“Rust” contamination of formation waters from producing wells

In the Alberta Basin there is a significant difference in the content of Fe between formation waters from drillstem tests and formation waters from producing wells. This was demonstrated using a data set comprising 525 formation waters from drillstem tests and 107 formation waters from producing wells. Both a cross-plot of Mn and Fe in the two sets of formation waters and box plots of the same data sets showed that formation waters from producing wells have dominantly Fe>Mn, compared with those from drillstem tests which are characterized by Mn>Fe. Suspecting that “rust” contamination from well casing and ancillary equipment was the cause, the pH values of the samples were compared to see if the two data sets also differed in pH. It was demonstrated that not only are formation waters from drillstem tests less acidic than those from producing wells, but there is a systematic statistical trend of increasing acidity with age of the strata (temperature, depth, and increased amounts of the acid gases — H₂S and CO₂). The difference between the pH of formation waters from drillstem tests and producing wells is attributed to the partial scrubbing of the acid gases from the fluids produced during the drillstem test; this results in less acidic formation waters. Vanadium may also be enhanced in formation waters from producing wells. This note reports these differences and cautions too much reliance on values for Fe in waters from producing wells.