Sand production in many oil and gas fields is a critical problem that lowers their profitability. The impact can be reduced if the analysis is approached from a multidisciplinary focus that can guide the decision making. Based on the above, this paper focuses on developing a practical methodology, which integrates information from field and laboratory to select and evaluate alternatives of sand exclusion or management, to facilitate making of the best decision from the technical and economic point of view. The study includes: selection of wells and quantification of costs associated with interventions by sanding problems, root cause of the problem of sand production by predictive models, charts of diagnostic and characterization of intervals with sand production, selection of alternatives to sand exclusion or Management, production modeling, technical-economic assessment of selected alternatives, implementation and subsequent evaluation of the work performed. To accelerate the decision making process, the methodology was automated by developing a software tool, which generates standards of the information required for its application, developing of optimal workflow that reduces evaluation times by well over 50%, and creates an environment graphical friendly for the user. The study was conducted in the formations sensitive at sand production of the fields: Lisama, Llanito, Galan, Brisas and Yarigui-Cantagallo in Colombia, and in the wells where the alternative sand exclusion or Management recommendedwas implemented, it was possible to reduce the frequency of interventions in more than 50% and increase their productivity. This paper presents the application results in wells Lisama 166, and Galan 135. Finally, the main findings, conclusions, recommendations and field results obtained in this study are shown.

One of the main causes of sand production is the rock faulting, situation that is given by the stress condition, pressure and mechanical properties that is applied. We use geomechanical criteria for the design of gunfire (density, diameter, penetration, phase and drop pressure for cleaning, etc.). It is possible to generate stable conditions that reduce the risk of the rock failure. Therefore, identified some geomechanical criteria to determine areas of highest stress contrasts, which can accelerate the rock failure, areas with increases in stresses for proximity effect between canyons, among others, must be taken into account in the perforating operations in areas susceptible to sand production, in order to reduce the risk of the rock failure and start early sand production. With the aid of geomechanical models and these criteria it is possible elaborate a methodology for optimal perforating design.

Sand production in oil and gas wells is a complex problem that requires a multidisciplinary analysis and the use of new methodologies and technologies to be solved, which often requires a combination of several of them to arrive at an optimal solution of the problem and thus increase the productivity of oil fields.This comprehensive strategy must start from the drilling, continue in the completion and extends to the production stage. To implement this strategy, a methodology that includes the integration of field and laboratory data and is complemented by an assessment Geomechanics was developed.In the industry there is no software that would make a comprehensive evaluation and analysis described in the previous methodology, therefore it is designed a tool for this purpose, which allows to automate and streamline the decision-making process (developing optimal workflows to reduce evaluation times per well to 50%) and create a friendly graphic environment for the user.The tool includes the following modules: Production, completion and perforation. The Production module includes: selection of wells and quantification of costs associated with interventions by sanding problems, diagnostic charts for root cause analysis of the problem of sand production, characterization graphs of intervals with sand production (mineralogy and grain size), selection of alternatives for management and / or exclusion of sand, production modeling, technical and economic evaluation of selected alternatives, etc.. The completion and drilling module includes: Evaluation of tables of well logs and identification of sensitive areas to the sanding beginning from them, predictive modeling of sand production, conventional perforating optimal design, underbalance optimal, oriented perforating, etc.As a case study, the application of software tools to assess the problem of sanding in the Lisama 166 Well in Colombia, is shown, in which the frequency of interventions was reduced in more than 100% and was increased the productivity, with recommendations implemented.Finally, conclusions and recommendations obtained in this study are shown.

Sand production is a critical problem that causes the industry spending over $3.0 Billion U.S. per year (70% of the wells worldwide have this problem). To mitigate the impact, many operators choose the option of deploying technologies to exclude the sand, and usually reduce the benefits for decrease a risk not quantified. Currently the reservoirs trending to sand production contain an increasing percentage of the world's hydrocarbon reserves. Many of the wells that exploit these resources are producing beyond the limits of their originally estimated useful life, which can result in weak formations. Consequently, it is required being more demanding in the profit margins of the projects of Management and / or sand control achieved at these reservoirs, so it requires a probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) in them, taking into account that the risk and uncertainty are two factors that are often present. This analysis facilitates decision making and allows determine the best Completion and production strategy of the formations sensitive at sand production. Based on the above, this work focuses on developing a methodology for probabilistic risk analysis to evaluate management alternatives and / or exclusion of sand using Monte Carlo simulation. The methodology includes six phases: (1) Selection of alternatives to evaluate and definition of the conditions of production of each one, (2) Structuring the deterministic model of each alternative (3) identification of most impacting variables on the level of production of each alternative and determination of its range of typical behavior (4) Estimation of probability distributions of production for each variable, (5) Monte Carlo simulation for risk assessment of each alternative and selecting the best choice. The methodology was applied to evaluate management alternatives and / or exclusion of sand in the formations sensitive to sand production of the fields: Lisama, Llanito, Galan, Brisas and Yarigui-Cantagallo in Colombia and was compared with the results of the evaluation when using deterministic models. In this paper is present the Application cases in the wells: Lisama 171 and Yarigui 168. Finally, the main findings, conclusions and recommendations obtained in this study are shown.

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