Alberta Research Council Incorporated

Alberta Innovates-technology Futures

Shrivastava, Vijay

Singhal, Ashok

Turta, Alex

Wassmuth, Fred

Fred Wassmuth

Alex Turta

Ashok Singhal

Laurie A Hodgins

Vijay Shrivastava

Hodgins Laurie A

A method of reducing water influx into a wellbore, wherein the wellbore is in fluid communication with a subterranean formation such as a gas producing formation or gas reservoir. The method particularly places a gelant in a desired position down the wellbore and into the formation in order to thereby reduce the influx of water and enhance the resulting gas production. The method includes the steps of first introducing a gelant into the wellbore and second introducing a temporarily stable foam into the wellbore in order to overdisplace the gelant from the wellbore and into the formation.

Method of reducing water influx into gas wells

A modified toe-to-heel waterflooding (TTHW) process is provided for recovering oil from a reservoir in an underground formation. After establishing the conventional TTHW waterflood, the process includes placing a chemical blocking agent at the watered out producing toe portion of the horizontal leg of the production well to create a blockage in the producing toe portion and to create a new producing toe portion in an open portion of the horizontal leg adjacent the blockage through which most of the production takes place. Production is then continued through the new producing toe portion and the open portion of the horizontal leg of the production well. These blocking and producing steps can be continued to progressively block producing toe portions in a direction toward the vertical pilot portion of the production well.

Toe-to-heel waterflooding with progressive blockage of the toe region

Growing community of inventors

Calgary, Canada

Fred Wassmuth