The present invention relates to a process for the plugging of a porous formation which may be encountered during the drilling of a well. The process entails plugging of the porous formation by means of a polymeric solution containing pseudo-emulsion spheres. These particles penetrate the pore structure within a formation. Eventually, sufficient numbers of the spheres will accumulate within the pores, blocking further flow through the formation by both the pseudo-emulsion particles and any aqueous solutions. The pseudo-emulsion system is formed by a process which includes the steps of forming a solvent system of an organic liquid or oil and a polar cosolvent, the polar cosolvent being less than about 15 weight percent of the solvent system being less than about 100 cps; dissolving a neutralized sulfonated polymer in the solvent system to form a solution, a concentration of the neutralized sulfonated polymer in the solution being about 0.01 to about 0.5 weight percent, a viscosity of the solution being less than about 200 cps; and admixing or contacting said solution with about 5 to about 500 volume percent water, the water being immiscible with the organic liquid and the polar cosolvent and neutralized sulfonated polymer transferring from the organic liquid to the water phase, thereby causing the water phase to gel (i.e., thicken).