Expanding applications for viscoelastic surfactants

Allan Twynam BP Sunbury, England For help in preparation of this article, thanks to Curtis Boney, Ernie Brown, Steve Davies and George Hawkins, Sugar Land, Texas, USA; Jorge Gonzalez and Arthur Milne, Caracas, Venezuela; Satyaki Ray, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; and David Schoderbek, Burlington Resources Canada, Calgary. ClearFRAC, ClearPAC, CoalFRAC, FMI (Fullbore Formation MicroImager), FracCADE, NODAL, OilSEEKER and PERMPAC are marks of Schlumberger. Alternate Path is a mark of ExxonMobil Corp.; technology licensed exclusively to Schlumberger. FANN is a mark of the Fann Instrument Company. Recent developments in viscoelastic surfactants have expanded application of these