Ecolab USA Inc.

Nalco Company

Julie Hardy

Curtis Sitz

A method of inhibiting scale in a subterranean formation comprises pretreating the subterranean formation with a polyquaternary amine that serves as a squeeze life extension (SLE) agent, and then introducing a scale inhibitor pill into the subterranean formation, wherein the scale inhibitor pill includes one or more scale inhibitor compositions. For example, the polyquaternary amine may be a polymer having up to 5 quaternary amine centers, but is preferably a nonpolymeric diquaternary amine having a molecular weight of from 250 to 500. One such example is 1,3-propandiaminium, 2-hydroxy-N,N,N,N',N&#x2032;,N&#x2032;-hexamethyl-, dichloride. The SLE agent is preferably introduced into the formation in a brine solution having a concentration from 0.1 to 20 weight percent. The SLE agents may be used with a variety of known scale inhibitors and scale inhibitor chemistries.

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Missouri City, TX, United States of America

Julie Hardy