Technical FAQ
The questions evaluation teams ask.
The questions evaluation teams ask.
Common questions from completions engineers, reservoir engineers, production engineers, procurement, and HSE. Anything not covered here goes to a technical call. That’s the fastest way to a real answer.
Product composition
No. Formulation variants exist for different mineralogies and water chemistries. Selection happens during candidate screening.
Mechanism of action
Particles transport through the pore network by Brownian motion and diffusion, self-assemble into a wedge-shaped film at the rock–oil contact line, and exert a structural disjoining pressure that lifts hydrocarbons off the rock surface — shifting wettability toward water-wet. Documented in Wasan & Nikolov, Nature Vol. 423, 2003. Full walkthrough on the How It Works page.
The primary mechanism is wedge-film disjoining pressure leading to wettability alteration, not interfacial-tension reduction. Where the formulation includes surface-active components, IFT reduction is a secondary contributor: measured values 0.186–0.447 mN/m against 1.842 mN/m for the equivalent base fluid (Contact Angle Evaluation, Wolfcamp reservoir analogue).
The residual particle population sustains the wedge-film / wettability effect. Production response shows up by 30–60 days and stabilizes by 90 days. We do not see effect decay in the wells we’ve tracked beyond 12 months.
Dispersion stability is validated up to 200,000 mg/L TDS. Above that, additional compatibility work may be needed; we’ll be upfront if a target asset is out of scope.
Application method
No. Stage count, pump rate, proppant intensity, and perforation cluster spacing are all driven by the operator’s existing design.
Dosage is set per treatment based on candidate-screening results and formulation. Specific values are confidential and disclosed under NDA.
Formation compatibility
Current ideal-fit basins include the Midland and Delaware (Wolfcamp, Bone Spring), Mid-Continent SCOOP/STACK, and mature vertical inventory. Compatibility detail on the Formation Compatibility page.
The ideal scenario is a naturally fractured reservoir that is oil-wet, tight, and low-permeability, with the fracture network well-isolated from aquifers. Those four conditions stack the mechanism in the operator’s favor: natural fractures give the nanoparticles a transport path, oil-wet rock surfaces are where the wedge-film / wettability effect produces the largest delta, tight low-permeability rock is where conventional drainage is leaving barrels behind, and aquifer isolation keeps the water cut from washing the response out.
Yes. Formulation variants are tuned to carbonate-dominant mineralogies. Activ has lab and field data in carbonate-dominant intervals.
Completion compatibility
In most cases, yes. Friction-reducer compatibility testing is a standard step in pre-job design. We require a fluid sample for the test.
No measurable effect on proppant transport at deployed concentration.
Standard pre-job compatibility testing. We work through the operator’s full fluid system to confirm.
Production impact
Verified field results across the deployment record average +25–40% on 90-day cume in primary basins. Operator-specific expectation is set during candidate screening and is part of the contracted baseline. See the Case Studies.
Production response is typically established by day 30–60 and firm by day 90.
Both. The mechanism increases incremental recovery (more oil reaches the wellbore) and accelerates production (oil reaches the wellbore faster). The economic case rests on incremental recovery.
Safety and handling
Yes. SDS available on request and included in the commercial packet.
Standard chemical-injection PPE. Activ field engineer on every job; site safety training to the operator’s standard.
No. The dispersion is not classified as a DOT hazardous material.
Data and proof
Third-party-sourced production data with cohort analysis. See the methodology page for cohort selection, normalization, and known limitations.
Yes. Operator-specific cohort analyses are reviewable line-item by the operator’s data team under NDA.
Commercial deployment
Pilot scale is set by operator preference and basin context. Typical first pilots run 4–8 wells, in matched-pair design wherever possible.
Against a third-party-sourced cohort baseline over a 90-day window after treatment. The data is shared with the operator at the cohort-verification milestone.
Open inquiries
Have a question the data could answer?
nanoActiv® was developed and is manufactured by Nissan Chemical Corporation, a multi-billion-dollar specialty chemical company with decades of advanced-materials depth. Activ Energy holds exclusive commercialization rights across the Americas, and the responsibility for making sure the field record is told honestly.
