The rheological properties of some newly developed polymer compositions have been investigated with and without crosslinking. These polymer compositions were developed as a water shutoff and sand consolidation treatment agents for producing oil and gas wells. The effects of several variables on the theology of the compositions were evaluated over a wide range of temperatures (25-110 degrees C), shear rates (0-500 s(-1)), brine percentages (0-15%), crosslinker types and concentrations (0-3%), and polymer concentrations (6-50%). It was found that increasing the shear rate from 0 s-1 to 100 s-1 caused shear thinning and reduction of the viscosity of the dilute solutions (6-13%) from 25 cP to similar to 3 cP at 80 degrees C. In contrast, for the concentrated solutions (20-50%), the viscosity dropped slightly in the shear rate range 0-10 s(-1), and subsequently decreased more slowly up to shear rates of 500 s(-1). The viscosities of all polymer solutions dropped by a factor of 2 as the brine concentration increased from 0% to 15%. Finally, aging time coupled with shear rates and higher percentages of crosslinkers accelerate the buildup of viscosity and gelation time of the polymer compositions. For concentrated solutions, shear rates ranging within 0-200 s(-1) accelerated gelation time from 9.75 h to 2-3 h, when they were sheared at 80 degrees C. The polymeric solutions exhibited Newtonian, shear-thinning (pseudo-plastic), and shear-thickening (dilatant) behavior, depending on the concentration, shear rate, and other constituents. In most cases, the rheological behavior could be described by the power law. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.