Method for treating formations
AssigneeMobil Oil Corporation
InventorMehdi M. Honarpour
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Abstract
A method for treating a formation having zones of varying permeabilities to improve the sweep efficiency of a drive fluid through the formation. At least one radial, relative horizontal bore is formed from a relative vertical wellbore and extends outward into a high-permeability zone of said formation. A gelant is injected into said formation through the radial bore(s) and flows into the higher-permeability zones of the formation. After the gelant is in place, the wellbore is shut-in to allow the gelant to set to form a flow-blocking gel in the treated zones of formation. Secondary recovery operations are then resumed and the drive fluid (e.g. water) will now flow through the previously unswept (i.e. less-permeable zones) of the formation.
Claims8
A method for treating a formation having zones of varying permeabilities to improve the sweep efficiency of a drive fluid through the formation wherein a wellbore traverses the formation, said method comprising:
- forming at least one radial bore outward from said wellbore into one of said zones having a relatively high-permeability;
- injecting an aqueous gelant solution into said formation through said at least one radial bore whereby said gelant solution flows into said high-permeability zone of said formation;
- and
- shutting-in said wellbore for a time sufficient for said gelant solution to set to form a flow-blocking gel within said high-permeability zone of said formation to restrict further flow through said high-permeability zone while allowing flow through the less permeable of said zones to thereby improve the sweep efficiency of subsequently injected fluids.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.