Nanomaterials
have been used in the oil and gas industry to improve
thermal stability, rheology properties, and reactivity through fluid
dispersion into the formation. Nanomaterials in producing wells can
control formation damage near the wellbore regions. Foreign fluid
invasion to the reservoir rock during drilling, fracturing, completion,
enhanced oil recovery, and workover causes an interaction with the
rock formation and fluids. This results in formation damage such as
clay swelling and deflocculation, solid particle invasion, and asphaltene
precipitation, all of which reduce production and lead to significant
economic losses. In this review, we present the application of nanomaterials
to oilfields as a way of optimizing production with minimal formation
damage near the wellbore regions. Also, this review presents how the
laboratory experiments from nanomaterials were upscaled to oilfields.
The different types of nanomaterials used to control formation damage
across producing fields around the world were investigated. This study
has shown that nanomaterials are more effective than traditional materials
to be used in oilfields for controlling formation damage during various
stages of oil and gas development and it recommends that the effect
of the relationship between nanoparticle size and type should be explored
for effective application. However, because formation damage is caused
for a variety of reasons, this work points out that many types of
nanomaterials need to be combined to achieve multipurpose mitigation.
Furthermore, more research concerning the dispersion of nanoparticles
in cement slurry and fracturing fluid should be undertaken.