Corrosion Modeling for Gas Condensate Wells--A Comparative Prediction Study Done for a Real-Life Failure Using Existing Models

The prediction of tubing life for gas wells is a critical element in maintaining asset integrity in Shale Gas fields. Producers are faced with the daunting task of categorizing thousands of wells based on their tubing failure risk, so as to implement the appropriate mitigation strategies. A review of the literature suggests the existence of at least 18 different models, some proprietary in-house models and others available to the industry.  The proper selection of a model to assess the corrosion risk is critical to the asset integrity program for any field.  Selection of an appropriate model should be based on the system the model was designed for (wet gas pipelines, oil wells, or gas wells, etc.) as well as the factors that were included in the model development such as oil wetting, scale formation, or organic acids.  A review of publications to date that have comparison studies involving model prediction vs. a real life failure, do not include predominantly gas producing vertical wells. The present paper addresses this gap by presenting several models prediction results for the case of a real life failure with < 2 years of tubing life.

Key Words: corrosion, modeling, gas wells, comparison, inhibition, prediction models