Review of Developments in Nanotechnology Application for Formation Damage Control

Formation damage has the potential to impair and weaken reservoir productivity and injectivity, causing substantial economic losses. Oil and gas wells can be damaged by various mechanisms, such as solid invasion, rock-fluid incompatibilities, fluid-fluid incompatibilities, and phase trapping/blocking, which can reduce natural permeability of oil and gas near the wellbore zone. These can happen during most field operations, including drilling operations, completion, production, stimulation, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Numerous studies have been undertaken in recent years on the application of nanotechnology to aid the control of formation damage. This review has found that nanotechnology is more successful than traditional materials in controlling formation damages in different phases of oil and gas development. This is facilitated by their small size and high surface area/volume ratio, which increase reactivity and interactivity to the adjacent materials/surfaces. Furthermore, adding hydrophilic nanoparticles (0.05 wt %) to surfactants during EOR alters their wettability from 15 to 33%. Wettability alteration capabilities of nanoparticles are also exemplified by carbonate rock from oil-wet to water-wet after the concentration of 4 g/L silica nanoparticles is added. In addition, mixing nanoparticles to the drilling fluid reduced 70% of fluid loss. However, the mechanisms of impairment of conductivity in shale/tight formations are not consistent and can differ from one formation to another as a result of a high level of subsurface heterogeneity. Thus, the reactivity and interaction of nanoparticles in these shale/tight formations have not been clearly explained, and a recommendation is made for further investigations. We also recommend more nanotechnology field trials for future research because deductions from current studies are insufficient. This review provides more insights on the applications of nanoparticles in different stages of oil and gas development, increasing our understanding on the measures to control formation damage.