No abstract

Since the development of acrylamide-polymer/chromium(III)-carboxylate gels, a wide variety of field applications has demonstrated the utility and versatility of this system. Large volume injection well treatments for areal conformance, treatments for water/oil ratio reduction in producing wells, near wellbore treatments for effective squeeze treatments and the sealing of openhole wellbores as a completion tool will be reported. The initial treatments were pumped in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming and in the Permian Basin of western Texas. These large volume treatments pumped into injection wells have added approximately 5 MMBO in reserves at a cost of less than $1.0 per STBO, to naturally fractured waterflood reservoirs. With this success, a program was initiated using the same polymer gel system in high water/oil ratio producing wells with a strong water drive. Water/oil ratios have been reduced from 300:1 to as low as 30:1 in several Big Lake Field wells of western Texas. Another form of the polymer gel system is used for near wellbore total shut-off as a substitute process for conventional squeeze cementing. This technology has been applied to shut off gas or water when pumped into an isolated interval. The same technology is routinely applied to seal the openhole curved section of re-entries for horizontal wellbore completions in the Yates Field Unit of western Texas.