In many sandstone reservoirs, the production of sand presents a major obstacle to well productivity. The petroleum industry spends millions of dollars each year to prevent and repair sand control problems including reduced production rates, sand bridging, erosion of equipment and sand disposal and removal. Conventional Sand Screen Systems currently available on the market and manufactured mostly by service providers and are predominantly metallic in construction; these conventional screens have limitations on sustaining high downhole velocities resulting commonly in downole erosional failure and premature loss of downhole sand control. Erosional failure can commonly be associated in applications where high gas rate are anticipated. Commonly, these applications also combine with these higher gas rates, higher downhole temperature, pressure and sour well enviroments which magnify the corrosion-erosional issue with time. Lower erosion resistance leads to premature failure of sand screen resulting in sand production and frequent workovers/intervention. A higher cost and deferred production ensues for the well owner. Worse still, wells with failed sand control can become marginal or uneconomical to produce at these lower rates. Sand production can at times result in operational failure of well control equipment resulting in a higher HS&E risk. Well intervention especially offshore/subsea provokes a higher risk and cost associated and should be avoided through competent technical specification of technology equipment suitable for these applicational environment. If a material change from metal can be made to offer the resistance to erosional and corrosional failure, risk from loss of sand control and reduced economic return on well investment can be mitigated. Ceramic Sand Screen Systems which offer a material change where brought to the market in 2010 and offer a unique sand control solution which are ideal for such well conditions. Ceramics are more than 50 times harder than steel and are universal corrosion resistant to various acids and bases even at higher temperature. This paper introduces the material change from metallic to ceramic technology, testings, and some successful field case studies.

Sand production is a common problem throughout the oil and gas industry, particularly in ‘high rate’ gas reservoirs coupled with low rock compressive strength. Conventional downhole sand control techniques such as gravel packing can act to limit both well geometry and/or productivity. Furthermore, problems with gravel pack installations can lead to preferential inflow, leading to ‘hot spotting’ and ultimately loss of sand control. To evaluate the erosion resistance of sand control equipment under the highly erosive environment of high rate gas wells, innovative testing equipment is needed. This paper will discuss the development of a Gas Sand Screen Erosion Test (GSET) rig and its application to evaluate the erosion resistance of ceramic sand screens. GSET is designed to simulate ‘accelerated’ erosive down-hole conditions. The GSET cell can accommodate but not limited to a screen stub section, screen coupons and variety of downhole equipment. A combination of high flow rate gas and volume controlled particle reservoir matched sand is coalesced into an acceleration tube. The high velocity sand particles (>80m·s-1) impact the ceramic sand screen, causing erosion within the target area. In this paper, the GSET rig was operated for 48 hours at maximum velocity (>80m·s-1) and with a sand concentration of 750 ppmw. Take into consideration that the velocities seen throughout this paper are significantly greater than what a conventional reservoir/completion system would have to tolerate. Initial and final sand screen analysis was conducted to evaluate the performance of erosion resistance. An array of analysis techniques was applied with focus on gap aperture size and surface topography. Gap aperture measurements were a focal point, as it is directly proportional to its ability to maintain sand retention capabilities. This paper highlights the potential of the new GSET rig, enabling laboratory testing of erosion resistance of sand control equipment for high rate gas wells under accelerated conditions. Test results obtained with the ceramic sand screen section underpin the inherent high erosion resistance of ceramic sand screen technology ensuring longevity in highly erosive environments. Thus, providing opportunities to complete both new reservoirs and intervene in existing fields with remedial sand control solutions; through extension of the viability of stand-alone screens, simplification of well construction or intervention and increase in productivity. The observations made by the authors are supported by extensive laboratory testing. The resources provided in this paper will allow petroleum engineers to appropriately evaluate the potential benefits of utilizing ceramic sand screen technology in their completions.

As part of the overall Ichthys project there was a requirement to develop a remedial sand control application that would be suitable for installation should the sand production levels exceed the tolerance of the system. After an exhaustive review of available techniques, a remedial insert ceramic sand screen was selected as a potential option for these high rate gas wells. In order to be confident that the screen would be suitable for the application a comprehensive design and qualification plan was developed. Due to the nature of the application and the technology itself the qualification programme was significantly more complex than typical oilfield equipment qualification; many of which can adopt standard API/ISO testing protocols with clear cut pass/fail criteria. A number of specific elements were required to underpin the qualification. Firstly and perhaps most importantly was pre-qualification of the overall strategy itself. This can be thought of as the engineering work to endorse the approach, including the assessment of any inherent risks, and the development of the overarching qualification framework including understanding the dependencies between specific qualification work scopes. Once the strategy was endorsed and the framework developed, a significant amount of time was spent maturing the testing programme and the subsequent pass/fail criteria, often involving extensive discussion with a number of specialised companies and especially the provider of the screen. A thorough and extensive set of modelling and testing was conducted to endorse the final product for the application including fundamental FEA and CFD modelling through more traditional burst/collapse testing, end ring weld certification and corrosion studies to bespoke bending, impact and erosion testing. In addition as this is a new technology and does not conform to any existing sand screen quality plan it was necessary to conduct a joint quality management system audit and screen manufacturing assessment. This led to the construction of an agreed Quality Control Plan; and specific production quality checks to ensure critical requirement conformance of the overall process and end product. The end result was a successfully qualified product for the Ichthys high rate gas remedial application.

The production of HMX/Al 70/30 and the investigation of the characteristic properties are described and a comparison to RDX/Al 70/30 properties made. According to first test results, the possibility of an increased performance compared to RDX/Al 70/30 may not be ruled out.

The current state of oil and gas economics has emphasized focus in managing and optimizing production from mature fields. It is estimated that approximately 70% of the world's oil and gas production are contributed by mature fields. Sand production is common as pressure declines and water breakthrough takes place. Clastic reservoirs with unconsolidated formation sand with moderate and high permeability are prone to produce sand under these conditions. In gas producing environments, conventional sand control can place demands for continued expensive remediation investment through the wells producing life as high gas velocity increases the chances of erosion and failure of downhole equipment. Gas reservoirs have always been an integral part Malaysia's oil and gas business. As the well the portfolio expands to cater for the regional energy demand, focus on fit for purpose sand control in gas wells is crucial in ensuring continuous production delivery to customers. As a current practice, sand production has been handled by standalone metal screens or combined with gravel packing. One of the cheaper options available in the market is the ceramic sand screen that allows for rigless installation while providing durable material which is resistant to erosion caused by high gas velocity for a continuous production as the ceramic material is 10 times harder than steel (Jackson et al., 2015) and it is more resistant to corrosion in comparison to steel (Wheeler et al., 2014). This paper will focus on the revival strategy of a gas well with a currently damaged screen due to erosion. As this is the first through tubing ceramic sand screen deployment in a gas well in Malaysia, a feasibility process was put place to ensure safe operation and deployment success. Depending on the current well completion profiles, the assessment includes selection of sand screen specification, actual installation sequence, methodology in ensuring safe and successful deployment of ceramic sand screen downhole are focused. The study and assessment has provided future reference for superior downhole sand control options in gas well applications.