SPE 92834

Innovative, Integrated, and Cost Effective Chemical Management on the Miller Platform
J.J. Wylde, SPE, and G.D.M. Williams, SPE, Clariant Oil Services, and F. Careil, BP

Copyright 2005, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 14th SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show and
Conference held in Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, Bahrain, 1215 March 2005.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of
information contained in a proposal submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at
SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of
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Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.

PROPOSAL
The BP operated Miller field poses a unique chemical
challenge as it has, arguably the harshest oilfield scaling
regime in the North Sea, if not the world. Some 3 million litres
of chemical are consumed each year and the management,
supply, use and performance of every aliquot of chemical is
imperative to see Miller through to its planned cessation of
production (COP) in December 2006.
The Miller field is a mature North Sea asset and produces a
potential of 80,000 bbl of water with its 16,000 bbl of oil
every day. The unique challenge posed by Miller is that the
produced water contains very high concentrations of scale
forming components combined with a very high corrosivity
potential. Chemicals are routinely deployed to control scale,
corrosion, emulsions, foam, biological fouling and hydrates.
Two major step changes have occurred in the past 12 months
that have delivered significant improvement to chemical
management processes. The first is the use of a novel, best-inclass scale inhibitor chemistry. Two years were spent in an
industry wide search as well as developing and extensively
testing the chemical in the laboratory. The new chemical is
now deployed on over 75% of the Miller wells. The longevity
of scale prevention treatments has been doubled on some
wells, when compared to the incumbent products.
The second step change was the application of innovative
relative permeability modifier chemistries which not only
increase oil production but actually shut off water production.
Cross-linked polymer gels are pumped down wells and inflate
in the presence of water, effectively blocking the flow path,
but deflate in the presence of oil, allowing flow.
By implementing these changes, BP and Clariant Oil Services

have taken a significant step towards ensuring that

continuation of production to the proposed COP in December
2006 remains a viable proposition.

MILLER FIELD BACKGROUND

The BP operated Miller field is positioned in the UK Sector of
the North Sea straddling Blocks 16/7b and 16/8b and is
approximately 145 miles NNE of Aberdeen. The field
produces gas (exported down the Miller Gas Pipeline to
Peterhead) and oil (exported via the Forties Pipeline System to
Grangemouth). Ten main producer wells were drilled and first
oil occurred in 1992. Production plateaud in 1993 at 140
MBOD and remained for approximately three years. Water
injection was initially through six injector wells and began one
year after first oil and peaked at 300 MBWD.
Steady decline has occurred since 1997 and was paralleled
with high and sudden water breakthrough with an approximate
seawater cut of 50%. Currently the field potential is 16 MBOD
and water production a potential 80 MBWD. In spite of this
the field has achieved its original recoverable reserves having
produced a little over 340 million barrels of oil. Cessation of
production (COP) has been proposed as December 2006 based
upon low throughput flow limits.
The most significant aspect of the Miller formation water is
the barium content; at 650 ppm this presents a very harsh
scaling regime in the presence of seawater. The total water
chemistry analysis is summarised in Table 1 this was
determined from the initial pre-production samples and since
then a range of barium concentrations have been detected at
surface, a maximum being over 3,500 ppm. The water is
otherwise of moderate salinity with average strontium,
magnesium, and calcium ions. Seawater breakthrough has
occurred on all but one of the producer wells and as a result
barite (BaSO4) is by far the most dominant form of mineral
scale. This should not however detract from the high potential
for both celestite (SrSO4) and calcite (CaCO3) to form.
Currently the wells have the potential to produce up to 40
tonnes of barite scale per day. It is clear that the control of
water production and scaling potential is absolutely crucial to
the field producing to its planned COP, even losing one well
to scale will have a dramatic impact on the late field life.
Topsides scale control is regulated by the injection of a
blended polymeric scale inhibitor at a constant 100 ppm.
Being injected into each individual flowing well head this

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SPE 92834

Downhole scale management presents far more of a challenge

as the highest potential for barite scale to form exists
approximately 200 feet above the perforations. Miller worse
case scaling occurs between 40 60% sea water breakthrough
and currently all but 3 of the 10 producer wells are within this
regime. Miller has historically relied on scale inhibitor
squeeze technology to control downhole scale formation.
These are volume limited on Miller, not only in terms of being
able to back produce the wells after introduction of squeeze
fluids, but also simply due to the logistical implications of
performing so many squeeze treatments on different wells,
especially during winter. It is clear that any technology that
can increase squeeze lifetime has not only fiscal implications
but also a large operational prize can be gained.

