Design Methodology for Selection of Horizontal Open-Hole Sand Control Completions Supported by Field Case Histories

Bennett, C.; Gilchrist, J.M.; Pitoni, E.; Burton, R.C.; Hodge, R.M.; Troncoso, J.; Ali, S.A.; Dickerson, R.; Price-Smith, C.; Parlar, M.

doi:10.2523/65140-ms

Cited by 26 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…26 Primary reasons for this recommendation are the reliance of water-packing on cake integrity associated with lower yield stresses measured for OB-cakes compared to their WB counterparts, premature screenouts as occurred in field applications with waterpacking, 1 and successful packing and productivity results from case histories with shunt-packing. 2 This recommendation is further strengthened in low net-to-gross (e.g., < 80%) or reactive shale environments (regardless of net-to-gross) due to historically low success ratios with water-packing in such environments.…”

Section: Discussion Of Fluid Options and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 This recommendation is further strengthened in low net-to-gross (e.g., < 80%) or reactive shale environments (regardless of net-to-gross) due to historically low success ratios with water-packing in such environments. 26 Thus, our discussion will focus on the selection of a carrier fluid with the premise that shunt-packing will be the placement technique.…”

Section: Discussion Of Fluid Options and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…26 In exploration wells, unknown shale reactivity and wellbore stability issues can introduce uncertainties and thus increased risk. In addition, such OB to WB displacements are time consuming and can contribute significantly to increased completion costs, especially in high rig-cost environments.…”

Section: Gravel Packing With Oil-based Carrier Fluidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Use of Oil-Based Reservoir Drilling Fluids in Open-Hole Horizontal Gravel-Packed Completions: Damage Mechanisms and How to Avoid Them

et al. 2001

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Open-hole horizontal wells are increasingly used to improve reservoir exploitation and production rates by targeting specific zones and maximizing reservoir exposure. The drilling fluid of choice in many of these wells is "oil based" due to enhanced drilling rates with minimized friction as well as improved wellbore stability. However, in horizontal wells requiring gravel packs, the industry in general has been reluctant to use OB reservoir drilling fluids (RDF) for various reasons. Because the gravel pack (GP) carrier fluids that have been successfully used to date are all water-based and the use of OB-RDF would necessitate displacement of open hole to WB fluids prior to GP, the practice has been to switch to WB-RDF once in the reservoir section. This was due to concerns as to adverse fluid-fluid interactions resulting in sludging and difficulty in maintaining filtercake integrity while displacing OB-RDF in the open hole, leading to complex fluid management issues. An additional factor has been the perception that WB-RDF filtercakes are easier to remove should it be necessary, since most commonly used cleanup chemicals are water-based and the weighting/bridging agents used in the RDF are also water-wet if the RDF is water-based. In this paper, we present results from experiments conducted with OB-RDFs in the presence of gravel packs. We investigate two scenarios:the gravel pack carrier fluid is water-based, andthe gravel-pack carrier fluid is oil-based. In the first case, provided that no sludges are formed during displacement to water-based fluids, the retained permeabilities are comparable to or better than those obtained with WB-RDFs, although values lower than 0.04% can be expected in the presence of sludging. Another issue relevant to gravel packing wells drilled with OB-RDFs is the yield strength of their filtercakes in comparison to WB-RDFs. It is found through yield stress measurements of various RDF cakes that OB-RDFs have several orders of magnitude lower yield strength than their WB counterparts. This finding is consistent with the reported lower flow initiation pressures for OB-RDFs, and indicates that cake erosion during gravel packing is more likely with OB-RDFs. In order to optimize the sequence of fluids to obtain a good displacement of the RDF at field scale, we use a purpose-built numerical simulator. This simulator is a fluids mechanics code that can accurately calculate displacement fronts in field conditions: eccentric deviated annulus with as many fluids as necessary. Its main use is to detect unstable displacements such as channeling of the displacing fluid on the wide side of the annulus or slumping in horizontal portions. Furthermore, we provide data on a new oil-based gravel pack carrier fluid that can be used to eliminate fluid incompatibility and fluid management issues associated with the switch from OB to WB fluids. The laboratory and large-scale yard test results are presented, addressing critical considerations for oil-based GP carrier fluids. It is found that such emulsion systems can thicken or break (depending on the emulsifier concentration) at high shear rates unless the emulsion is made at the highest shear that it will be exposed to. The implications of these results on field practices are discussed along with recommendations on avoiding damage in gravel packed wells drilled with oil-based RDFs.

