Implementation of Engineered Rigless Through Tubing Sand Exclusion Solution to Enhance Hydrocarbon Production: The Field X Case Study, Niger Delta, Nigeria

Abstract

Sand production is widely recognized to have a detrimental influence on well deliverability and creates safety concerns because of equipment damage and surface flowline breaches. Sand production, while unavoidable in highly permeable reservoirs like in the Niger Delta basins, is deleterious to both downhole completion and surface hydrocarbon production and treatment systems, as with the candidate wells in the Field X. Sanding in these candidate wells required sand management being a daily routine alongside daily hydrocarbon production throughout the life of the wells until it became unmanageable and costlier, resulting in most of the wells being shut in, thus causing significant production deferment and loss of revenue An immediate need for a safe, cost-effective, and timely Sand Exclusion Solution was required to improve and restore production with minimum allowable/manageable sand production from the wells. To find the optimum approach to address the sand production issues, a variety of alternatives were considered, including well recompletion workover, in-situ sand consolidation, internal gravel packing, and rigless Thru-Tubing Sand Screen Hang Off, to restore completion integrity. Following several review meetings, Thru-Tubing Sand Screen Hang-off was chosen as the safest, time and cost-effective choice because of its minimal equipment spread, properly sized sand screens and in-house knowledge to for successful installation. However, intervening the candidate wells with minimal equipment spread required thorough subsurface studies, well engineering, and reservoir simulations (Nodal Analysis), to tailor the solutions to what the wells required.