Expanding the Envelopes of Openhole Gravel Packing in Sabah Deepwater Malaysia

Nopsiri, Noppanan; Samuel, Elvy Jose; Fong, Lee Chan; Kalalo, Alxner; Moses, Nicholas; Jayadi, Agus; Yi, Ding

doi:10.2523/iptc-22743-ms

Day 1 Wed, March 01, 2023 2023

DOI: 10.2523/iptc-22743-ms

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Expanding the Envelopes of Openhole Gravel Packing in Sabah Deepwater Malaysia

Noppanan Nopsiri

Elvy Jose Samuel

Lee Chan Fong

et al.

Abstract: Amongst the challenges encountered during infill drilling and completion is the requirement to penetrate depleted zones drained during the early phases of the field development. This condition is exacerbated for completions requiring openhole gravel pack as the maximum openhole lengths are traditionally limited by the effective circulating density experienced during the openhole drilling and gravel packing. This paper discusses the techniques implemented in four openhole gravel pack completions with openhole l… Show more

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Cited by 5 publications

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Shunted Gravel Pack Failures – And How to Prevent Them

Latini,

Govinathan,

Wassouf

et al. 2023

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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The success of any gravel pack treatment implies effective gravel coverage of the screens. Shunt tubes are used in both open and cased hole completions to overcome some of the challenges present for conventional gravel placement techniques by allowing slurry to bypass any premature bridges and continue packing downstream. Shunted gravel packs are therefore viewed as the most forgiving gravel placement technique, which has generated a myth that the use of a shunt tubes "guarantees" a successful gravel pack. However, failures of shunted pack placement are being experienced, resulting in wells that are incompletely packed. A better understanding of the limitations of shunt tube systems and an appropriate engineering design can effectively reduce the risk of shunted gravel pack failures. Case histories are used to present a variety of shunt tube gravel placement failures. Surface and bottom hole gauge data combined with an industry standard sand control simulation software has enabled more detailed evaluation and identification of the different failure mechanisms. These include incomplete packs due to shallow zone fracturing, the blockage of shunt entry due to fluid quality issues and shunts erosion failures, among others. This paper consolidates the various shunted gravel pack failure mechanisms that have been experienced in field operations and makes recommendations on how improved treatment designs can prevent them.

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Shunted Gravel Pack Failures – And How to Prevent Them

Latini,

Govinathan,

Wassouf

et al. 2023

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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A Comprehensive Review of Techniques Enabling OHGP Completions in Low Frac Window Environment

Beldongar,

Gadiyar,

Jeanpert

et al. 2024

SPE International Conference and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control

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Openhole gravel packing has proven to be one of the best sand control completion methods in the industry with high reliability and low skin. As more and more wells are being drilled in challenging environment (long drain lengths, depleted formation, wellbore stability concerns, presence of faults, etc.) with low fracture window, the ability to fully pack the openhole sections constrains the wider use of the method. Many techniques have been used to overcome the low fracture window challenge both in alpha beta and shunted gravel packing. This paper will review the techniques used in both gravel packing approaches, highlight their working mechanisms, and provide a comparison of these methods. Techniques such as packing with friction reducer, BOP open, use of lighter carrier fluids, running diverter valves, wash-pipe less Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA), managed pressure gravel packing etc. have been successfully used depending on the available fracture margin, well configuration and gravel packing technique. The paper will briefly touch on the challenges leading to low fracture margin and the necessity to utilize one or a combination of the techniques to fully pack wells. It will then describe the working principle of each of the techniques, provide the advantages and disadvantages of the techniques. This will be complemented with several case histories showing how these wells were successfully completed despite the low fracture pressure window.

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Development and Field Testing of a New Diverter Sub Model for Gravel Pack Operations

Govinathan,

Tibbles,

Wassouf

et al. 2024

SPE International Conference and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control

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A significant recent advancement in sand control technology is the use of diverter subs in conjunction with shunt tube gravel packing, further increasing the application window of this popular technique. This follows several reported cases where excessive amounts of slurry were lost to the formation after exceeding the fracture pressure and, despite the use of shunts, the screen annulus was not completely packed. Diverter subs minimize this risk by allowing fluid to bypass portions of the wash-pipe, which helps to reduce bottom hole pressure and maintain it below the fracture pressure. However, this effect is heavily dependent on the number and placement of diverter subs, so effective modelling becomes critical as improper design may still fracture the formation and result in an incomplete pack. The introduction of diverter subs results in fluid being distributed in multiple directions at various points along the wellbore, making the flow path progressively harder to model as the number of subs increases. Consequently, no models existed that could accurately design or evaluate shunted gravel pack treatments with diverter subs. This paper discusses the development and validation of the industry’s first simulator which incorporates diverter subs with a commercially available gravel pack model to accurately design their optimal number and placement. This was validated with a case history using both shunts and diverter subs, confirming the model can accurately design and evaluate these complex treatments. The paper further extends this work to demonstrate how the model can be used to optimize future designs, expanding the application window of these treatments into tight pore-frac margin wells by reducing the risk of incomplete packing.

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Expanding the Envelopes of Openhole Gravel Packing in Sabah Deepwater Malaysia

Cited by 5 publications

References 9 publications

Shunted Gravel Pack Failures – And How to Prevent Them

Shunted Gravel Pack Failures – And How to Prevent Them

A Comprehensive Review of Techniques Enabling OHGP Completions in Low Frac Window Environment

Development and Field Testing of a New Diverter Sub Model for Gravel Pack Operations

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