Baker Hughes Corporation

Baker Hughes, a Ge Compnay, LLC

Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations LLC

Baker Hughes Holdings LLC

Lirio Quintero

David E Clark

Thomas Jones

Alexander John McKellar

Ronald Gene Bland

Ana Forgiarini

Chad F Christian

Jean-Louis Salager

Othon Rego Monteiro

Gianna Pietrangeli

Jeffrey A Russek

Bruce Rae Ewen

Jose M Limia

Cristina Torres

Antonio Enrique Cardenas

Qi Qu

Jerry J Weers

Hong Sun

Oleksandr V Kuznetsov

Dennis K Clapper

Wojciech Jakubowski

Allen Dale Gabrysch

Henry Nguyen

Tran Minh Nguyen

Brandon M Vittur

Scott Eric Lehrer

Joey Dacula Mangadlao

Hartley H Downs

Carl E Weaver

Christopher T Gallagher

Frances H DeBenedictis

Jonathan Raymond Stewart-Ayala

Leonardo Franca

Mary Jane Felipe

Carla Perla

Jonathan Heironimus

Carlos F Toro

Steven Weghorn

Shannon Stocks-Fischer

William R Bradford, Jr

Rosanel Morales

Joseph Arensdorf

Anuradee Witthayapanyanon

Jose Marcos

Martin Gilbert

German Rodrigo Gomez Serna

Sebastian Mesa

Thomas A Jones

Methods can include introducing a cleaning fluid into a near-wellbore zone of an injection well penetrating a subterranean formation, wherein the cleaning fluid includes: 0.5 wt % to about 5 wt % of a surfactant blend comprising an alkoxy carbonate surfactant and an internal olefin sulfonate surfactant; salt water having a total dissolved solids (TDS) of about 15,000 mg/L or greater; and 0 wt % to about 0.05 wt % of an organic acid; and dispersing a hydrocarbon from the near-wellbore zone in the cleaning fluid. Compositions for cleaning a near-wellbore zone of a subterranean formation can include 0.5 wt % to about 5 wt % of a surfactant blend comprising an alkoxy carbonate surfactant and an internal olefin sulfonate surfactant; salt water having a total dissolved solids (TDS) of about 15,000 mg/L or greater; and 0 wt % to about 0.05 wt % of an organic acid.

Injection well cleaning fluids and related methods

It has been discovered that solid contaminants in a mixture of a hydrocarbon phase and an aqueous phase may be retained in the hydrocarbon phase by introducing to the mixture an effective amount of an oil-wetting additive to retain at least a portion of the solid contaminants in the hydrocarbon phase as contrasted with an aqueous phase. The oil-wetting additive can be a surface-active additive including, but is not necessarily limited to, drilling fluid additives, surfactants, antifoulants, nanoparticles and combinations thereof.

Oil-wetting chemicals for solids retention

A single-phase microemulsion additive may be introduced to a stream containing mixtures of or emulsions of oil and water in an effective amount to separate oil from the water in the stream and/or separating water from the oil in the stream. The single-phase microemulsion additive is formed by combining at least one demulsifier, at least one water clarifier, at least one surfactant, and optionally at least one solvent.

Single-phase microemulsion additive for separation of oil and water

A method of enhancing oil or gas production comprises injecting into a well penetrating a subterranean formation a pre-flush fluid to increase water wettability of the well, the subterranean formation, a flowline, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing; and injecting into the well a foamer composition.

Pre-flush for oil foamers

A method of providing an optimal surfactant blend to improve waterflood efficiency comprises selecting candidate surfactant blends based on one or more of the following: a reservoir condition; information of a crude oil; information of an injection fluid; or information of a formation fluid, each candidate surfactant blends comprising at least two surfactants, one surfactant having a higher relative affinity for the crude oil than for the injection fluid and at least one surfactant having a higher affinity for the injection fluid than for the crude oil; evaluating phase behavior of the candidate surfactant blends to select surfactant blends that form a Winsor III system with the crude oil and the injection fluid at a reservoir temperature; and evaluating the selected surfactant blends in a porous media to select an optimal surfactant blend which achieves at least an additional 10% crude oil recovery after waterflood.

Selection of optimal surfactant blends for waterflood enhancement

Both organic deposits and inorganic deposits in a wellbore are simultaneously removed from a wellbore by contacting the deposits with a single phase fluid for an amount of time effective to simultaneously disperse the organic deposits and dissolve the inorganic deposits, where the single phase fluid includes least one solvent, at least one surfactant, at least one co-solvent, and at least one scale dissolver. The method further involves at least partially removing the organic deposits and inorganic deposits from the wellbore. In an embodiment where it is not necessary to remove inorganic deposits, the scale dissolver may be omitted.

