Technology or Intangibles, What Drives Sand Control Selection?
Authors: Waltman Rodney Bart , Torres Daniel Santos , Dusterhoft R. , Lizak Kenneth F. 
Published: July 2010

Petroleum engineering has come a long way in developing the knowledge needed to select the best sand-control method to apply in formations with sand-production problems. Sand production is usually associated with younger Tertiary formations, such as the Miocene- or Pliocene-age sands. These formations occur in a number of areas, especially offshore areas like the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, Brazil, and offshore Malaysia and Brunei. The majority of these areas have been produced for the last fifteen years using so-called modern sand-control methods. With these areas having a long history with sand control completions, one might think that experience combined with the latest technologies and engineering practices would lead to a simple decision process for sand-control selection.

The truth is that, in many instances, intangible or nontechnical aspects have a heavy influence in the final decision of the method(s) to be used, especially when the operation is in a remote location or in an area where sand-control operations are new or not commonly performed. These nontechnical considerations include local availability of equipment, chemicals, experience, lead times, local regulations, environmental issues, existing contracts, operator preferences, special technologies, the contractor safety record, cost, and even the number of subcontractors. Furthermore, the locally accepted sand-control method might be considered the best practice or thought to have the highest success rate only because of familiarity. The technique finally selected for an expansion or new project might not be the best from a purely technical point of view once these nontechnical issues are considered. This paper presents engineering and nontechnical aspects of sand-control method selection and can be used as a reference to help decide the best sand-control method to use.

Introduction

There are numerous published papers (Venkitaraman et al. 2001; Farrow et al. 2004; Addis et al. 2008) on the selection of the proper sand-control completion method based on specific geological conditions. These can be useful in planning well completions if they are similar to the reservoir parameters. However, there are " grey areas?? in sand-control selection where the attributes of the reservoir and well plan allow more than one technically viable sand-control solution. Or, there might be a technically preferred method of sand control that might not be available because of equipment or supplier availability. When factors such as these occur, the intangible aspects of sand-control selection can strongly influence the type of completion selected.

After taking into account the preferred method of drilling the field, the completion selection is then considered, which includes sand-control completion selection. After the best technical analysis is performed, the intangible part of sand-control selection is considered. If the top sand-control completion methods are not available, the operator might be forced to go as far as to change the well design to obtain a top completion method for the particular reservoir being completed.

This would then be followed by a technical review, and the intangible review process can be repeated. These changes can be outside of the historic expertise or familiarity of the operator, and the use of the service supplier's expertise or additional research might be conducted to supplement the operator's experience and expertise with the technically qualified completion methods.

Typically, once the final methodology is selected, the work will be tendered and additional intangibles might be encountered. These can include logistics and regulatory hurdles, timelines, and the need to order long lead items. Once all the available technical and intangible data are gathered and evaluated, a final sand-control method is selected.