residual scale inhibitor analysis in the returning produced

waters from the well. It can be seen that there was a clear
benefit to moving to the new polymer in terms of treatment
longevity as well as characteristically high desorption rates of
scale inhibitor. It is this high desorption rate that makes the
chemistry particularly suitable for the harsh scaling regimes
experienced by Miller. Figure 2 displays the normalised
barium trends for these four treatments and it can be discerned
that, in general, barium ions are stabilised to a greater extent
and for longer than seen using the previous incumbent
chemistry, and this is with an average seawater cut of 50%, the
worse case scaling regime for Miller fluids. Figure 3 looks at
the broader normalised barium stability and it can be seen a
step change occurred with application of the new polymer
where higher normalised barium ions were detected. The
squeezes that utlised the incumbent chemistry often saw a
drop in the tubing head temperature (THT) at the end of the
treatment which was found to be recoverable with scale
dissolver treatments. No such drops in THT have been seen
after moving to the new polymeric scale squeeze chemistry.

OPERATIONAL STEP CHANGES

Field Applications on Slot 04/A17

There are two major step changes in the chemical management

process that have vastly contributed to the overall well and
plant efficiency. These will be elaborated on individually as
case studies below.

Slot 04/A17 was successfully milled out in May 2004 and was
flowed for the first time since August 2002 after being shut in
for almost 2 years. Initially the well produced, along with oil,
100% formation water but seawater breakthrough began only
40 days after first production with an increase up to 30% in
November 2004. Current conditions have been summarised in
Table 1. Initial squeeze designs utilised the then standard
squeeze chemical, a non-adsorbing polyvinyl sulphonate
(PVS) species. It can be seen that these two initial squeezes
quickly showed that this chemistry was wholly unsuitable for
this well. The squeeze returns were almost totally depleted
after only 5 days (50,000 bbl) of production, as displayed in
Figure 4. This was an unmanageable squeeze cycle and drove
the change to the new polymeric species that had given great
success on slot 02/A21. The benefit was immediate with the
squeeze life increasing to 18 days (180,000 bbl) and
optimisation is still ongoing. Figure 5 shows the normalised
barium trends for these squeezes. The two incumbent PVS
squeezes show a large drop in normalised bariums at the end
of the treatment, indicative of scaling and the new polymeric
squeezes show stability throughout the treatment. The
normalised bariums of the incumbent chemistry are higher
because at this time the well was only experiencing 3-5%
SWBT and later this rose to 10-20% which increased reservoir
scaling and thus decreased the concentration of barium
produced in the well. This is nicely displayed in Figure 6
where the rise in seawater can be seen to correspond to a
general decrease in the normalised bariums whilst over the
course of one individual squeeze the trend is generally a
constant normalised barium concentration.

offers scale control as far upstream as is possible on the

topside facilities. Recent consideration has been given to inject
just upstream of the hydrocyclones in an attempt to further
boost the scale inhibition as the average platform SWBT%
increases to worse case conditions.

DOWNHOLE SCALE INHIBITION

The first chemical step change was the introduction of a novel
polymeric downhole scale inhibitor chemistry. Clariant Oil
Services spent two years developing the polymer and
extensively testing the chemical in their laboratories. The
resultant product was assessed against those submitted as part
of an industry wide search in the spirit of the best-in-class
chemical management approach adopted within BP. The
chemical was identified by giving consideration to the
chemicals
physical
properties,
formation
damage,
compatibility, scale inhibitor efficiency, desorption/adsorption
characteristics, economics, and environmental profile.

Field Applications on Slot 02/A21

Slot 02/A21 water chemistry and production data are
summarised in Table 1. During November 2003 the first
squeeze trial of the new polymer occurred on Slot 02/A21
with unprecedented success. The squeeze lifetime of the well
was increased from 25 days (80,000 bbls) to 40 days (120,000
bbls) the benefits to well efficiency are obvious but there are
many other associated logistical and operational gains to
dramatically extending the squeeze life. This benefit to
treatment lifetime was seen with a like for like squeeze
treatment design. The only difference was the type of
chemical used with the previous incumbent, a
hexaphosphonate chemistry, being replaced by the new
polymeric species. Figure 1 shows the results from the

