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Category
Process & Chemical
Work Pattern
Onshore laboratory with offshore sampling campaigns
Reports To
Production Chemistry Lead / Production Manager
Position Overview
The Production Chemist specializes in the management of chemical-related production challenges in oil and gas operations, including scale, corrosion, hydrates, emulsions, wax, and asphaltenes. This role provides essential technical support for chemical selection, dosing optimization, and flow assurance, directly impacting production rates, equipment integrity, and operating costs.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and optimize chemical treatment programmes for production systems including scale inhibition, corrosion inhibition, hydrate inhibition, demulsification, and wax/asphaltene management
- Perform laboratory and field testing to evaluate chemical performance and optimize dosing rates
- Conduct production fluid characterization including water chemistry analysis, crude assay, and fluid compatibility studies
- Specify and qualify chemical products through laboratory and field trials, managing chemical vendor performance
- Support chemical management including procurement, logistics, and inventory control for offshore installations
- Perform scaling tendency predictions using software tools (MultiScale, ScaleChem, OLI)
- Investigate and troubleshoot production chemistry issues including emulsion problems, corrosion failures, and scale deposits
- Develop chemical injection strategies for subsea and topsides production systems
- Support produced water treatment and discharge compliance including environmental monitoring
- Review and approve chemical safety data sheets and ensure compliance with environmental discharge regulations
- Support well intervention and stimulation activities from a chemistry perspective
Qualifications
Required
- Education: Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related science (Master's/PhD preferred for senior roles)
- Certifications: OPITO BOSIET/FOET for offshore; NEBOSH IGC advantageous
- Experience: Minimum 8 years in production chemistry within oil and gas, with field and laboratory experience
- Technical Skills: Scale prediction and management, corrosion monitoring and mitigation, hydrate management (thermodynamic and kinetic inhibitors), emulsion and water treatment, chemical qualification testing, water chemistry analysis, OLI/MultiScale software
Preferred
- Experience with subsea production chemistry challenges
- Environmental compliance knowledge for offshore discharge
- Experience with digital chemical management and optimization tools
- Familiarity with green/low-toxicity chemical alternatives
Market Intelligence
$850–1,300/day
Shortage Level: High
Key Skills Gap: Production chemists who combine deep laboratory expertise with field operational understanding. Subsea production chemistry experience (particularly hydrate management and long tie-back chemical delivery) is especially scarce.
Regions in Highest Demand: North Sea, Middle East, West Africa, Brazil, Southeast Asia
Demand Drivers: Subsea tie-back developments requiring chemical management over long distances, sour field developments, produced water management and environmental compliance, digitalization of chemical dosing, maturing fields with increasing water cut