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Keeping Up with the Oil Industry’s Calcium Chloride Demand Adapted from Information by Cal-Chlor Oil and gas producers use formulated brine fluids containing calcium chloride for all types of drilling and completion applications. Common uses for the fluids include flushing mud, filling casings, and applications with drilling shale formations. As North American oil and natural gas production surges, the businesses supplying petroleum producers with material for drilling must become even more efficient to keep up with the industry needs. Demand for calcium chloride among oil producers has helped supplier Cal-Chlor Corp. of Lafayette, Louisiana, solidify its standing as the largest distributor of calcium chloride in the world on the strength of the salts use on the oil field. Cal-Chlor sources the salt in Michigan, where it is refined from natural brines found in underground sandstone formations, and then manufactured and shipped as pellets to Cal-Chlor’s plants for processing. Calcium chloride products come in three typical forms - liquid, pellets, and powder. Calcium chloride 94-97% Mini-Pellets are commonly used to formulate high-density, solids-free drilling fluids. Cal- Chlor has a process to downsize the pellets into a powder comprised of uniformly sized particles using five Screen Classifying Cutters from Munson Machinery Co., of Utica, New York. The cutters are designed to be tough and resilient because of the abrasive nature of calcium chloride, which generates heat when collected in large volumes, attracts moisture, and when com- bined with water, can become too hot to hold within minutes. The plant’s daily powder production ranges from 200-400 tons with much of it being distributed as an additive in both drilling and completion fluids for the oil and gas industry. Frequently-Used Geological Terms Part 61 Glossary Adapted from the Dictionary of Geological Terms O Overgrowth - Mineral material deposited in optical and crystallographic continuity around a crystal grain of the same composition as in the diagenetic process of secondary enlargement. Also refers to a deposit of one mineral growing in oriented crystallographic directions on the surface of another mineral, such as hematite on quartz. Overlap - The extension of strata beyond the edges of underlying rocks which are concealed, or overlapped. Each younger stratum extends beyond the boundaries of the stratum immediately beneath. Oxidates - Sediments composed of the oxides and hydroxides of iron and manganese, crystallized from an aqueous solution. Oxide - A mineral compound characterized by the linkage of oxygen with one or more metallic elements. Oxidized Zone - An area of mineral deposits modified by surface water. Oxisol - A soil order characterized by mixtures of quartz, kaolin, free oxides, and organic matter lacking clearly marked horizons. Oxisols are deeply weathered soils on table surfaces in tropical to subtropical regions. P Pacific Suite - One of two large groups of igneous rocks characterized by calcic and calc-alkalic rocks. Alfred Harker di- vided all tertiary and holocene igneous rocks of the world into two main groups, the Atlantic Suite and the Pacific Suite, in 1909. Packing - The spacing or density pat- tern of the mineral grains in a rock. Packstone - A sedimentary carbonate rock whose granular material is arranged in a self-supporting framework, yet also contains some matrix of calcareous mud. Pa l agoni t e - A ye l l ow o r o r ange isotropic mineraloid formed by hydration and devitrification of basaltic glass. Paleobiology - A branch of paleontol- ogy dealing with the study of fossils as organisms rather than as features of his- torical geology. Look for more terms next month! 54 MAY 2017 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®