Abstract: The present invention provides compositions useful for viscosifying aqueous fluids, methods for making them and methods for using them. In one aspect of the invention, inventive compositions comprise a prehydrating alcohol having at least two hydroxyl groups and having a molecular weight of from about 60 to about 600; an inorganic salt; and a polymer. In a preferred aspect of the invention, the viscosifier composition additionally comprises a solvent having a molecular weight of from about 75 to about 1000. According to another aspect of the invention, inventive compositions comprise a prehydrating alcohol; an inorganic salt; and a polymer; and the composition is essentially free from water. Inventive compositions find advantageous use in viscosifying fluids utilized in subterranean drilling activities such as, for example, drilling, drill-in, completion, hydraulic fracturing, work-over, packer, well treating, testing, spacer, or hole abandonment fluids.

Abstract: A novel process for making solutions of alkaline-earth metal salts of alkaryl sulfonic acids that contain about 1.5 to less than three weight percent water and that does not require an azeotropic distillation step to reduce the water of the reaction product to this level, comprises reacting an alkaryl sulfonic acid with alkaline-earth metal oxide in an organic solvent in the presence of 0.05 to less than 2.5 weight percent water. Calcium oxide, alkylbenzene sulfonic acids wherein the alkyl groups contain 10 to 14 carbon atoms, solvent mixtures of lower alkanols and non-polar hydrocarbon solvents all are representative of materials useful in the process of the invention, wherein the alkyl benzene sulfonic acid is preferably proportioned into a mixture of the other reactants and the water is supplied in admixture with a small amount of a calcium alkylbenzene sulfonate.

Abstract: A drilling fluid additive effective as a viscosity controlling agent is composed of complex titanium or zirconium lignosulfonates and/or salts of lignosulfonic acid. Alternatively, the additive may be a titanium-iron lignosulfonate and/or salt or lignosulfonic acid or a zirconium-iron lignosulfonate and/or salt of lignosulfonic acid. The additive is effective with the lignin component of the lignosulfonate being in either oxidized or unoxidized form.