Formulations for enhanced oil recovery comprising sulfonates

A composition comprising c) a mixture of α-sulfocarbonyl compounds of formulae (1) and (2) in a mixture ratio (1) to (2) of from 1:99 to 99:1

• wherein
• R1, R3 and R5, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, are hydrogen or a linear or branched alkyl chain having 1 to 20 carbon atoms,
• R2 and R4, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, are a linear or branched alkyl group having 4 to 24 carbon atoms and in which the alkyl chain may comprise one or more cycloaliphatic groups, and X is H or a cation forming a salt with the sulfonic acid group, and d) an alkyl glyceryl ether sulfonate of general formula (3) R6—O—[—CH2—CH(OH)—CH2—O—]m—OCH2CH(OH)—CH2—SO3Y (3) or an alkoxylated alkyl glyceryl ether of formula (4) R6—O—[—CH2—CH(OH)—CH2—O—]m—[CH2CH(CH3)—O]n—[—CH2—CH2—O]p—CH2CH(OH)—CH2—SO3Y (4) or a mixture thereof wherein R6 represents a linear or branched alkyl or alkenyl chain having of from 3 to 18 carbon atoms, m is 0 or an integer in the range of from 1 to 20, n and p are integers of from 0 to 20, and Y is a cation of the sulfonate group selected from the group consisting of sodium, potassium, ammonium, calcium and magnesium.