IN SITU GELS IMPROVE FORMATION ACIDIZING

Abstract

Viscosity-controlled acid effectively improves acid placement, provides more uniform damage removal, improves surface etching, and controls acid fluid loss. Viscosity-controlled acid (VCA) contains gels that break back to original viscosity 1 day after being pumped. These acids have been used for: matrix-acidizing long horizontal and vertical well intervals; controlling fluid loss in fracture acidizing to obtain longer fractures and deeper live-acid penetration. Fluid pH controls gel formation and breaking. In one operator`s horizontal wells, viscosity-controlled acid increased production by 2.5--6 fold. In carbonate formation fracture-acidizing, these acids have shown production improvements of 170 to 375%. VCA acid can be used in both cased or open hole, in vertical or deviated/horizontal wells.