Patent ID: 6883608

Claim:
A method of completing an interval of an open hole wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation comprising the steps of: a. drilling the wellbore into the formation with a drill string and an oil-based mud, b. pulling out the drill string, c. running a sand control string comprising one or more screens and one or more alternate path shunt tubes into the wellbore containing the oil-based mud, d. setting a packer at or near the location at which the wellbore penetrates the formation, e. gravel packing with an aqueous viscous viscoelastic surfactant based carrier fluid, said viscoelastic surfactant present in an amount effective to provide viscosity sufficient to carry the gravel, said carrier fluid being insensitive to the oil-based mud for a time sufficient to place the gravel and said carrier fluid being capable of being broken by produced fluid, and f. producing fluid from the wellbore.