Oil & Gas

Ascent Chemicals manufactures a comprehensive portfolio of oil and gas chemicals including:

• Surfactants (amphoteric, anionic, cationic, and nonionic)
• Emulsifiers (primary and secondary emulsifiers for drilling fluids)
• Phosphate Esters (for wetting, emulsification, and corrosion inhibition)
• Defoamers (silicone and non-silicone based)
  Corrosion Inhibitors (imidazolines, amidoamines, and quats)
• Lubricants (bio-based lubricants for drilling applications)
• Specialty Intermediates for custom oilfield formulations

Ascent Chemicals is a domestic U.S. manufacturer with three ISO 9001 registered facilities located in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Key differentiators include:

• Integrated manufacturing capabilities for multi-step synthesis
• Rigorous batch-to-batch quality control and analytical verification
• Flexible manufacturing models (contract, custom, and toll)
• Technical depth to support formulation refinement and troubleshooting
• Scalability from pilot quantities through commercial production
• Transparent supply chains with reliable domestic production capacity

Drilling fluid systems rely on several categories of oilfield chemicals:

• Emulsifiers and wetting agents to stabilize fluid systems
• Lubricants and rheology modifiers to manage torque, drag, and viscosity
• Fluid-loss control agents to protect formation integrity
• Shale inhibition chemistries to prevent wellbore instability
• Defoamers to control foam during circulation

Ascent manufactures specialized drilling emulsifiers including:

• SierraMul AP – An all-purpose primary emulsifier that provides strong oil-wetting, water dispersion, and thermal stability for robust emulsion formation
• SierraMul HT – A high-temperature secondary emulsifier (fatty amidoamine) that strengthens emulsion stability and maintains performance under challenging downhole conditions. High Temp to 350F+

Ascent offers bio-based drilling lubricants engineered for friction reduction:

• SierraLube BIO CD – Castor oil-based lubricant with excellent compatibility in oil and water-based muds
• SierraLube BIO SD – Soy-based lubricant with high renewable content and excellent water dispersibility for reliable torque and drag control in heavy-brine, high-temperature systems

Ascent’s defoamer portfolio for drilling applications includes:

• EtnaFoam Oil Based Series ( OB+ ) – Silicone defoamer base for fast knockdown
• EtnaFoam SE Series (SE 3, SE 5, SE 10, SE 30) – Water-dispersible silicone emulsions that provide fast knockdown and stable suppression under high pH, heat, and shear conditions

The main types of oilfield production chemicals include:

• Corrosion Inhibitors – Form protective barriers on metal surfaces to prevent acid, salt, and moisture attack
• Scale Inhibitors – Prevent mineral deposits (calcium carbonate, barium sulfate) from clogging pipelines and equipment
• Demulsifiers – Break oil-water emulsions for efficient separation
• Paraffin and Asphaltene Inhibitors – Prevent wax crystallization and asphaltene precipitation

Ascent manufactures a comprehensive line of corrosion inhibitors including imidazolines for oilfield applications:

• SierraCor TOFA:DETA – Tall Oil Fatty Acid-Diethylenetriamine Imidazoline
• SierraCor TOFA:DETA+ – High Ring Closure version for enhanced performance
• SierraCor OLEIC:DETA – Oleic Acid-Diethylenetriamine Imidazoline
• SierraCor OLEIC:DETA+ – High Ring Closure version
• SierraCor TOFA:AEEA – Tall Oil Fatty Acid – Aminoethylethanolamine Imidazoline
• SierraCor ATQ-100 – Quaternized Diethyl Sulfate for specialized applications

These products form durable adsorbed films that resist attack from corrosive gases, produced water, and organic acids.

Demulsifiers are surface-active chemicals that destabilize oil-water emulsions formed during production. They work by displacing natural emulsifying agents (asphaltenes and resins) that stabilize water droplets within the oil phase. Once the stabilizing film is weakened, water droplets coalesce and settle out by gravity. Proper demulsifier selection requires understanding the specific crude oil chemistry, as heavy crudes behave differently than light, paraffinic oils.

Ascent offers multiple surfactant categories for oilfield use:

Anionic Surfactants:

• Dioctyl Sulfosuccinates (DOSS 70 series) – High-efficiency wetting, emulsifying, and dispersing
• Phosphated Esters (SierraPhos series) – Wetting, emulsification, oil-solvent coupling, and corrosion inhibition
• Sulfated & Sulfonated products – Fast wetting, strong detergency, tolerance to water hardness

Cationic Surfactants:

• Corrosion inhibitors with strong surface affinity and film-forming benefits
• Quaternary ammonium compounds for water solubility

Nonionic Surfactants:

• Compatible across wide pH ranges for flexible formulation

Ascent’s phosphate ester portfolio includes:

• SierraPhos 2-EH – 2-Ethylhexanol Phosphate
• SierraPhos DA-4 and DA-6 – Deceth Phosphates
• SierraPhos TDA-6 and TDA-8 – Trideceth Phosphates
• SierraPhos NP-10 – Nonoxynol 10 Phosphate

These products improve wetting, emulsification, and oil-solvent coupling while providing natural corrosion-inhibiting benefits and stability across wide pH and electrolyte ranges.

EOR chemical solutions are designed to mobilize trapped hydrocarbons in mature reservoirs:

• Surfactant flooding – Reduces interfacial tension to mobilize trapped oil
• Polymer flooding – Improves sweep efficiency and mobility control
• Alkaline-surfactant-polymer (ASP) systems – Tailored for reservoir-specific recovery strategies

EOR formulations demand precise manufacturing control to maintain stability in storage and reliability under reservoir conditions.

Yes, Ascent supports custom manufacturing for EOR applications. Custom manufacturing enables collaborative development or refinement of formulations to meet unique reservoir conditions or regulatory requirements. Ascent’s capabilities include multi-step synthesis, amidation, esterification, sulfation, phosphation, and neutralization pathways commonly used in EOR chemical production.

Ascent’s contract chemical manufacturing capabilities include:

• Multi-step synthesis processes
• Amidation, esterification, sulfation, phosphation, and neutralization
• Reactor sizes supporting development-scale batches through high-volume commercial production
• Integrated laboratory support (chromatography, spectroscopy, moisture analysis, viscosity measurement)
• Three U.S. manufacturing facilities (South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia)

Ascent offers three flexible manufacturing models:

• Contract Manufacturing – Ascent produces finished products to customer specifications, managing raw materials, synthesis, QC, and packaging
• Custom Manufacturing – Collaborative development of formulations for unique reservoir conditions or regulatory requirements
• Toll Manufacturing – Customers retain ownership of proprietary materials while leveraging Ascent’s processing infrastructure

Quality consistency is maintained through:

• Documented quality control and analytical verification for every batch
• Tight specification control and process discipline
• Integrated laboratory support with advanced analytical instrumentation
• Validated quality systems designed for demanding industrial applications
• Transparent supply chains with domestic manufacturing oversight