Field Applications on Slot 29/A25

Table 1 contains the most up to date water chemistry and

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SPE 92834

production data for Slot 29/A25. Seawater breakthrough, at

40%, puts this well in the worse case scaling regime. Figure 7
shows the scale inhibitor returns for 6 squeezes performed on
this well with 3 different chemistries. Incumbent 2 was the
first to be applied on this well and set the bench mark with a
20 day (100,000 bbl) treatment lifetime, more details of these
squeezes has been presented elsewhere1. The move away from
this chemistry was brought about due to several of the latter
treatments seeing a reduction in the THT as well as falling
normalised bariums towards the end of the treatments brought
about by rises in the SWBT%. The move to incumbent 1, a
non-adsorption PVS chemistry, occurred to try to overcome
the THT drops seen at the end of nearly every squeeze
treatment with incumbent 2; these were however recoverable
with scale dissolver treatments. Longer squeeze lifetimes were
obtained with the change in squeeze chemical, 25 days
(125,000 bbl), but more importantly stable THT were seen
throughout. The move to the new polymer occurred due to the
success seen on other wells on Miller and indeed the squeeze
life was pushed out to 35 days (175,000 bbl). Of note is that
with all three chemistries the squeeze designs were identical
so that direct comparison between the chemicals was more
valid. Figure 8 shows the normalised barium trends for each
individual squeeze and the stability of the new polymer
treatments contrasts with the erratic bariums at the end of the
squeeze treatments using incumbent 2. The normalised barium
trends over the last 2 years have been plotted in Figure 9. A
steady decline in the normalised bariums can be seen and is
concordant with a rise in seawater cut from 30% (Dec-02) to
45% (Aug-04).
In every application since the initial trial on Slot 02/A21 the
new polymeric scale inhibitor squeeze chemical has
outperformed the incumbents in terms of barrels of water
protected and total scale inhibitor efficiency. This outcome is
unprecedented on Miller; no other new chemical has delivered
such a consistent, dramatic and significant improvement in
scale control and economics.

the water molecules with the polymer network causes

resistance to flow, effectively reducing the permeability of the
formation to water. Where there is oil or gas production the
pressure gradient pushes hydrocarbons into the network
allowing hydrocarbon production, displacing water, causing it
to dehydrate and collapse. The dehydrated network remains in
the formation but provides minimal resistance to oil or gas
flow. In the event of subsequent water flow the network is
capable of re-hydrating and providing resistance. The overall
effect of the treatment on a well is therefore to reduce water
production while maintaining oil or gas production using low
cost chemicals.

Field Application on Slot 40/A08

This was the first well that the RELTREAT system was
applied. Slot 40/A08 watered out soon after initial production
and well test data measured production at 99.5% water cut.
Two treatments have been performed on the well, the results
of which have been summarised in Table 2. The first treatment
(June 2002) used low concentrations of polymer to give a low
risk application testing out the suitability of this new
chemistry. The treatment was relatively successful giving 16%
water reduction and stimulating the oil by 39%. This was
deemed successful and formed the baseline for further
treatments on higher risk but higher value wells.
The second application (June 2004) on Slot 40/A08 was
designed at getting a much stronger response to the
RELTREAT polymer. The results, contained in Table 2, show
that whilst an increase in oil production was not detected,
water production was cut by over 50%. Whilst the treatment
did not achieve the desired outcome, it did reveal the full
potential and suitability of this technology to shutting off
water on Miller wells.

Field Application on Slot 32/A18

RELATIVE PERMEABILITY MODIFIER
The second new technology to be implemented on the asset is
the use of novel, relative permeability modifier (RPM), water
shut off (WSO) treatments. The aim of these treatments on
Miller is to primarily change the oil to water ratio to give more
economic production and to also reduce water throughput to
remove the need to choke wells back due to plant water
handling constraints. Several applications on three wells have
been performed to date; none of the treatments have yielded
adverse effects and most have given positive benefits to
production.
The RELTREAT system consists of a polymer and a crosslinker. These are pumped in a single stage treatment into the
reservoir rock. During shut in, they react together to form a
flexible, open hydrated polymer network that bridges across
the pore spaces. Unlike cements or stiff gels, the polymer
network does not totally prevent fluid flow through the pores.
However, where there is water production, the interaction of

