Mitigating Sucker Rod Corrosion
Corrosion is a problem that is becoming increasingly more common in oil and gas as existing wells age and as producers push into deeper and hotter wells with more aggressive fluids. In the artificial lift industry, corrosion has been around for many years and with significant time and costs associated with corrosion mitigation and, where that is not effective, corrosion related failures. Each year, billions of dollars are spent controlling and working over corrosion-plagued wells. Therefore, producers must be savvy and build a corrosion control plan into their life-of-the-well strategy to mitigate problems and maintain production. Corrosion Overview Corrosion is defined as “the deterioration of a substance (usually metal) or its properties because of a reaction to its environment.” This means that a typical piece of downhole equipment like a carbon steel sucker rod is a magnet for corrosion in the presence of water and chemical compounds like H2S, CO2, and O2.[1] Examples of