Method of treating an oil or gas well with biodegradable low toxicity fluid system
AssigneeBJ Services Company
InventorsSandra Berry, Kay Cawiezel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of treating a well consists of introducing into the wellbore a biodegradable fluid system containing a blend of lactic acid ester, such as ethyl lactate, and a fatty acid ester, such as methyl soyate. The fluid system may be further in the form of a microemulsion that is formed by combining a blend with one or more emulsifiers, an alcohol, and water. The fluid system may be used in displacement, well remediation and stimulation as well as additional, alternative applications such as the cleaning of surface and/or downhole equipment.
Claims31
A method of treating an oil or gas well having a wellbore which comprises introducing into the wellbore a blend comprising C1-C4 ester of lactic acid and C1-C4 ester of a C16-C20 fatty acid.
A method of stimulating a well which comprises introducing into the well a fluid system comprising a 35:65 to 65:35 w/w co-solvent blend of C1-C4 ester of lactic acid:
- C1-C4 ester of a C16-C20 fatty acid.
In a method of well remediation in which a wellbore fluid is employed, the improvement comprising using a wellbore fluid which comprises a co-solvent blend of a C1-C4 ester of lactic acid and a C1-C4 ester of a C16-C20 fatty acid.
A method of removing drilling muds from a wellbore prior to cementing or prior to introduction of a completion brine, which comprises introducing a fluid system into the wellbore, the fluid system comprising a co-solvent blend of a C1-C4 ester of lactic acid and a C1-C4 ester of a C16-C20 fatty acid.
In a method of treating a well with a well treating gel wherein during such treatment the viscosity of the gel is reduced by the presence of a gel breaker, the improvement using a breaker catalyst comprising a blend of a C1-C4 ester of lactic acid and a C1-C4 ester of a C16-C20 fatty acid to activate the gel breaker.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.