Conformance improvement is achieved in a subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation using a gel comprised of a high molecular weight water-soluble acrylamide polymer, a chromium III/carboxylate complex capable of crosslinking the polymer and an aqueous solvent. The gel components are combined at the surface and injected into the desired treatment zone via a wellbore to form a continuous single-phase gel. The gel is tailored to a specific subterranean application by first determining the treatment demands of the desired subterranean zone, then predetermining the gelation rate and resultant gel strength and stability which are required of a gel to meet the demands, and finally producing the gel having the required predetermined properties under controlled surface conditions by utilizing observed correlations between specific controllable gelation parameters and resultant gel properties.
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