RELTREAT applications have been performed on this well as

a matter of routine forming the final part of the overflush of
every squeeze. This was the first well to be treated after the
success seen with the initial treatment on Slot 40/A08. Three
treatments in total have been performed to date and the
varying success can be seen in Table 2. After the first
treatment, carried out in May 2003, an increase in the oil rate
occurred with production almost tripling from 413 bopd to
1,147 bopd; however the water rate was little affected, with
only a slight reduction of 4%. Although this is a low level of
water shut off, the stimulation to the oil production showed
this well to be particularly suited to the RPM and the increase
in oil was shown to last for approximately 3 months with the
benefit diminishing slowly over time. The results of the first
treatment were more than enough justification to perform a
second treatment (January 2004) and the concentration of
polymer used was increased. Water was shut off by 58% and
oil stimulated by 89%. Such was the effect of this treatment
that when gas lift was turned off on the well flow continued
whereas previously the well was too watered out to produce

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SPE 92834

without it. Again the benefit to incremental oil and reduced

water was shown to last for 3 months before the well had
returned to pre-treatment rates. The most recent treatment was
performed in October 2004 and again a positive response was
seen with water being reduced and oil increasing, although not
as much as observed with the second treatment and using the
same treatment design. This could be due to the fluid inflow
pattern changing between the treatments, causing a different
placement pattern or well response it is unclear. In summary,
the three treatments were consistent in stimulating oil
production, and the second treatment achieved a higher degree
of water shut off than the first. This was in line with
expectations for the increased polymer concentration. The
third application, although successful, did not give such a high
level of shut off but still gave an economic response that paid
for the cost of the chemicals in a matter of days due to
incremental oil.

The application of innovative relative permeability modifier

chemistries has not only given Miller incremental oil
production that otherwise would not have been gained, but
also shut off water. Water shut off is essential on some Miller
wells as this is the only option to keep them from watering out
and ceasing to flow, and no well work is planned to retrofit
gas lift in these dying wells. The RELTREAT water shut off
technology has also helped control plant water handling
constraints allowing production of the maximum field
potential.

Field Application on Slot 23/A12

REFERENCES

The real challenge for the RPM technology on Miller was to

target the largest water producers; the response of Slot 32/A18
to the RELTREAT system gave the confidence necessary to
move onto one of the highest value wells where water
production was in excess of 15,000 bwpd, Slot 23/A12. The
remit of application was primarily to reduce water as this well
had been squeezed every week for the past three years. To
date almost 200 squeezes have been performed, so clearly
shutting off water and extending the squeeze life by even only
1 day would see a massive increase in well efficiency and a
large decrease in scale inhibitor costs and of course the extra
revenues created from less deferred oil production. Even with
the success seen on other wells, a soft treatment was initially
performed in October 2004 to gauge the response of this well
to the RELTREAT chemicals. Initial results were encouraging
with almost a 20% reduction in water but with no stimulation
seen to oil production, the exact figures have been summarised
in Table 2. It is unclear how long this benefit lasted, due to
operational issues with the test separator, and it was also
unclear whether this was the sole reason for the increase in
squeeze life from 7 to 8 days, as this was also concurrent with
a change in squeeze chemical. Further, stronger treatments are
planned in Q1 2005 and hope to be reported in the future.

By implementing these changes, BP and Clariant Oil Services

have taken significant steps towards ensuring that continuation
of significant production to the proposed COP in December
2006 remains a viable proposition and that decommissioning
can be performed in a planned, controlled and cost effective
manner.

1.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Two novel technologies were introduced to the BP operated
Miller asset in 2003 and used extensively in 2004 after initial
trials showed great success.
The introduction of a new, polymeric scale inhibitor almost
doubled the squeeze life on all wells it was applied, improving
performance over several different incumbent chemistries,
previously considered best-in-class. This was unprecedented
for Miller scaling conditions and has possibly offered one of
the largest advances in chemical scale control seen in the last
10 years.

www.petroman.ir

Poynton N., Kelly C., Fergusson A., Ray J., Webb P.

and Strong A. Selection and Deployment of a Scale
Inhibitor Squeeze Chemical for the BP Miller Field.
SPE 87466. Presented at the 6th Int. Sym. Oilfield
Scale, Aberdeen, 26-27 May, 2004.

SPE 92834

Table 1: Summary of the produced water composition as

measured at the wellhead and production rates from Miller
wells.

10000
New Polymer
New Polymer
Incumbent
Incumbent

Slot 02/A21
19,500
1,100
580
280
20
300
0.5
2,200
1,100
32,500
45 - 55
2,560
2,560

Slot 04/A17
22,500
1,100
400
140
30
400
1.0
2,200
750
36,750
25 - 30
2,483
9,870

Slot 29/A25
21,500
1,100
470
200
20
200
0.3
2,200
800
34,000
35 45
2,354
5,095

SI (ppm)

Ion
Na+
K+
Ca2+
Mg2+
Sr2+
Ba2+
Fe2+
HCO3SO42ClSWBT%
Oil Rate (plbd)
Water
(bbl.day-1)

1000

100

10
0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

Figure 1: Residual scale inhibitor detected in produced water

from initial new polymer squeeze chemical trial on Slot
02/A21.

