Alleviation of liquid loading in wells and pipelines in mature European gas fields using chemicals

Liquid loading in wells and pipelines hampers the recovery of natural gas from mature reservoirs. The use of surfactants can allow gas to remove liquids from wells at rates far lower than the normal critical rates. The use of liquid surfactants to alleviate liquid loading is normal in the United States but used less frequently for fields in both offshore and onshore Europe. In this article, the use of surfactants to alleviate liquid loading under onshore and offshore conditions is presented.