Methods for altering fluid rheology

Abstract

A method includes placing a treatment fluid including a crosslinked gel in a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation, the crosslinked gel including a gelling agent and a borate crosslinking agent, de-crosslinking a portion of the crosslinked gel, the de-crosslinking induced by a sufficient change in operating pressure, the de-crosslinking providing a release of active sites on the borate crosslinking agent and reducing the viscosity of the treatment fluid, and providing a borate-affinity agent to capture the released active sites on the borate crosslinking agent. A fracturing fluid includes a gelling agent, a borate crosslinking agent, a latent borate-affinity agent, and a proppant.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.