This series of two articles discusses the diagnosis, detection and remediation of oil and gas production system blockages in detail. The current issue focuses on blockage characterization and detection.

The objective of this GATEKEEPER is to provide a high-level overview of the model commonly used in the industry to estimate the wax deposition.

The design and development of a viable, robust wax management strategy relies upon the economical evaluation of available management techniques.

Wax management strategies developed during Front End Engineering Design (FEED) can mitigate or perhaps even prevent these costs. The goal of this GATEKEEPER series is to provide high-level insight into the planning, execution, and maintenance of wax management strategies.

One of the primary flow assurance challenges in the production of hydrocarbons is the prevention of pipeline blockages.

This GATEKEEPER discusses the various bacteria testing options that are available, which can be used to validate MPN results, as well as the mitigation and remediation techniques that can be used to decrease the probability or severity of MIC to pipeline infrastructure.

Proper sizing of the flowlines and risers coupled with optimal choking and gas-lift will greatly reduce the risk of slugging and help in efficient management of slugs throughout the life of the field.

Paraffin precipitation and deposition in flowlines and pipelines is an issue impacting the development of deepwater subsea hydrocarbon reservoirs.

In this paper, the most commonly used In-Line Inspection (ILI) techniques, methodology and limitations applicable to detecting metal loss and wall thickness measurements are presented.

This paper is the first part of a two part series and presents an overview of pig selection criteria for cleaning and maintenance of the pipelines, and covers high level guidance on establishing a progressive pigging strategy.

Asphaltenes are large, complex organic components present in the oil phase, along with resins, aromatic hydrocarbons, and alkanes (saturated hydrocarbons). Resins play an important role in stabilizing asphaltenes in crude oil. When the resins get destabilized, (under unfavorable pressure-temperature conditions) asphaltenes can agglomerate and deposit.

In subsea oil production systems, hydrate mitigation methods during steady state operation are almost always based around heat conservation.