R&D Study Group – Panel Discussion: Frontiers in Production Chemistry (NOTE: We are meeting on Friday this month)

Michael Deighton (Mike) is the Director of Technology Upstream Chemicals for Baker Hughes. He has 33 years oilfield production chemistry experience, including 27 years in sales and technical roles in oilfield operations in multiple international locations including Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin America. For the last 6 years he has been based in Sugarland Texas, leading innovation and technology in Corrosion and more recently across all aspects of oilfield production chemicals. He received BSc in Chemistry from Edinburgh University in Scotland in 1981.

David Horsup is vice president of Nalco Champion’s Research, Development and Engineering (RD&E) Group for Global Oilfield Operations.

David leads Nalco Champion’s global oilfield RD&E operation with ~300 dedicated scientists and engineers around the globe, focused on solving the oil and gas industry’s toughest challenges. Previously, David was the vice president of Nalco Energy Services’ global RD&E function and has served in various upstream and downstream leadership positions during his 22 years in the oil and gas industry.

Nalco Champion, an Ecolab Company, is a leading provider of specialty value-added chemical solutions and technologies that enable and enhance the productivity and decrease operating costs of every part of the upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas value chain. Nalco Champion is the Energy Services division of Ecolab, the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services that protect people and vital resources.  Ecolab has 44,000 associates operating in 170 countries with 2013 sales of $13 billion.   

He has a Ph.D. in Emulsion and Surfactant Science and holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from University of Hull, United Kingdom. He has authored numerous papers and patents in the area of oilfield technology. 

Lee Morgenthaler has 34 years’ experience in Shell, working as Research Chemist, Production Engineer, Team Leader, Research Manager, and Production Chemist on a wide variety of projects. These include technology development in completion and stimulation fluids, flow assurance, and waterflooding,  as well as field support for completion and stimulation activities in sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. He currently works in Shell’s Upstream Americas Technology Deployment Team to ensure that Shell’s Deepwater projects have the chemical technologies needed to manage asset integrity, flow assurance, well productivity, water flooding and enhanced oil recovery. He is also the regional production chemistry discipline leader, supporting global initiatives in chemical hazard communication, technical assurance, and staff development.  He has a B.S. in chemistry from Tufts University and a PhD.in Physical Chemistry, University of Florida.  

Wei Wei is the Technical Team Leader of Production Reliability and Fluid Optimization team, in Rock & Fluids Characterization Unit, Reservoir Production Engineering Department, Energy Technology Company (ETC) for Chevron Inc. She has worked at Chevron for 7 years, in both Louisiana and Texas.

She has Ph.D in Geochemistry from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Beijing University (Peking University).

Her team’s primary focus includes the following:

• Mineral scale management – prediction, prevention, and mitigation.


• Oil and water separation – demulsifier, water clarifier, foamer, defoamer selection, screening and performance monitoring in field survey


• Water treatment including innovative technology


• Crude oil and emulsion flow and rheological properties and flow assurance solutions – wax, asphaltenes, emulsions, hydrates, naphthenates


• Produced water chemistry – interpretation & monitoring water flood operations


• Heavy metal analysis, prediction, and removal processes & technologies from crude oil/condensate and water.


• Design, implementation & interpretation of any production based chemical systems and laboratories


• Laboratory audits