# How Chemicals Prevent Billion Dollar Well Failures

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/energy-101-we-ask-the-dumb-questions-so-you-don-t-have-to-5658842/how-chemicals-prevent-billion-dollar-well-failures
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/energy-101-we-ask-the-dumb-questions-so-you-don-t-have-to-5658842/how-chemicals-prevent-billion-dollar-well-failures.md
Podcast: [Energy 101: We Ask The Dumb Questions So You Don't Have To](https://stenobird.com/podcast/energy-101-we-ask-the-dumb-questions-so-you-don-t-have-to-5658842)
Published: 2026-01-26T15:38:01+00:00
Episode link: https://energy101.collide.io/episodes/how-chemicals-prevent-billion-dollar-well-failures
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/5a87bd81/201cd84e.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/energy-101-we-ask-the-dumb-questions-so-you-don-t-have-to-5658842/episodes/how-chemicals-prevent-billion-dollar-well-failures
Duration seconds: 2955

## Resource

Brandon Wamsley from Flatirons Chemicals joins the show to explain how the $100 billion oil and gas chemical industry actually works - from killing bacteria that sours wells to keeping pipelines from corroding in minus 58 degree North Dakota winters. He shares his journey from laying tile in construction to becoming a field technician in Williston during the Bakken boom, where people literally camped in tents chasing oil field opportunities. The conversation breaks down why chemicals are cheap insurance for producers, how bacteria creates hydrogen sulfide downhole, what H2S scavengers actually do, and why the industry churns through chemical providers every 2-3 years in an expensive honeymoon cycle that Flatirons is trying to disrupt with AI-powered solutions. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 Why chemicals are essential to oil and gas production 03:45 Brandon's construction background and move to North Dakota 08:01 Williston during the Bakken boom and tent cities 11:19 Learning the chemical industry from the ground up 14:08 Meeting mentor Ed and his 40 years in midstream 18:01 Frack chemicals and evolving completion designs 22:03 How bacteria contaminates wells and creates H2S 27:11 The stream analogy for disrupting formations 31:24 Turning wells on to production and artificial lift 36:03 Midstream chemicals and H2S scavengers explained 40:12 Innovating the chemical procurement process with AI 45:09 Houston meetings and vertical integratio…

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