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Section: Discussion Of Fluid Options and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussion Of Fluid Options and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Use of Oil-Based Reservoir Drilling Fluids in Open-Hole Horizontal Gravel-Packed Completions: Damage Mechanisms and How to Avoid Them

et al. 2001

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“…This was based on the large variation in grain sizes mapped across the different sands and the presence of significant intra-reservoir shale sequences 13,14 . There is consensus in the industry that SAS completions are more sensitive to formation characteristics than OHGP and are therefore more prone to plugging and failure.…”

Section: Sand Control Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drilling and Completion Challenges of the Statfjord Late Life Project

Hovring

Løklingholm

Zwaag

et al. 2009

SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition

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The further development of the Statfjord field for the Late Life pressure blowdown phase requires the drilling and completion of many infill wells from existing slots. The overall objective of these wells is to maximize oil production in the short term whilst securing future gas delivery potential for the late life phase. Well design to meet this objective is challenging. The Statfjord and Brent formations are sand prone and robust mechanical sand control completions are required in order to secure offtake rates during late life production. Also, after 28 years of production and water injection, the drilling and completion of wells through the differentially depleted formations is challenging due to a narrow pore pressure/fracture pressure window. Furthermore, the reservoir formations are substantially interlayered with shale sections and this meant that wellbore stability issues would pose significant challenges.Initial Late-Life well designs were based on drilling long open hole sections with an oil-based drilling mud providing low Equivalent Circulating Density (ECD), displacing the well to brine, and then running sand screens and performing an open hole gravel pack (OHGP) across the reservoir section with a conventional water pack. During the last three and a half years 27 Late-Life producers have been drilled and completed. This paper summarizes the operator's experiences over this period with emphasis on well design, drilling and completion tools, well fluid technology and well productivity. It explains how ambitions and well design had to be reassesed in order to overcome several challenges with the selected drilling and completion strategy.

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“…Since the service company experience in running long horizontal well completions had been quite extensive in Brazil, operator confidence in attempting this type of completion was increased. 1,2 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Openhole Gravel Packing in the Roaring Forties

Puyo

Bourgeois

Penno

2006

SPE International Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control

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TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.Abstract TOTAL AUSTRAL operates the Carina and Aries fields, which are located in offshore Tierra del Fuego in the most southern region of Argentina. These fields are prolific gas producers and are being developed with a reduced number of wells with departures of up to 3.5 km at approximately 1000 m TVD.This paper discusses the issues surrounding the TOTAL AUSTRAL Carina field development project and the innovative processes that were used to address these situations. Through careful planning, the processes selected to facilitate the completions were successful in achieving the project goals of the operator. These goals included not only the production of gas at relatively high rates from the shallow unconsolidated sand-stone reservoir at approximately 1000 m TVD but also minimization of impact to the environment.To minimize cost and still accomplish the project goals, the wells were drilled from a single platform.

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Design Methodology for Selection of Horizontal Open-Hole Sand Control Completions Supported by Field Case Histories

Cited by 26 publications

References 24 publications

Use of Oil-Based Reservoir Drilling Fluids in Open-Hole Horizontal Gravel-Packed Completions: Damage Mechanisms and How to Avoid Them

Use of Oil-Based Reservoir Drilling Fluids in Open-Hole Horizontal Gravel-Packed Completions: Damage Mechanisms and How to Avoid Them

Drilling and Completion Challenges of the Statfjord Late Life Project

Openhole Gravel Packing in the Roaring Forties

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