Diverting agents in the oil and gas industry: A comprehensive analysis of their origins, types, and applications

During the life of a well, treatments are carried out to boost productivity by stimulating initially unproduced zones. These treatments include hydraulic fracturing, matrix acidization, and acid fracturing, among others. Hydraulic fracturing treatment is generally applied to deeper reservoirs of oil or natural gas for enhanced recovery. By infusing proppant, water, and chemicals under extreme pressure during the fracturing procedure, fissures in and beneath the reservoir layer can be accessed and expanded. Another stimulating procedure, matrix acidization, involves injecting acid down the drilling hole to permeate the rock fissures at stresses lower than the fracture stress. In addition, carbonate reservoir acid fracturing stimulation is commonly used as an acid treatment technique whereby a pressure greater than the formation disintegration pressure or spontaneous fracture closure pressure is used to compress acid into the reservoir. These treatments allow existing wells to sustain hydrocarbon production without new wells being drilled. Diverters, when employed efficiently, can prevent the need to use a rig to provide momentary physical barriers, thus lowering the cost of the workover. Recent improvements in diversion technology make use of a variety of degradable particles that act as momentary bridges, either at the perforation entries or inside the existing fractures. The aim of this study is to introduce different types of mechanical and chemical diverters used to enhance the productivity of wells. This study explains the concepts of different types of diverters and their applications in several formations, it will also help readers to understand the selection procedures based on the suitability and requirements of diverter use by case studies from around the world.