Systems and methods for the treatment of oil and/or gas wells with a polymeric material

• US 9,890,624 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2015
• Issued: 02/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Flotek Industries Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Eclipse IOR Services, LLC (Flotek Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Portwood, J. Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Ahuja, Anuradha
• Application Number:
  US14/633,620
• Publication Number:
  US 20150247392A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,082 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 8/50 Compositions for plastering borehole walls, i.e. compositions for temporary consolidation of borehole walls compositions for consolidating loose sand or the like around wells C09K8/56
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 8/518 Foams
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 8/588 characterised by the use of specific polymers polymeric surfactants C09K8/584
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 8/594 Compositions used in combination with injected gas , e.g. CO2 orcarbonated gasC09K8/592 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 43/16 Enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons

Abstract

Systems and methods for the treatment of oil and/or gas wells are generally provided. In some embodiments, a reservoir comprising oil and/or gas may contain regions that differ in permeability to the drive fluid used to displace the oil and/or gas. The higher permeability region(s) may limit oil and/or gas recovery from lower permeability regions. A method of enhancing oil and/or gas recovery in such a reservoir may comprise injecting a fluid comprising a microemulsion into the reservoir prior to obstructing one or more region (e.g., higher permeability regions) of the reservoir. The use of a microemulsion prior to obstructing one or more region of the reservoir may enhance the barrier properties of the resulting obstruction. In some embodiments, injecting a fluid comprising a microemulsion into the reservoir may also increase the overall production of the oil and/or gas well lacking the microemulsion treatment.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

treating a well in a hydrocarbon bearing formation with a first fluid comprising a first microemulsion before treating the well with a second fluid comprising an obstruction material, wherein a drive fluid is present in the well before treating the well with the first fluid,

wherein the first fluid comprising the first microemulsion reduces a volume of residual hydrocarbon in high permeability regions of the well and an amount of the residual hydrocarbon on surfaces of hydrocarbon bearing structures in the high permeability regions of the well thereby creating additional bondable surface area for the obstruction material; and

treating the well with a third fluid comprising a second microemulsion following treating the well with the first fluid and the second fluid,

wherein the first microemulsion and the second microemulsion are homogeneous thermodynamically stable single phases; and

wherein the first microemulsion and the second microemulsion comprise a surfactant selected from the group consisting of cationic surfactants, nonionic surfactants and zwitterionic surfactants.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein treating the well with the first fluid occurs immediately before treating the well with the second fluid.

3. The method as in claim 1, wherein the obstruction material comprises an ionic polymer.

4. The method as in claim 1, wherein the first microemulsion comprises a terpene.

5. The method as in claim 1, wherein the well comprises a reservoir comprising a first region having a higher permeability than a second region.

6. The method as in claim 1, comprising treating the well with the drive fluid one or more times.

7. The method as in claim 6, wherein treating the well with the drive fluid occurs before treating the well with the first fluid.

8. The method as in claim 6, wherein the drive fluid comprises carbon dioxide.

9. The method as in claim 6, wherein the drive fluid comprises water.

10. The method as in claim 1, wherein treating the well with the first fluid comprises injecting the first fluid into the well.

11. The method as in claim 1, wherein the obstruction material is a polymer.

12. The method as in claim 1, wherein the obstruction material is a foam.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first microemulsion is present in the first fluid in an amount of between about 0.1 wt % and about 2.0 wt % of the first fluid.

14. The method as in claim 1, wherein the first microemulsion comprises between about 1 wt % and about 95 wt % water.

15. The method as in claim 1, wherein the first microemulsion comprises between about 2 wt % and about 60 wt % solvent.

16. The method as in claim 15, wherein the solvent comprises a terpene.

17. The method as in claim 1, wherein the first microemulsion comprises between about 10 wt % and about 60 wt % surfactant.

18. The method as in claim 1, wherein the first microemulsion comprises a first type of surfactant and a second type of surfactant.

19. The method as in claim 1, further comprising an alcohol, wherein the alcohol is isopropanol.

20. The method as in claim 1, wherein the first microemulsion comprises a freezing point depression agent.

21. The method as in claim 20, wherein the first microemulsion comprises between about 0 wt % and about 50 wt % of the freezing point depression agent.

22. The method as in claim 1, wherein the first microemulsion further comprises at least one other additive.

23. A method, comprising:

treating a well in a hydrocarbon bearing formation with a first fluid comprising a first microemulsion, wherein a fluid is present in the well before treating the well with the first fluid, wherein the viscosity of the fluid present in the well is reduced following treating the well with the first fluid, and wherein the first fluid comprising the first microemulsion reduces a volume of residual hydrocarbon in high permeability regions of the well and an amount of the residual hydrocarbon on surfaces of hydrocarbon bearing structures in the high permeability regions of the well thereby creating additional bondable surface area for the obstruction material;

treating the well with a second fluid comprising a polymeric material; and

treating the well with a third fluid comprising a second microemulsion following treating the well with the second fluid,

wherein the first microemulsion and the second microemulsion are homogeneous thermodynamically stable single phases; and

wherein the first microemulsion and the second microemulsion comprise a surfactant selected from the group consisting of cationic surfactants, nonionic surfactants and zwitterionic surfactants.

24. The method as in claim 23, wherein treating the well with the first fluid occurs immediately before treating the well with the second fluid.

25. The method as in claim 23, wherein the polymeric material comprises an ionic polymer.

26. The method as in claim 23, wherein the first microemulsion comprises a terpene.

27. The method as in claim 23, wherein the well is further treated with water.

28. The method as in claim 23, wherein the viscosity of the second fluid is between about 0.85 times and about 1.15 times the viscosity of the fluid present in the well following treating with the first fluid.

29. The method as in claim 23, wherein treating the well with the first fluid comprises injecting the first fluid into the well.

30. The method as in claim 23, wherein treating the well with the second fluid comprises injecting the second fluid into the well.