Novel Approach in Sand Production Management - Produce it (2013)

Introduction Specifically in the upstream sector of oil and gas industry, sand production is a common associated production problem anywhere around the world. Various phases of sand production related businesses have been growing very fast. Various parties such as universities, chemical and equipment manufacturers, service companies and field operators have been working on the sand production issue intensively. While R&D mostly involves academia and chemical and equipment manufacturers, the service companies and field operators would collaborate in field trials and pilot projects. Continuous feedback from the field operators is very important in order to improve the quality and performance of any specific sand control product. Initially a field operator might not be interested in the sand production related issue if there is no such problem in its field. However, once the sand production is detected then all sort of reactions come alive. The sand production if not managed properly will result in significant impact to the well (and field) life, be it reduced productivity, completion premature failure, erosion to the surface equipment and HSE issues including asset integrity and managing environmental impact. All of these effects will somehow or at the end impacting the operator financially, which could have been avoided if the sand issue be taken care of much earlier especially during the field development stage. As seen or heard many times, cost savings were only realized during the development phase of the field but when it came into the production phase, the sand management cost and impact are much greater than the initial cost savings. This is the risk many field operators have been considering nowadays. The first right step in managing the possible sand production when developing a new field is having a sufficient knowledge of the characteristics of the formation being developed. With better understanding on the rock properties and applicable lesson learnt, a new operator can safely develop a field without having to worry so much on the potential sand production in its field as the well can be properly designed and completed in such a way that the sand production can be safely handled at any stage of well life cycle. But then different operators may approach the field development differently in view of rising cost. There are various techniques being used in determining the optimum sand control method for each well. For new wells, the best sand control method/equipment can be applied / installed during the completion stage. And yet, it must be understood that traditional completion methods that allow sand-prone reservoirs to be developed most of the times will also sacrifice some of the production efficiency. Among those common sand control methods and widely adopted by field operators around the world are gravel pack, standalone sand screen and sand conglomeration using chemicals. Besides reduced in production efficiency, these methods also pose as other challenges during the production phase. Well intervention operations including stimulation and zonal abandonment for example, will be ineffective or even impossible due to restriction and hard to reach areas on wells completed with those sand control equipment. On the other hand, the biggest advantage on having the right and optimum sand control method right from the beginning is being able to reduce the sand production detrimental effect which is prolonging the well and equipment life. Balancing the potential sand production risk, the future well intervention access, the rising cost and field life is what the operators have been juggling at the development stage.