Treatment of subterranean formations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12577867-B2
Application number	US-202318461578-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 6, 2023
Priority date	Sep 6, 2023
Publication date	Mar 17, 2026
Grant date	Mar 17, 2026

Abstract

Methods for treating a water zone of a subterranean formation by injecting a slurry including a water-swellable particle, a fiber, and a viscous oil to reduce water production from the formation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of treating a water zone of a subterranean formation, the method comprising:
injecting about 0.01 pore volumes (PV) to about 0.5 PV of a non-aqueous slurry, through a wellbore into the subterranean formation, the slurry comprising: about 10 wt % to about 50 wt % of a water-swellable particle comprising a superabsorbent preformed particle gel, wherein the superabsorbent preformed particle gel comprises a crosslinking polymer, about 0.01 wt % to about 10 wt % of a fiber, and an oil having a viscosity of about 10 cP to about 2,000 cP at about 21° C.; and contacting the slurry with the water zone to swell the particles,
wherein swelling the particles reduces an influx of water from the water zone into the wellbore.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the slurry comprises about 10 wt % to about 30 wt % of the water-swellable particle.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an average size of the water-swellable particle before swelling is about 1 μm to about 100 mm.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an average size of the water-swellable particle before swelling is about 100 μm to about 10 mm.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the water-swellable particle comprises a superabsorber comprising an acrylamide-based polymer, an acrylate-based polymer, a hydrogel, or any combination thereof.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the slurry comprises about 0.05 wt % to about 5 wt % of the fiber.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an average diameter of the fiber is about 0.1 μm to about 100 μm.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an average diameter of the fiber is about 1 μm to about 20 μm.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an average length of the fiber is about 100 μm to about 1 m.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an average length of the fiber is about 1 mm to about 100 mm.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the fiber comprises a carbon fiber, a glass fiber, a ceramic fiber, a natural fiber, a plastic fiber, a thermoplastic fiber, a metal fiber, a mineral fiber, or any combination thereof.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the fiber comprises a glass fiber.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the fiber comprises a plastic fiber.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the plastic fiber comprises a polyester fiber, a polylactic acid fiber, or both.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the slurry comprises about 40 wt % to about 99 wt % of the oil.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a viscosity of the oil is about 10 cP to about 100 cP at about 21° C.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the oil comprises a silicone oil, a crude oil, a mineral oil, a diesel oil, or any combination thereof.

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the oil comprises a silicone oil, a mineral oil, or any combination thereof.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the slurry before injecting comprises at least about 90 wt % of a total amount of the water-swellable particle, the fiber, and the oil.

20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the slurry before injecting comprises less than about 5 wt % of water.

21 . The method of claim 1 , comprising injecting about 0.01 PV to about 0.3 PV of the slurry into the subterranean formation.

22 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the water zone comprises a fracture or high-permeability zone.

23 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the superabsorbent preformed particle gel comprises a preformed bulk gel, a partially preformed gel, or a microgel.

Assignees

• Saudi Arabian Oil Co

Inventors

• Cao Dongqing
• Huang Tianping
• Almohsin Ayman Mohammed
• Alharbi Bader G
• Bu Xingang
• Chen Shaohua

Classifications

• C09K8/52

  Compositions for preventing, limiting or eliminating depositions, e.g. for cleaning · CPC title

• C09K2208/08

  Fiber-containing well treatment fluids · CPC title

• C09K8/516

  characterised by their form or by the form of their components, e.g. encapsulated material · CPC title

• E21B43/38 Primary

  in the well · CPC title