Abstract
For the past decades, long-term water flooding processes have to water channeling in mature reservoirs, which is a severe problem in oilfields. The development of better plugging ability and cost-effective polymer microspheres is a key aspect for the control of excess water production. Research on polymer microspheres applicable in a heterogeneous reservoir to plug high permeable channels has been growing significantly as revealed by numerous published scientific papers. This review intends to discuss different types of the polymer microspheres and oil displacement efficiency. The related difficulties and future prospects of polymer microspheres are also covered. The review provides a basis to develop polymer microspheres for future applications in oilfields. It will assist the researchers to further develop polymer microspheres to improve the oil recovery from mature reservoirs under economic conditions to meet the requirements of future oilfields.