More Than 12 Years' Experience With a Successful Conformance-Control Polymer-Gel Technology

Abstract

Summary: In this paper, we discuss and describe our extensive experience with the widely applied and quite successful Cr(III)-carboxylate/ acrylamide-polymer (CC/AP) gel technology for use in oilfield conformance-control, sweep-improvement, and water and gas shutoff treatments. Chromic triacetate is the often preferred chemical crosslinking agent used in conjunction with this polymer-gel technology. The CC/AP gel technology is characterized as having a robust gel chemistry and as being highly insensitive to petroleum reservoir environments and interferences. This gel technology, as of May 1998, has been employed in over 1,400 conformance-control treatments worldwide. Highlights of illustrative field applications and results involving the CC/AP conformance-control gel technology are presented. An overview of what a decade plus of experience in applying the CC/AP gel technology has taught us is discussed. This includes discussion of classifying and distinguishing conformance problems and treatments, attributes of good candidate wells and well patterns for gel conformance-control treatments, requirements that must be met in candidate wells and well patterns in order to achieve success, gel treatment elements that must be successfully implemented to achieve success, guidelines as to where polymer-gel conformance treatments are most successfully applied, risks and pitfalls of gel conformance treatments, and quality control issues.