HYDRAULIC FRACTURING PROCESS USING POLYETHYLENE OXIDE BASED FRACTURING FLUID

摘要

A formation is fractured by injecting at a pressure sufficient to fracture the formation an aqueous solution containing about 0.005 - 10 percent by weight of a high molecular weight (e.g., 50,000 to about 6,000,000) polyalkylene oxide polymer and about 0.005 - 10 percent by weight of a natural resin (e.g., calcium lignosulfonate). Such a solution is highly viscoelastic, i.e., fluid when not agitated, but exhibits a gel-like characteristic upon agitation.