Balancing Act: Gulf of Mexico Sand Control Completions, Peak Rate Versus Risk 
of Sand Control Failure

Wong, G.K.; Fair, P.S.; Bland, K.F.; Sherwood, R.S.

doi:10.2523/84497-ms

Cited by 32 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Production Limits. The simplest solids management method is to adopt an approach of "zero sand production" (Selfridge 2003;Tiffin 2003;Wong 2003;Palmer 2003). This method attempts to establish a maximum sand-free production rate based on drawdown criteria.…”

Section: Methods For Controlling Produced Solidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sand Management Methodologies for Sustained Facilities Operations

Rawlins¹

2013

All Days

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Facilities sand management is tasked with the goal of ensuring sustained hydrocarbon production when particulate solids (i.e. sand or proppant) are present in well fluids, while minimizing the impact of these produced solids on surface equipment. Particle size and total concentration of formation sand or proppant determines their net effect on production and the resulting operability of surface facilities. Conventional sand management control focuses on sand exclusion from the wellbore, either by production limits or completion design. Completions may adversely affect inflow due to skin buildup and both controls impede maximum hydrocarbon production. Alternatively, co-production of fluids and solids, with subsequent sand handling at surface facilities, is an inclusion paradigm that allows sustained hydrocarbon production. Produced solids are removed at the wellhead upstream of the choke using fit-for-purpose equipment. This methodology allows for increased or recovered hydrocarbon production, while their removal upstream of the choke protects facilities operations. A description of the design, performance, operation, and effect on production rate is provided for sand inclusive production through application examples in the Caspian Sea, Indonesia, and South China Sea. Specific reference is given towards wellhead desanding, which forms the greater part of this approach, and has expanded from the first field installation in 1995 in the UK to every major oilfield producing region. Implementation of dedicated facilities sand management technology has resulted in increased hydrocarbon production from sand producing wells, extension of well life on marginal fields, and re-start of shut in wells.

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Section: Methods For Controlling Produced Solidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sand Management Methodologies for Sustained Facilities Operations

Rawlins¹

2013

All Days

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“…The sands are highly compressible, in the range of 50 to 80 micro sips, so many reservoirs maintain pressure through compaction. Avoiding sand production is a major issue in well completion design and is for the most part successful [1]. Nevertheless, production of a small amount of very fine sand (1 micron or less) is typical.…”

Section: Ursa Marsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Treating Produced Water on Deepwater Platforms: Developing Effective Practices Based Upon Lessons Learned

Walsh

Frankiewicz²

2010

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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Deepwater platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere are transitioning from dry oil or low water cut production to higher water cut production. These platforms face unique challenges resulting from water and crude incompatibilities, high salinity, no advance characterization of the water treatment issues, and a lack of space for water treatment equipment. The lessons learned by deepwater operators can provide an experience base upon which future operators can draw to assist them with projects to debottleneck and/or improve produced water treatment on their deepwater platforms and FPSOs. Equipment and practices which have worked well and not worked well for treating produced water on floating platforms are described and the issues pertinent to the deepwater operation of this equipment are identified. The impact of the deepwater operating environment on produced water treatment systems is discussed. Platform motion, high shear across control valves or pumps, production from multiple reservoirs, process recycle streams, and the use of hydrate inhibitors or other chemicals all impact the design of a water treatment process and the operation of water treating equipment. The experiences detailed in this paper are intended to help engineers avoid the process design and equipment selection issues which were problematic for earlier deepwater operations.

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“…They are non-surveillance models because there is no direct linkage of surveillance results to update flux calculations. Simple surveillance models use pressure transient analysis (PTA) results and completion information to evaluate the changing well performance and adjust the ramp-up (Wong et al, 2003) and long-term surveillance operations (Chitale et al, 2009). The complex surveillance model evaluates well performance and adjusts well operations using probabilistic completion failure risks and coupled reservoir and completion simulations (Cameron et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Well Flux Surveillance and Ramp-Up Method for Openhole Stand-Alone Screen Completion

Karaaslan

Wong

Soter

et al. 2020

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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Production and surveillance engineers need practical models to help balance out the reward of maximizing production and the risk of ramping-up the well too much that damages the completion. This paper presents a well flux surveillance method to monitor and ramp-up production for openhole stand-alone screen (OH-SAS) completion that optimizes production by considering risks of production impairment and screen erosion failure. The flux surveillance model for OH-SAS assumes the filter cake from drilling operations does not cleanup uniformly during fluids unloading and production. This leaves pinholes on the filter cake that cause concentrated flows. The flux model contains three components: (a) capture and describe input properties of pinhole, (b) link completion pressure drop of flows across filter cake region and through pinholes to surveillance results from pressure transient analyses, and (c) distribute fluxes in the SAS wellbore. The model uses three input parameters to describe the pinhole diameter and internal filter cake properties. They are determined as a system utilizing the laboratory return permeability test, computerized tomography scans of test samples, and computational fluid dynamics simulations. The completion pressure drop incorporates radial and hemispherical flows and captures the compounding skin effects of pinholes with internal filter cake. Flux distributions are modeled as a network system. This contains branches and nodes that incorporate radial and vertical flow resistances in the annular region of SAS. Application of filter cake properties and pressure transient analysis data showed the completion pressure drop as a function of flow rate is non-linear and higher with pinholes than without pinholes. By not incorporating pinholes in surveillance, operations can potentially limit ramp up when the completion pressure drop in the field is higher than predicted. Results from the network model showed the largest radial screen impingement velocity is at the top section of screen. The axial annular flow velocity or scouring velocity is two orders of magnitude larger than the screen impingement velocity. This warrants further considerations of wellbore enlargement and screen scouring erosion mechanisms due to the high axial annular flow.

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Balancing Act: Gulf of Mexico Sand Control Completions, Peak Rate Versus Risk of Sand Control Failure

Abstract: TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.

Cited by 32 publications

References 9 publications

Sand Management Methodologies for Sustained Facilities Operations

Sand Management Methodologies for Sustained Facilities Operations

Treating Produced Water on Deepwater Platforms: Developing Effective Practices Based Upon Lessons Learned

A Well Flux Surveillance and Ramp-Up Method for Openhole Stand-Alone Screen Completion

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