| abstract |
A method of recovering or increasing the recovery of oil and/or gas from an underground formation involving injecting into the formation, preferably in the form of an aqueous solution, at least one mono alkyl ether of polyethylene glycol in which the alkyl group has 3-5 carbons and the polyethylene glycol contains 3-6 ethylene oxy units e.g. butyl ether of triethylene glycol. Especially preferred are mixtures comprising that and at least one mono alkyl ether of mono or di ethylene glycol e.g. a mixture of butyl triglycol ether, butyl tetraglycol ether, butyl pentaglycol ether and butyl diglycol ether. The method of the invention may be applied to well stimulation treatments such as water blocking, sand consolidation, sandstone acidising and methods of increasing the recovery of oil such as tertiary oil recovery. |