Design and Implementation of a Sand-Control Completion for a Troublesome Shallow Laminated Gas Pay—A Case Study

Abstract

TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractThe Shallow Clastics Field, operated by Sarawak Shell, targets two shallow gas-bearing reservoirs, H1 and H2, at approximately 2,650 ft true vertical depth (TVD). An appraisal/early-producer well with a deviated wellbore was drilled through the H1, H2 targets, and a completion design consisting of a cased and perforated commingled completion inside 9-5/8-in. casing was implemented. The sand-face completion design consisted of a large-OD expandable sand screen with 150 micron weave across the 2 zones. Upon completion, the reservoirs were cleaned up through a temporary well clean-up and test facility to test productivity and evaluate integrity of the downhole sand-exclusion installation. Fines production, possibly due to a failure of the expandable screens, commenced almost immediately upon well bean-up and steadily increased to the extent that the well was deemed unproducible to the facilities.The failure of the first well caused a re-evaluation of the sand exclusion method employed, which included more extensive core analysis and the completion types that would be suitable for development of the H1/H2 reservoirs. From this review, the operator and a service/ engineering company were able to develop a sand-exclusion method that combined several new technologies needed to effectively complete this reservoir.To date, four wells have been completed with the new well configuration and sand-exclusion method chosen to address the completion needs. These have been tested, and to date, have proven to be operating satisfactorily. This paper will review the evaluation that led to the sandface completion design, the field implementation of the design, and the key installation success factors that were required. Results and a summary of best practices from the initial installations will also be summarized.