Green Acid Transformative Technology for Sustainable Oil Production, Reservoir Management and Operational Efficiency in UAE Hydrocarbon Recovery

Abstract This paper introduces the groundbreaking application of a novel, low-corrosion, deep-penetrating, environmentally green acid designed for high-temperature Gulf reservoirs. The green acid exhibits various beneficial properties, including low corrosion rates with stainless steels and wireline materials, improved interfacial tension, and deeper penetration into carbonate rocks under reservoir conditions. The acid's performance was evaluated through interfacial tension measurements, corrosion testing, reaction rates with different materials, and matrix acidizing experiments. The results demonstrated lower corrosion rates, improved permeability, and potential for deeper penetration compared to similar HCl-based products with results pass the minimum requirement presented by the industry. The matrix acidizing experiment results revealed a permeability increase of 2,671 times for a limestone core with an initial permeability of 1.74 mD, which indicate that the green acid achieves approximately 2.5x greater permeability enhancement compared to 15% HCl. The green acid is non-corrosive, non-fuming, non-toxic, and biodegradable, making it a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative for reservoir applications.