Patent ID: 8889600

Claim:
A process which comprises recovering oil from an oil-bearing formation, said process comprising introducing into said formation using surfactant polymer flooding or alkali surfactant polymer flooding an aqueous composition comprising at least one surfactant comprising a sulfonated derivative of one or more internal olefins, said sulfonated derivative being obtained by sulfonating a composition comprising internal olefins of the formula: R 1 R 2 C═CR 3 R 4 wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are the same or different and are hydrogen or straight- or branched-chain, saturated hydrocarbyl groups and the total number of carbon atoms of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 is 6 to 44 with the proviso that at least about 96 mole percent of R 1 and R 3 are straight- or branched-chain, saturated hydrocarbyl groups and at least about 96 mole percent of R 2 and R 4 are hydrogen; wherein the internal olefins are obtained by the metathesis of one or more alpha-olefins in the presence of a metathesis catalyst; wherein the one or more alpha-olefins are obtained by the metathesis of an unsaturated glyceride-containing composition in the presence of a metathesis catalyst; wherein said surfactant polymer flooding involves injecting into the oil-bearing formation a fluid containing water, brine, or a mixture thereof, about 0.05 to about 2 wt. % of a surfactant, and about 0.05 to about 1 wt. % of a polymer; and wherein said alkali surfactant polymer flooding involves injecting into the oil-bearing formation a fluid containing water, brine, or a mixture thereof, about 0.1 to about 1 wt. % of alkali, about 0.05 to about 2 wt. % of a surfactant, and about 0.05 to about 1 wt. % of a polymer.