A method of treating a hydrocarbon containing formation, comprising (a) providing a composition to at least a portion of the hydrocarbon containing formation, wherein the composition comprises a derivative selected from the group consisting of a carboxylate or a sulfate or glycerol sulfonate of an ethoxylated/propoxylated primary alcohol having a branched aliphatic group with an average carbon number from 10 to 24 and having an average number of branches per aliphatic group of from 0.7 to 2.5 and having at least 0.5 moles of propylene oxide per mole of primary alcohol and having at least 0.5 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of primary alcohol; and (b) allowing the composition to interact with hydrocarbons in the hydrocarbon containing formation.