A Chemical Blend for Stimulating Production in Oil-Shale Formations

Production from Unconventional Petroleum Reservoirs: Précis of Stimulation Techniques and Fluid Systems

“…The fracturing fluids influence the pattern and behaviour of created fractures. An increasing number of fracturing fluids with different properties are being demonstrated to be appropriate [42][43][44][45] with each category of fluid causing dissimilar effects. This is mainly caused by the differing properties of the fluids.…”

“…Hydraulic fracturing is not usually applied as a stand-alone strategy to improve flow in oil shales. It is often used in tandem with other techniques such as horizontal/inclined wells, thermal dissolution, and the use of special blends of fracturing fluids like surfactants and other chemicals that aid the recovery of shale oils [45,46].…”

“…The periodic injection of water into unconventional reservoirs enhances oil recovery because of the imbibition of water by the rock matrix and the displacement of oil trapped within the pores [45]. This technique is fit for shales with a higher water than oil uptake.…”

“…Shale has a higher affinity for water, which is reflected by larger rates of imbibition [67]. However, it is possible for water blockage to occur resulting in negative impacts on the recovery process [45,68]. To circumvent this, well-shut operations can be used to drive water further into deeper water-wet sections [45].…”

Introductory Chapter: Developments in the Exploitation of Unconventional Hydrocarbon Reservoirs

“…This is the process of absorption of water as the wetting phase into rock, in which saturation by the wetting phase rises while that by the non-wetting phase reduces. This phenomenon can be induced by water flooding [17] or surfactant flooding [18,19]. A shift in wettability from oil-wet to water-wet increases water imbibition.…”