American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2022 - 65

SpecialReport: Well Stimulation Chemistry
Merica owns wells in the Kansas counties
of Barber, Rooks and Comanche and
the Oklahoma counties of McClain and
Garvin. Ronnie says the company is
boosting cash flow from these wells
through workovers. " I have been fortunate
to gather smart individuals around me
who have the experience to evaluate
growth opportunities and the humility to
question their assumptions, " he reflects,
noting that these include engineers, geologists
and operations experts from Devon,
Shell and BP.
Embracing Technology
Merica is working with Green Horse
Energy to restimulate wells by injecting
the fertilizer anhydrous ammonia. " When
the ammonia interacts with water down
hole, it expands rapidly and creates microfractures
that help oil flow to the wellbore, "
Ronnie explains. " Even their first
job with us delivered a remarkable production
increase at a low cost. We are
excited about the technology's potential
and plan to help Green Horse Energy
perfect it.
" We are big believers in using digital
technologies to reduce operating
costs, " Ronnie adds. " We store information
on the cloud and use the
GreaseBook app to simplify pumpers'
work, and we are digitizing many of
our tank batteries. The digitization
will take time, but it should have
tremendous long-term benefits. "
Ronnie says Merica looks at opportunities
to mine cryptocurrencies
such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. " If a
well produces enough gas-say 500,
2,000 or 5,000 Mcf a day-it can
make sense to connect that bad boy
to a generator and set up computers
to crank out crypto, " he relates. " This
can increase revenue from $3-$9 an
Mcf to $10-$50 an Mcf. It's also
amazing to help enable digital currencies
and a modern way of conducting
transactions. "
When wells age enough that they
become candidates for plugging and
abandonment, Ronnie recommends
checking to see if they generate
enough heat to be converted to geothermal
service.
By combining technical expertise
and meticulous evaluations with a
belief in searching for and experimenting
with new technologies, Ronnie
says Merica hopes to grow exponentially.
" My partners and I want to
turn Merica into a massive company, "
he says. " In 10 years, we would like to
sit at the same table as Pioneer Natural
Resources. Eventually, we want to become
a global company.
" In every area we operate, we want to
have a positive footprint, " he comments.
" For example, we acquired several wells
in Oklahoma. As our operations and revenue
kick up, we plan to look for ways
we can support the community, such as
donating to local fire departments or the
Chamber of Commerce. "
Ronnie points out that Merica has donated
to the police department in Midlothian,
Tx., which has a mental health
crisis unit that supports veterans, police
officers and civilians. " Helping people is
personal to me, " he says.
Fertilizing Oil Production
One of the emerging technologies that
is helping Merica Oil and other companies
boost production from mature wells is a
restimulation technique that involves injecting
liquid anhydrous ammonia (NH3)
into the reservoir, says Chance Bland,
the founder and managing partner of
Green Horse Energy.
" When NH3 encounters water, a chemical
reaction occurs that generates heat, "
Chance relates. " As the liquid ammonia
heats up, it expands 30 times and generates
enough pressure on the rock to create microfractures
that give oil new pathways to
the reservoir. At the same time, the heat
and expansion pressures restore permeability
in existing fractures by melting and breaking
up paraffins, scales and emulsions.
" The chemical reaction that produces
these effects transforms the NH3 into
ammonium hydroxide, " he adds. " When
ammonium hydroxide mixes with hydrocarbons
at a molecular level, it can break
down the acids they contain to make a
surfactant that will help the hydrocarbons
move out of the well. "
The first well Green Horse Energy
treated produced only nine barrels of oil
and 10 Mcf of gas when it came on line
in 1984. In the three years before receiving
NH3, it made less than a barrel of oil and
no gas each day, Bland describes. In the
15 days following the treatment, he reports,
it produced 168 barrels.
The company's second job targeted
By applying workover expertise alongside emerging
chemistries, the privately-held independent Merica
Oil is boosting production from mature wells. Merica's
current assets are in Kansas and Oklahoma, but the
company says it sees compelling upside potential in
plays across the United States.
a 75-year-old well in Creek County,
Ok., that produced 2.5 bbl/d and 5 Mcf
a day. " The treatment caused oil production
to hit 35 bbl/d, " Bland reports.
" Even after four months, which included
some downtime from lightning striking
the tank battery, production was still
twice what it was before the treatment. "
As of early July, Green Horse had
treated four wells with NH3. " The
flush production from the treatments
is strong enough to pay for the costs
within a month, " he says. " This was
true even for the treatments we did
last year, when prices were lower. "
Bland attributes the process's rapid
payback in part to the speed at which
it is deployed. " To put the ammonia
down hole, we pump a scale inhibitor
or oil pad, the ammonia itself, a second
pad of oil or scale inhibitor, and finally
a water tail. The pads keep the ammonia
from reacting with water in
the formation prematurely, while the
tail pushes the ammonia into the formation, "
he describes. " From setting
up the pump to rigging down, the
entire process takes about four hours. "
Noting that the pads and ammonia
JULY 2022 65
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2022

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