam deliverability of the
well after stimulation. Figure-15 shows the deliverability
curves (DC) of Awi 10-3 before and after the acid job.

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175
WHP (psig)
W
s

(
k
p
h
)
Post Acidizing DC
Pre Acidizing DC


Figure 15: Improvement on Awi 10-3 Deliverability Curve
coefficients from Acid Stimulation

Figure 16 shows that acid stimulation has successfully
improved the production rate and discharge pressure. Steam
production at commercial wellhead pressure (125 psig)
increased by almost 150%.

38.8
97
131
156
0
100
PRE POST
k
p
h
,

p
s
i
Production @ MDP (kph) Discharge Pressure (psi)

Figure-16: Awi 10-3 production rate @ MDP and discharge
pressure before and after acidizing

7.2 Acidizing treatment in Well No. Awi 8-8
The treatment into Well No. Awi 8-8 was performed in March
2006. The treatment design was quite similar to the
predecessor well with regard to the formulation of treating
solution and treatment size. The job evaluation is still ongoing
however the early results are in line with the expectations.

A post-acidizing injection test at Awi 8-8 was conducted on
March 12, 2006 to measure the II. As can be seen from the
chart at Figure 17, the II has increased from 2.27 to 6.64
kph/psi . Note that the difference of zero injection-rate
extrapolation between before and after acidizing is caused by
the difference of liquid reservoir pressure at the tool set depth.
So, it is obvious that the acid job we did at Awi 8-8 has
improved the fluid flow-ability in the formation. At the time of
this write up, the well is under heating up.
y = 2.3x - 3361.9
R
2
= 1.0
y = 6.64x - 9443.14
R
2
= 0.99
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900
Down hole pressure at 7200 ft-md
I
n
j
e
c
t
i
o
n

r
a
t
e

(
k
p
h
)
after acidizing (Mar-
2006)
before acidizing (Jan-
2005)
Linear (before
acidizing (Jan-2005))
Linear (after acidizing
(Mar-2006))


Figure 17: Plot of injection rate vs. measured pressure. II of Awi 8-
8 has increased from 2.27 (before acid job) to 6.64 kph/psi (after
acid job)

8. Conclusion
A comprehensive acid stimulation work on a production
geothermal well Awi 8-7 is presented which includes the
diagnostic work, stimulation design, stimulation job execution,
and evaluation to assess the post treatment result. Acid
stimulation with Sandstone Acid was chosen. The acid was
placed to the interval zone target via 2 coiled tubing. Post-
acidizing well test analysis suggested the acid stimulation has
successfully improved overall well characteristic. Total II
increased from 2.56 to 6.55 kph/psi, permeability-thickness
product (kh) increased from 252,000 to 403,000 md-ft, and the
skin decreased from +2.2 to -1.2 Flow performance test after
the acid job has confirmed a significant improvement of Awi
8-7 deliverability. This test confirmed the increase of
maximum discharge pressure from 211 to 297 psig. The
production output at stabilized flowing wellhead pressure
increased from 51 to 160 kilo pounds per hour (kph) of steam.
Several innovative technical and QHSE ideas were also
successfully implemented during the campaign to make the
overall operation more safe, time and cost efficient.
Following the encouraging results from the first treatment in
Well No. Awi 8-7, similar treatments were carried out in other
two wells, Awi 10-3 and Awi 8-8 in September 2005 and
March 2006 respectively. The job evaluation for Well AWI
10-3 indicates the performance of acid treatment was up to the
expectations. The steam production at commercial wellhead
pressure (125 psig) increased by almost 150%. The job
evaluation for treatment in Well AWI 8-8 is still ongoing;
however some early results known till the time of writing this
paper are in line with the expectation. The injectivity index is
showing almost three fold increase from 2.27 (before acid job)
to 6.64 kph/psi (after acid job).
SPE 100996 9
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to extent their sincerest gratitude to the
management of Chevron Geothermal and Power and BJ
Services Company for their kind permission to publish this
work.

Nomenclature

PTS= Pressure Temperature Spinner Survey
PFO= Pressure fall-off test
II = Injectivity Index
kph= kilo pounds per hour
k= formation permeability
h = pay thickness
md = Millidarcy
PHPA = Partially hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide
HCl = Hydrochloric acid
HF = Hydrogen fluoride (hydro-fluoric acid)
AF = Ammonium Fluoride
ABF = Ammonium Bi-Fluoride
HF = Hydrogen fluoride (hydro-fluoric acid)
BPM = Barrels per minute
CT = Coiled Tubing
MD= Measured depth
MDP= Maximum discharge Pressure

