Wellbore cleaning compositions and methods of making and using same

Abstract

A wellbore cleaning composition comprising (i) a surfactant consisting essentially of a sorbitan ester or a derivative thereof and, (ii) a base fluid. A wellbore treatment fluid comprising (1) (i) a surfactant consisting essentially of a sorbitan ester or a derivative thereof and, (ii) a base fluid and (2) an additional bulk fluid. A method of serving a wellbore disposed within a subterranean formation comprising circulating an oil-based drilling mud through an interior of a drill string and an annulus; and placing within the wellbore a wash pill comprising (1) a wellbore cleaning composition comprising (i) a surfactant consisting essentially of a polyethoxylated sorbitan ester or a derivative thereof and (ii) a base fluid and (2) a brine under conditions suitable for the conversion of one or more surfaces of the wellbore from oil-wet to water-wet.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.