Expanding applications for viscoelastic surfactants

Oilfield Review

Volumn 16, Issue 4, 2004, Pages 10-23

  Kefi, Slaheddine ^a   Lee, Jesse ^a   Pope, Timothy L ^a   Sullivan, Phil ^a   Nelson, Erik ^a   Hernandez, Angel Nuñez ^a   Olsen, Tom ^a   Parlar, Mehmet ^a   Powers, Brian ^a   Roy, Alistair ^a   Wilson, Allan ^a   Twynam, Allan ^b  

^a Petróleosde Venezuela SA ^*  (United Kingdom)

^b BP EXPLORATION   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY (CO); EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION (E&P); PARTIALLY HYDROLYZED POLYACRYLAMIDE (PHPA); RESERVOIR DRILLING FLUIDS (RDF); VISCOELASTIC SURFACTANT (VES) TECHNOLOGY;

BOREHOLES; GRAVEL; HYDROCARBONS; OIL FIELDS; PARTICLE SIZE ANALYSIS; SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY; SYSTEMS ANALYSIS; VISCOELASTICITY;

SURFACE ACTIVE AGENTS;

EID: 20144384101     PISSN: 09231730     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (31)

1. Micelle structures refer to a colloidal aggregation of amphipathic molecules that occur at a well-defined critical micelle concentration.
2. Chase B, Chmilowski W, Marcinew R, Mitchell C, Dang Y, Krauss K, Nelson E, Lantz T, Parham C and Plummer J: "Clear Fracturing Fluids for Increased Well Productivity," Oilfield Review 9, no. 3 (Autumn 1997): 20-33.
3. Chase et al, reference 2.
4. Guar is a hydrophilic polysaccharide derived from seeds of the guar plant. Highly dispersible in water and brines of various types, it can be crosslinked by borax and other compounds to yield high gel strength for suspending solids, such as sand and other proppants. Guar is commonly used in fracturing fluids to generate the required viscosity. Guar has low thermal stability, is pH sensitive, and is subject to bacterial fermentation.
5. Ely JW: Stimulation Engineering Handbook. Tulsa: PennWell Publishing Company (1994): 79-97.
6. Chase et al, reference 2.
7. Pseudosolid is a term describing materials that develop highly viscous gel structures, that may exhibit elastic behavior and that require little energy to reduce the gel to liquid.
8. Cationic surfactants are surface-active agents typically composed of fatty amine salts. They have a net positive charge, and they are stable over a range of pH levels and in various salt solutions.
9. Parlar M, Nelson EB, Walton IC, Park E and DeBonis VM: "An Experimental Study on Fluid-Loss Behavior of Fracturing Fluids and Formation Damage in High Permeability Porous Media," paper SPE 30458, presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, October 22-25, 1995.
10. Anionic surfactants are surface-active agents having a net negative charge.
11. Tip screenout fracturing involves deliberately causing proppantto bridge at the fracture tip through pad depletion. Further fracture propagation ceases and continued pumping increases the fracture width.
12. The surfactant-packing parameter is affected by solution conditions such as temperature and surfactant concentration. It may also be influenced by changes in micellular chain length and dissymmetry that cause an increase in the surfactant's spontaneous curvature, ultimately determining whether surfactant's molecules will form spherical or cylindrical micelles.
13. Fredd CN, Olsen TN, Brenize G, Quintero BW, Bui T, Glenn S and Boney CL: "Polymer-Free Fracturing Fluid Exhibits Improved Cleanup for Unconventional Natural Gas Well Applications," paper SPE 91433, presented at the SPE Eastern Regional Meeting, Charleston, West Virginia, USA, September 15-17, 2004. For more on CBM gas production: Anderson J, Simpson M, Basinski P, Beaton A, Boyer C, Bulat D, Ray S, Reinheimer D, Schlachter G, Colson L, Olsen T, John Z, Khan R, Low N, Ryan B and Schoderbek D: "Producing Natural Gas from Coal," Oilfield Review 15, no. 3 (Autumn 2003): 8-31.
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15. A cleat is a breakage plane found in coal deposits that provides natural conductivity through the coalbed.
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18. Fredd et al, reference 13.
19. A zwitterionic, or dipolar, compound carries both a positive and negative charge.
20. For more on sand production and its control: Acock A, ORourke T, Shirmboh D, Alexander J, Andersen G, Kaneko T, Venkitaraman A, López-de- Cárdenas J, Nishi M, Numasawa M, Yoshioka K, Roy A, Wilson A and Twynam A: "Practical Approaches to Sand Management," Oilfield Review 16, no. 1 (Spring 2004): 10-27.
21. Brady ME, Bradbury AJ, Sehgal G, Brand F, Ali SA, Bennett CL, Gilchrist JM, Troncoso J, Price-Smith C, Foxenberg WE and Parlar M: "Filtercake Cleanup in Open-Hole Gravel-Packed Completions: A Necessity or a Myth?," paper SPE 63232, presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, October 1-4, 2000.
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23. Shunt-tube, or Alternate Path technology, is used to ensure a complete gravel pack around screens. If the annular space packs off prematurely, the shunt tubes attached on the outside of screens provide conduits for the gravel-pack slurry, allowing gravel packing to proceed past any blockage, or bridges, that may form around the screens. For more on shunt-tube gravel packing: Acock et al, referenced.
24. Wilson A, Roy A, Twynam A, Shirmboh DN and Sinclair G: "Design, Installation, and Results from the World's Longest Deep-Water Openhole, Shunt-Tube Gravel-Pack West of Shetlands," paper SPE 86458, presented at the SPE International Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA, February 18-20, 2004.
25. Parlar M, Twynam AJ, Newberry P, Bennett C, Elliott F, Powers B, Hall K, Svoboda C, Rezende J, Rodet V and Edment B, "Gravel Packing Wells Drilled with Oil-Based Fluids: A Critical Review of Current Practices and Recommendations for Future Applications," paper SPE 89815, presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Houston, September 26-29, 2004.
26. The skin factor is a numerical value used to define the difference between the pressure drop predicted by Darcy's law and actual values. Skin factors typically range between negative 6 for stimulated high conductivity, such as that obtained by hydraulic fracturing, to 100 or more for extreme damage and poor conductivity.
27. The productivity index (PI) is a mathematical means of expressing the capacity of a reservoir to produce fluids. PI is usually expressed as the volume of fluid produced at a given drawdown pressure at the reservoir face.
28. Veil JA, Puder M, Elcock D and Redweik R Jr: "A White Paper Describing Produced Water from Production of Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Coalbed Methane," http://www.ead.anl.gov/pub/dsp_detail.cfm?PrintVersion= true&PubID=1715 (accessed April 16, 2004).
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30. Chang FF, Acock AM, Geoghagan A and Huckabee PT: "Experience in Acid Diversion in High Permeability Deep Water Formations Using Visco-Elastic- Surfactant," paper SPE 68919, presented at the SPE European Formation Damage Conference, The Hague, May 21-22, 2001.
31. For more on viscoelastic surfactant acid diversion: Al-Anzi E, Al-Mutawa M, Al-Habib N, Al-Mumen A, Nasr-El-Din H, Alvarado O, Brady M, Davies S, Fredd C, Fu D, Lungwitz B, Chang F, Huidobro E, Jemmali M, Samuel M and Sandhu D: "Positive Reactions in Carbonate Reservoir Stimulation," Oilfield Review 15, no. 4 (Winter 2003/2004): 28-45.