1.0

New Polymer
New Polymer
Incumbent
Incumbent

0.9

Water rate
(bwpd)
Slot 40/A08 Before
Jun-02 After
Change
Slot 40/A08 Before
Jun-04 After
Change
Slot 32/A18 Before
May-03 After
Change
Slot 32/A18 Before
Jan-04 After
Change
Slot 32/A18 Before
Oct-04 After
Change
Slot 23/A12 Before
Oct-04 After
Change

7354
6195
-16%
6063
2700
-55%
9795
9414
-4%
9901
4135
-58%
8200
7100
-14%
16075
13000
-19%

Oil Rate
(bopd)
135
188
+39%
86
86
0%
413
1147
+177%
728
1378
+89%
1400
1800
+29%
2859
2859
0

0.8

Normalised Ba

Table 2: Summary of RELTREAT water shut off treatments

performed on Miller wells.

140,000

Water (bbl)

0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

Water (bbl)

Figure 2: Normalised barium ion concentration detected in

produced water from initial new polymer squeeze trial on Slot
02/A21.

Incumbent

11

12

Incumbent

13 - 14

15

16

17 + TAR

18

New Polymer

19

20

21

22

23

24

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
1-Sep-02

10-Nov-02

19-Jan-03

30-Mar-03

8-Jun-03

17-Aug-03

26-Oct-03

4-Jan-04

14-Mar-04

23-May-04

1-Aug-04

Figure 3: Total normalised barium ion concentration detected

over much of the production history on Slot 02/A21.

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SPE 92834

100000

100000

New Polymer
New Polymer
Incumbent 1
Incumbent 1
ML3263
ML3263

New Polymer
New Polymer

SI (ppm)

Incumbent
1000

100

10000

SI Conc (ppm)

Incumbent

10000

1000

100

10

10

1
0

25,000

50,000

75,000

100,000

125,000

150,000

175,000

200,000

25,000

50,000

75,000

Water bbls

Figure 4: Residual scale inhibitor detected in produced water

from new polymer squeeze chemical trial on Slot 04/A17.
1.00

New Polymer

0.90

New Polymer

100,000

125,000

150,000

175,000

200,000

bbl Water

Figure 7: Residual scale inhibitor detected in produced water

from new polymer squeeze chemical trial on Slot 29/A25.

Incumbent
0.80

0.80

Incumbent

New Polymer
New Polymer
Incumbent 1
Incumbent 1
ML3263
ML3263

0.70

0.60
0.60

0.50

Normalised Ba

Norm Ba

0.70

0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10

0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20

0.00

25,000

50,000

75,000

100,000

125,000

150,000

175,000

0.10

200,000

Water bbls
0.00
0

Figure 5: Normalised barium ion concentration detected in

produced water from new polymer squeeze trial on Slot
04/A17.

Incumbent

25,000

50,000

75,000

100,000

125,000

150,000

175,000

200,000

Water (bbl)

Figure 8: Normalised barium ion concentration detected in

produced water from new polymer squeeze trial on Slot
29/A25.

New Polymer

1.00
11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Norm Ba
SWBT

13 14 15 16 17 1819 20
0.900

0.70

0.800

0.60

0.700

0.50

0.600

Normalised Ba

Norm Ba + SWBT (frac)

19

0.80

0.40
0.30

22

23

New Polymer

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

34

35

36

37

0.400

0.300

0.10

0.200

08-May-04 28-May-04 17-Jun-04

21

0.500

0.20

0.00

Incumbent

ML3263

1.000

0.90

0.100

07-Jul-04

27-Jul-04

16-Aug-04 05-Sep-04 25-Sep-04 15-Oct-04

04-Nov-04
0.000
10/12/2002

Figure 6: Total normalised barium ion concentration and

SWBT detected over all the post coiled tubing mill out
production history on Slot 04/A17.

20/03/2003

28/06/2003

06/10/2003

14/01/2004

23/04/2004

01/08/2004

09/11/2004

Figure 9: Total normalised barium ion concentration

throughout the recent production history on Slot 29/A25.

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