The Diagnosis, Well Damage Evaluation and Critical Drawdown Calculations of Sand Production Problems in the Ceuta Field, Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela (1999)

The Diagnosis, Well Damage Evaluation and Critical Drawdown Calculations of Sand Production Problems in the Ceuta Field, Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela A.R. Vásquez H.; A.R. Vásquez H. VVA Consultores, C.A. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar M.S. Sánchez D.; M.S. Sánchez D. VVA Consultores, C.A. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar R.L. Yánez; R.L. Yánez VVA Consultores, C.A. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar W. Poquioma; W. Poquioma PDVSA Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar M. Rampazzo; M. Rampazzo PDVSA Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar K. El Chirity K. El Chirity PDVSA Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference, Caracas, Venezuela, April 1999. Paper Number: SPE-54011-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/54011-MS Published: April 21 1999 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Vásquez H., A.R., Sánchez D., M.S., Yánez, R.L., Poquioma, W., Rampazzo, M., and K. El Chirity. "The Diagnosis, Well Damage Evaluation and Critical Drawdown Calculations of Sand Production Problems in the Ceuta Field, Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela." Paper presented at the Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference, Caracas, Venezuela, April 1999. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/54011-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE Latin America and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference Search Advanced Search AbstractA geomechanics based methodology was utilized to analyze sand production problems as well as the amount of damage caused to the wells of the Southern Area 2 sector of the Ceuta field in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. Sand production in this field was not originally expected since the reservoir is composed of a well consolidated sand at depths larger than 16,000 feet and with rocks having an unconfined compressive strength larger than 6000 psi. Geomechanically speaking, sand production is caused when the destabilizing stresses on the formation are larger than the resistance due to formation strength. However, certain well operations can affect the destabilizing stresses as well as the formation strength. Therefore geomechanics must be used together with proper operational procedures because many operational details can also have a profound effect on the occurrence of sand production. One of the most important factors has to do with the production practices involving proper choke sizes and excessive choke changes. Sand production data gathered in the Ceuta field was analyzed using a geomechanical framework of understanding to predict well damage and problems during choke changes. The data defines 3 different stages of sand production for wells in this field. Each stage has a particular behavior and different problems associated with them. The sand production data was integrated together with the fluid production data to calculate the amount of accumulated sand production. A simple spherical model was developed to calculate cavity size around the casing utilizing the accumulated sand production. It was found that a well could produce large quantities of sand before total well failure. Keywords: well damage evaluation, stability, upstream oil & gas, choke, sand production problem, flow rate, critical drawdown calculation, reservoir geomechanics, ceuta field, lake maracaibo Subjects: Reservoir Characterization, Formation Evaluation & Management, Reservoir geomechanics, Open hole/cased hole log analysis This content is only available via PDF. 1999. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.