Oilfield and mining chemicals: Feedstocks
How Indian barite and guar end up in oil wells
What this tab covers What it is made from and what it feeds: the raw materials and energy per tonne with their share of cost (linked to the commodity table), who is low-cost and why, and the chemicals made from it.The family draws on minerals (barite, bentonite), farm products (guar, starch, xanthan), petrochemicals (base oils, acrylonitrile, amines, glycols, methanol) and inorganic acids and brines. Barite and guar link India directly to world drilling. Feedstock cost matters less than service capability, so integrated service firms rather than low-cost chemical makers set prices.
Inputs per tonne
| Input | Quantity per tonne | Role | Share of cost | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ba Barite | the main weighting agent in heavy muds (indicative) | raises mud density to control pressure | not published; $210/t ex-works US (2025) | barite tile (USGS MCS 2026) |
| Oil Crude oil | not published | continuous phase of oil-based muds; solvents and actives in production chemicals | not published | indicative |
| Kao Kaolin & clays | not published | viscosity and filtration control in water-based mud | not published | indicative |
| Acrylonitrile (via polyacrylamide) | about 0.75 t per t acrylamide (stoichiometric) | friction reducers, EOR and flocculants | main polymer input (indicative) | acrylonitrile tile |
| Gas Natural gas | not published | hydrate inhibitors | not published | methanol and MEG tiles (indicative) |
| Br Bromine | not published | completion fluids | not published | indicative |
Who is low-cost, and why
Service companies win on logistics and engineering, not raw material cost. Among raw materials, Indian and Chinese barite and Indian guar are the low-cost sources; Chinese polyacrylamide and xanthates set floors for polymers and mining reagents (indicative).