Method for removing organic and inorganic deposits in one step

A method for improving mobility of heavy crude oil in a subterranean reservoir is provided. A fluid formulation can be introduced into the reservoir, the fluid formulation comprising water and a surfactant, and optional co-solvents. The fluid formulation can produce one or more of a dispersion and an emulsion in the reservoir, whereby the surfactant acts as an dispersant or emulsifying agent, emulsifier and/or drag reducing agent. The emulsion or the dispersion can have a water external phase and a crude oil internal phase.

Method of improving mobility of heavy crude oils in subterranean reservoirs

Mesophase surfactant solutions and/or micellar solutions, pre-formed single phase microemulsions (SPMEs), and in situ-formed fluids may be used to clean up and remove hydrocarbons and synthetic oils such as oil-based mud filter cake and near wellbore damage in oil and gas wells. Removal occurs by solubilization of the hydrocarbons and synthetic oils into the micellar solutions, SPME, in situ-formed fluids, etc. when the fluid formulation contacts the hydrocarbons and synthetic oils. An in situ-formed fluid (e.g. microemulsion), may be formed when one or more surfactant, an optional linker, optional co-surfactant, optional acid, optional co-solvent and a polar high-density brine phase, and eventually some amount of organic phase, contacts the subterranean location and solubilizes the hydrocarbons and synthetic oils encountered, such as in the near wellbore of a subterranean formation. The micellar solutions, microemulsions, in situ-formed fluids, etc. are effective for removing the formation damage caused by hydrocarbons and synthetic oils.

Microemulsions, mesophase surfactant and micellar solutions, and in situ-formed fluids formulated with high density brine

Pumping a pre-flush composition into a subterranean reservoir may contact at least a portion of non-polar material within a reservoir path. The pre-flush composition may have or include a polar fluid and at least one surfactant. The pre-flush composition may in situ form an in situ fluid in the reservoir path. The in situ formed fluid may include a portion of the non-polar material from the reservoir path, a polar phase from the polar fluid, and at least one surfactant. Pre-flushing the reservoir path may allow for greater hydrocarbon recovery when performing a subsequent operation as compared to an otherwise identical operation absent the pre-flushing the reservoir.

Methods of pre-flushing reservoir paths for higher return of hydrocarbon fluids

Working fluids, such as drilling fluids, may remove heat from other fluids, tools, equipments and environments and transfer it to other locations by using reversible phase change elements. The heat removal occurs through the absorption of heat by one or more phase transitions or a sequence of phase transitions in the elements of the working fluid. For instance, heat is absorbed when the phase change portions of the reversible phase change elements change phase including, but not necessarily limited to, a change from solid to smectic liquid crystal, from solid to nematic liquid crystal, from smectic liquid crystal to isotropic liquid, from nematic liquid crystal to isotropic liquid, from solid to isotropic liquid, and sequences and combinations thereof. Heat is released when the phase change reverses. These phase changes are first-order transitions and are associated with a latent heat or enthalpy.

Heat removal in drilling and production operations

Incorporating at least oil-soluble organic peroxide into a mixture of an aqueous phase and at least one surfactant creates a breaker fluid that is a microemulsion or a nanoemulsion that can then perform as an internal breaker for reducing the viscosity of aqueous fluids gelled with a polymer, such as a crosslinked polysaccharide. One phase of the breaker fluid is water or water-based, e.g. brine, containing at least one oil-soluble organic peroxide as a non-aqueous internal phase that will, over time and optionally with heat, break the polymer-gelled portion of the gel. The overall breaking using the breaker fluid is slower as compared to introducing the organic peroxide breaker in a non-microemulsified or non-nanoemulsified form.

Microemulsion and nanoemulsion breaker fluids with organic peroxides

Methods and related systems are configured to treat a drilling fluid to cause water droplets to coalesce. One or more phases are thereafter separated from the treated drilling fluid. The oil and/or solids separated from the treated drilling fluid may be added to a base fluid.

Oil-based drilling fluid recovery and reuse

Nanoemulsions, miniemulsions, microemulsion systems with excess oil or water or both (Winsor III) or single phase microemulsions (Winsor IV) may be formed in situ during hydrocarbon recovery operations after drilling with OBM or SBM using one or more fluid pills. The nanoemulsions, miniemulsions, microemulsion systems with excess oil or water or both or single phase microemulsions remove oil and solids from the well and wellbore surfaces. In one non-limiting embodiment, a single phase microemulsion (SPME) or other in situ-formed fluid may be created from a polar phase, a nonpolar phase, at least one viscosifier, and at least one surfactant.

In situ microemulsions used as spacer fluids

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Houston, TX, United States of America

Lirio Quintero