References

1. Di Lullo, G., and Rae, P.: A New Acid System for True
Stimulation of Sandstone Reservoirs, paper SPE 37015,
presented at the Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference,
Adelaide, Australia, 29-31 Oct 1996.
2. A. N. Martin SPE BJ Services, K. L. Smith, BJ Services,:
New HF Acid System Provides Significant Benefits in
Nigerian Sandstones, Paper 38595 presented at the 1997
SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in
San Antonio, Texas, 58 October 1997
3. Mahesh Mahajan et all, Successful Revival of Long time
Closed-in Gas Wells by right Matrix Stimulation
Treatments paper SPE 96735, presented at the 2005 SPE
Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in
Dallas, Texas, U.S.A., 9 12 October 2005
4. Ross, D., and Di Lullo, G.: HV:HF Acid Treatments,
Proven Successful in South America, Brazilian
Petroleum Institute paper IBP-SE-076/98, presented at the
Rio Oil & Gas Conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 5-8
Oct 1998.
5. Nicholas Kume, SPE/BJ Services Co. Nigeria, Robert
Van Melsen and Luckie Erhahon, SPE/SPDC Nigeria,
Afolabi F., Abiodun, SPE/BJ Services Co. Nigeria: New
HF Acid System Improves Sandstone Matrix Acidizing
Success Ratio By 400% Over Conventional Mud Acid
System in Niger Delta Basin paper SPE 56527 presented
at the 1999 SPE Annual Technical Conference and
Exhibition held in Houston, Texas, 36 October 1999.
6. Kume, N.I., van Melsen, R.J., Erhahon, A.L., and
Afolabi, F.A.: New HF Acid System Improves
Sandstone Matrix Acidizing Success Ratio by 400% Over
Conventional Mud Acid Systems in Niger Delta Basin,
paper SPE 56527, presented at the SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition, Houston, Texas, 3-6 Oct
1999.
7. L.J. Kalfayan, SPE, BJ Services; A.S. Metcalf, SPE, BJ
Services: Successful Sandstone Acid Design Case
Histories: Exceptions to Conventional Wisdom paper
SPE 63178 presented at the 2000 SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition held in Dallas, Texas, 14
October 2000.
8. H.A. Nasr-El-Din, SPE, M.N. Al-Dahlan, SPE, A.M. As-
Sadlan, H.A. Al-Zamlin, Saudi Aramco: Iron
Precipitation During Acid Treatments using HF-Based
Acids paper SPE 73947 presented at the SPE
International Symposium & Exposition on Formation
Damage held in Lafayette, LA, USA, 20-21 February
2002
9. H.A. Nasr-El-Din, SPE, S.H. Al-Mutairi, M. Al-Jari,
Saudi Aramco, A.S. Metcalf, SPE, W. Walters, SPE, BJ
Services Company: Stimulation of a Deep Sour Gas
Reservoir Using Gelled Acid paper SPE 75501 presented
at the SPE Gas Technology Symposium held in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, 30 April2 May 2002.
10. Di Lullo, G., SPE, and Rae, P., SPE, BJ Services:
Achieving 100% Success in Acid Stimulation of
Sandstone Reservoirs, paper SPE 77808, presented at the
Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference, Melbourne, Australia,
8-10 Oct 2002.
11. Wayne Mitchell, CNOOC, SPE, D. Stemberger, BJ
Services, SPE, A.N. Martin, BJ Services, SPE: Is Acid
Placement Through Coiled Tubing Better than Bull
Heading, paper SPE 81713, presented at the SPE/ICoTA
Coiled Tubing Conference held in Houston, Texas,
U.S.A., 8-9 April 2003.
12. Di Lullo, G., SPE, and Rae, P., SPE, BJ Services: Matrix
acid stimulation a review of the state-of-the-art, paper
SPE 82260, presented at the European Formation Damage
Conference, The Hague, The Netherlands, 13-14 May
2002.
13. Tomonori I. (2000), The Development of a
Computerized Pressure Transient System (Part 1), paper
presented at 25
th
Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir
Engineering Stanford University, Jan 24 26, paper to be
published in the proceedings of the workshop
14. Henry J. Ramey (1975), Pressure Transient Analysis for
Geothermal Wells, in the proceedings of the 2
nd
United
Nation Symposium on the use of Geothermal Energy, San
Francisco, May 20 29.




10 SPE 100996
APPENDIX-A























































































































-
1
2
0

k
p
h
,

1
0
0

B
T
U
/
l
b
-
1
2
0

k
p
h
,

1
0
0

B
T
U
/
l
b
-
6
0

k
p
h
,

1
0
0

B
T
U
/
l
b
-
1
4
0

k
p
h
,

1
0
0

B
T
U
/
l
b
-
9
0

k
p
h
,

1
0
0

B
T
U
/
l
b
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
8
10
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500 7000
Depth (MD, ft)

F
l
u
i
d

S
p
e
e
d

(
f
t
/
s
)
-500
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
p
s
i
a
)
Observed Vel Simulated Vel Geoflow Vel
Observed P Simulated P Geoflow P
SITE LAYOUT
CT SANDSTONE ACID
AWI 8-7
COILED TUBING UNIT
CC : Control Cabin
HR : Hose Reel
PR : Power Reel
PP : Power Pack
IN : Inj ector
TB : Tool Box and Iron Basket
IF : Inj ector & BOP Frame
STORAGE TANK AND PUMP UNIT
T1 : 5000 Gals Capsule Tank
T2 : 175 Bbls Square Tank
T3 : 400 Bbls Baker Tank
X : Carbuoys
BM : 100 Bbls Batch Mixer
P1 : Frac Pump Unit
P2 : Centrifugal Pump Unit
P3 : Twin Skid Pump Unit
P4 : Acid Transfer Pump
MISCELLANEOUS AND SAFETY
CO : Compressor
GL : Genset and Lightning
CH : Chemical Storage
CR : Crane
FE : Fire Extinguisher
SS : Shower Station
EW : Eye Washer
PS : H2S Safety Officer
HA : H2S Detector and Alarm
CC
HR
PP
TB
TB
PS
IF
CO
CO
TB
GL
GL
P4
F
X
P4
T2 T2
T 3
T 3
IN
P2
P3
PR
BM
T1 T1 T1
CH
CR
P2
P1
AWI 8-7
M
muster
point
FE
FE
FE
FE
FE
EW
SS
HA
Figure-A.1: Pre-acidizing Wellbore Simulator match of injection pressure and mixture velocity on Awi 8-7
Figure-A.2: Onsite Service Equipment lay-out during treatment into Well No. Awi 8-7