AU2015200981B2

AU2015200981B2 - Systems and methods for the treatment of oil and/or gas wells with an polymeric material

Info

Publication number: AU2015200981B2
Application number: AU2015200981A
Authority: AU
Inventors: J. Thomas Portwood
Original assignee: Flotek Chemistry LLC
Current assignee: Flotek Chemistry LLC
Priority date: 2014-02-28
Filing date: 2015-02-26
Publication date: 2018-09-20
Anticipated expiration: 2035-02-26
Also published as: CA2883048A1; AU2015200981A1

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. 5 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 10 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.

Description

The present invention is directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the scope of the present invention.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”

The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified unless clearly indicated to the contrary. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B,” when used in conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer, in one embodiment, to A without B (optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to B without A (optionally including elements other than A);

in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionally including other elements); etc.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should be understood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, but also including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and, optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated to the contrary, such as “only one of’ or “exactly one of,” or, when used in the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactly one element of a number or list of elements. In general, the

2015200981 26 Feb 2015 term “or” as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusive alternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded by terms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or “exactly one of.” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims, shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “at least one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should be understood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more of the elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each and every element specifically listed within the list of elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the list of elements.

This definition also allows that elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified within the list of elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “at least one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) can refer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitional phrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” “holding,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of’ and “consisting essentially of’ shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual of Patent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.

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Claims

What is claimed is:

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 residual hydrocarbon on surfaces of the hydrocarbon bearing structures in 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 a 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 any preceding claim, wherein treating the well with the first fluid occurs immediately before treating the well with the second fluid.
3. The method as in any preceding claim, wherein the obstruction material comprises an ionic polymer.
4. The method as in any preceding claim, wherein the microemulsion comprises a terpene.
5. The method as in any preceding claim, wherein the well comprises a reservoir comprising a first region having a higher permeability than a second region.

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6. The method as in any preceding claim, 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 or claim 7, wherein the drive fluid comprises carbon dioxide.
9. The method as in any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the drive fluid comprises water.
10. The method as in any preceding claim, 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. 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 residual hydrocarbon on surfaces of the 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

2015200981 03 Aug 2018 wherein the first microemulsion and the second microemulsion comprise a surfactant selected from the group consisting of cationic surfactants, nonionic surfactants and zwitterionic surfactants.
14. The method as in claim 13, wherein treating the well with the first fluid occurs immediately before treating the well with the second fluid.
15. The method as in claim 13 or claim 14, wherein the polymeric material comprises an ionic polymer.
16. The method as in any one of claim 13 to 15, wherein the first microemulsion comprises a terpene.
17. The method as in any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the well is further treated with water.
18. The method as in any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the viscosity of the second fluid is between about 0.85 times and about 1.15 times, or about 0.9 times and about 1.10 times, or between about 0.95 times and about 1.05 times, or between about 0.97 times and about 1.03 times, or between about 0.98 times and about 1.02 times, or between about 0.99 times and about 1.01 times, the viscosity of the fluid present in the well following treating with the first fluid.
19. The method as in any one of claims 13 to 18, wherein treating the well with the first fluid comprises injecting the first fluid into the well.
20. The method as in any one of claims 13 to 19, wherein treating the well with the second fluid comprises injecting the second fluid into the well.
21. The method of any preceding claim, 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.

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22. The method as in any preceding claim, wherein the first microemulsion comprises between about 1 wt% and about 95 wt% water, or between about 1 wt% and about 90 wt%, or between about 1 wt% and about 60 wt%, or between about 5 wt% and about 60 wt%, or between about 10 wt% and about 55 wt%, or between about 15 wt% and about 45 wt%.
23. The method as in any preceding claim, wherein the first microemulsion comprises between about 2 wt% and about 60 wt% solvent, or between 5 wt% and about 40 wt%, or between about 5 wt% and about 30 wt%.
24. The method as in claim 23, wherein the solvent comprises a terpene.
25. The method as in any preceding claim, wherein the first microemulsion comprises between about 10 wt% and about 60 wt% surfactant, or between about 15 wt% and 55 wt%, or between about 20 wt% and 50 wt%.
26. The method as in any preceding claim, wherein the first microemulsion comprises a first type of surfactant and a second type of surfactant.
27. The method as in any preceding claim, further comprising an alcohol, wherein the alcohol is isopropanol.
28. The method as in any preceding claim, wherein the first microemulsion comprises a freezing point depression agent.
29. The method as in claim 28, wherein the first microemulsion comprises between about 0 wt% and about 50 wt%, or between about 0.1 wt% and about 50 wt%, or between about 1 wt% and about 50 wt%, or between about 5 wt% and about 40 wt%, or between about 5 wt% and 35 wt% of the freezing point depression agent.
30. The method as in any preceding claim 1, wherein the first microemulsion further comprises at least one other additive.

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FIG. 1

REPLACEMENT SHEET

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FIG. 2

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FIG. 3